This Day in History: 1920-01-10
In 1920 the Versailles Treaty came into effect on this day.
The Versailles Treaty was signed on the 28th of June 1919 coming into effect on the 10th of January the following year. This treaty officially ended the First World War and put many restrictions on Germany.
Germany was required to accept full responsibility for the war under Article 231, the infamous War Guilt Clause. This clause justified the imposition of reparations, initially set at 132 billion gold marks (approximately $269 billion today), a sum that crippled Germany’s post-war economy.
The treaty also created the League of Nations, an international organization aimed at preventing future conflicts. However many claim that it was the Treaty of Versailles that led to World War II as the harsh conditions imposed on Germany made the perfect conditions for Hitler’s rise to power.
Germany’s army was limited to 100,000 troops, conscription was banned and Germany was prohibited from maintaining tanks, submarines, or an air force.
Circumventing Restrictions
However, Germany continued training its pilots using civilian training schools as a cover. Later in 1924, Germany became more daring and aided by Russia they began training in a secret airfield in Lipetsk, Russia using larger military aircraft. Shortly after Adolf Hitler came to power as chancellor on the 30th January 1933 he ordered the large-scale production of military aircraft and training of pilots under the command of Herman Goering. The Luftwaffe was created on the 15th of May 1933 and thanks to huge financial support within three years the secret air force soon became the largest and most powerful air force in the world.
Russia also hosted a secret tank school (Kama tank school) in Kazan, Russia which ran from 1929 – 1933 to allow the German military to circumvent the ban on tanks. Additionally, in Volsk (modern-day Shilkhany), Russia was the site of the secret Tomka gas test site where the German and Soviet military tested chemical weapons (again to circumnavigate Germany’s restrictions from the Versailles Treaty). Tomka ran from 1926 till 1933.
Versailles Failures
The Allied nations themselves were divided in their reactions. France celebrated the treaty as a necessary safeguard against future German aggression. Britain, while satisfied with some aspects, harboured concerns that the harsh terms might destabilize Germany and Europe. In the United States, opposition to Wilson’s vision led the Senate to reject both the treaty and membership in the League of Nations.
For Germany, the Treaty of Versailles was a bitter pill to swallow. The loss of territory, severe military restrictions, and the economic burden of reparations fostered a sense of humiliation and betrayal. Many Germans referred to it as a “Diktat”—a dictated peace. This widespread resentment created fertile ground for extremist ideologies, including the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party.
Today, the treaty serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of imposing punitive peace terms and the importance of balancing justice with reconciliation. It reminds us that the seeds of future conflicts are often sown in the soil of unresolved grievances.
