Page 124 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol V

treaty of versailles 1901

Miller, J. I. (1969). The spice trade of the Roman empire, 29 B.C. to A. D. the shape of the new League of Nations and the Inter-
641. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. national Labor Organization. Only in late April, when a
Olschki, L. (1960). Marco Polo’s Asia: An introduction to his description
of the world called Il Milione. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of draft treaty was at last agreed upon, were the Germans
California Press. invited to Versailles. Count Ulrich von Brockdorff-
Padrón, R. (2004). The spacious word: Cartography, literature, and
empire in early modern Spain. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Rantzau, a career diplomat, led the German peace dele-
Parry, J. H. (1981). The discovery of the sea. Berkeley and Los Angeles: gation representing the new Weimar Republic.
University of California Press. Quite apart from the terms of the treaty, the process of
Penrose, B. (1952). Travel and discovery in the Renaissance, 1420–1620.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. peace making at Versailles was intensely controversial.
Phillips, C. R., & Phillips, W. D., Jr. (1992). The worlds of Christopher Participants gave little thought to the consolidation of
Columbus. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Phillips, J. R. S. (1998). The medieval expansion of Europe (2nd ed.). Germany’s new democracy.The treaty was handed to the
Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press. Germans, as a virtual fait accompli (accomplished fact),
Polo, M. (1958). The travels (R. E. Latham, Trans.). New York: Penguin at a ceremony at the Trianon Palace Hotel on 7 May
Books.
Rogers, F. M. (1962). The quest for eastern Christians:Travels and rumor 1919. Clemenceau warned that no round-table negotia-
in the age of discovery. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. tions would be contemplated. On 29 May the German
Stafford, B. M. (1984). Voyage into substance:Art, science, nature and the
illustrated travel account, 1760–1840. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. delegation submitted a formidable list of counterpro-
Trease, G. (1967). The Grand Tour. New York: Holt, Rinehart and posals, complaining that the terms were scarcely recon-
Winston. cilable with either the spirit or the letter of President
Whitfield, S. (1999). Life along the Silk Road. Berkeley and Los Angeles:
University of California Press. Wilson’s liberal speeches of 1918. However, in response,
Zamora, M. (1993). Reading Columbus. Berkeley and Los Angeles: Uni- the victorious powers offered few amendments. On 16
versity of California Press.
June Clemenceau demanded a German signature to the
treaty within five days (later extended to seven days) and
threatened to resume the war if Germany failed to sign.
Therefore, the German government was under immense
Treaty of pressure. In particular, the continuation of the economic
blockade throughout the armistice period worsened a
Versailles serious food crisis inside Germany that weakened the

government’s bargaining position. The socialist-led gov-
he Treaty of Versailles was the first and most impor- ernment of Philipp Scheidemann resigned rather than
Ttant of the treaties that ended World War I. Signed sign the treaty as it stood. However, a new socialist-led
at the Palace of Versailles outside Paris on 28 June 1919, coalition government, under Otto Bauer, bowed to the
the treaty was the product of the Paris Peace Conference. inevitable and sent emissaries to sign.
In essence the treaty established the terms of peace
between the victorious “Allied and Associated Powers” Territorial Terms
(principally the United States, the British empire, France, The principal territorial terms of the treaty imposed sig-
Italy, and Japan) and Germany. nificant transfers of territory from the former German
The Paris Peace Conference itself opened on 18 Janu- empire to its neighbors. Alsace-Lorraine was returned to
ary 1919. The key participants included U.S. President France (restoring the border of 1815–1870). In the East
Woodrow Wilson, French Prime Minister Georges a territory of 43,000 square kilometers, forming the
Clemenceau, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, greater part of the provinces of Posen and West Prussia,
and Italian Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando.The victori- was ceded to Poland. This territory, often referred to as
ous powers required almost four months to agree on the the “Polish Corridor,” separated East Prussia from the rest
terms of peace. In addition, the conference determined of Germany.The city of Danzig, at the north of the Polish