The Terms of Versailles 1
History: OCR A GCSE Cold War & International Relations, topic 1.1.2
Territory
An easy way to remember the TOV is to use the term ‘TRAWL’. T is for Territory: the Germans had lots of land taken off them.
Colonies
- Germany's colonies in Africa were taken away and given to the League of Nations to control as ‘mandates’.
- In reality, the countries that controlled them were Great Britain and France.
The Rhineland
- The Rhineland - an area of land between France and Germany - was demilitarized.
- This was an area that was on the border of Germany.
- This gave France security that Germany wouldn’t be strong enough militarily to attack them right on their border.
The Polish Corridor
- Germany was split as the Polish Corridor was given to Poland so that they could have access to sea trade.
- Poland's emergence was a direct consequence of the Treaty of Versailles.
New countries
- Eight new countries had been created from the Eastern Empires which included Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
- Due to this, some countries had German-speaking people in them.
- This would later prove a motivation for Hitler to reunite all German-speaking people.
Territory
An easy way to remember the TOV is to use the term ‘TRAWL’. T is for Territory: the Germans had lots of land taken off them.
Confiscated land
- 13% of all German land was taken away including areas such as:
- Alsace Lorraine.
- Eupen.
- Malmedy.
Alsace Lorraine
- Alsace Lorraine was given to France as it had previously been owned by the country before Germany had taken it in 1871 after the Franco-Prussian War.
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The Saar
- The Saar (Germany’s industrial area) was given to France as an insurance policy to make sure that they would promise to pay the reparations to France.
- Then after 15 years, the people would be given the vote whether to return to Germany or not.
Anschluss
- Germany had united with Austria in an alliance during the First World War.
- One of the terms of the Treaty was that Germany wasn’t allowed to ever unite with Austria (Anschluss) again.
German citizens
- After the creation of new countries and the removal of German land, a total of 6 million German people were no longer living on German soil.
- In total, 13% of all German land was taken away.
Test yourself on The Terms of Versailles 1
What was the purpose of the Polish Corridor?
Which of the following was NOT an area of Germany taken away by the Treaty of Versailles?