The End of the War 963months, the British and French leaders wrestled with public pressure at
home for a harsh peace, which they had to balance against the possibility
that a draconian settlement might push defeated Germany, Austria, and
Hungary in the direction of the Soviet Union. The French and British
views prevailed in what was called the “victor’s peace.” Moreover, both
Lloyd George and Clemenceau, unlike Wilson, enjoyed the full support of
their constituents.
By the “war guilt clause,” Article 231 of the treaty, Germany accepted full
responsibility for “the loss and damage” caused the Allies “as a consequence
of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her
allies.” Many Germans were outraged in April 1919 when they learned of
the treaty that Germany had been forced to accept. The Allies seemed to be
punishing the new' German Republic for the acts of the old imperial regime,
which arguably had, with Austria-Hungary, done more to start the war than
the other powers. Premier Scheidemann resigned rather than sign the
treaty. The next Social Democratic government signed it a week later, on
June 28, 1919, but only after the Allies had threatened to invade Germany.
The Treaty of Versailles returned to France Alsace and the parts of Lorraine
that had been annexed by Germany after the Franco-Prussian War of
1870-1871 (see Map 24.2). French troops would occupy the parts of Ger
many that stood on the left, or western, bank of the Rhine River, as well as
occupy for fifteen years a strategically critical strip of land along its right
bank. These territories were to remain permanently demilitarized. France
would retain economic control over the rich coal and iron mines of the Saar
border region (which would be administered by the League of Nations) for
fifteen years, at which time the region’s population would express by
plebiscite whether it wished to become part of France or remain German
(the latter was the result in 1935). Germany also had to cede small pieces
of long-contested frontier territory to Belgium (Eupen and Malmedy).
Moreover, Germany lost its colonies.
In the east, Germany lost territory to Poland, which became independent
for the first time since 1795. Poles had been forced to fight in the armies of
the German, Austro-Hungarian, and Russian Empires during the war, and
thus had been pitted against each other. During the war, both Russia and
Germany had promised Poland independence. Indeed, in November 1916
the Central Powers had reestablished the Polish kingdom viewing it as a
potential buffer against Russia. In September 1917 they appointed a
“Regency Council” w ith no real power but with the goal of representing Pol
ish Society, with an eye toward Polish autonomy, in the quest for Polish sup
port. In the meantime, Polish nationalists campaigned for support for Polish
independence in Britain, France, and the United States. During the war,
Jozef Pilsudski (1867-1935), one of the leaders of the Polish independence
movement during the last decade of the Russian Empire and a leading mem
ber of the Polish Socialist Party, commanded a “Polish Legion.” Allied with
the Central Powers for tactical reasons, it fought against Russian forces in