Reparations (The Versailles Treaty Part VIII) - France

The First World War, which was between the Allied forces (United States, Great Britain, Japan, France, Italy and Russia) and the Central Powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Ottoman Empire, lasted from 1914 to 1918. The Great War brought numerous destruction and carnage with more than 9 million soldiers killed. It was officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on the 28th of June 1919 in France. The peace treaty was made to have negotiations and to ensure a long-lasting peace among the countries involved. Since the Allied forces have won, they made separate peace treaties with each country of the Central Powers.
The Treaty of Versailles was authored by the “Big Three” namely, David Lloyd George of Britain, Clemenceau of France and Woodrow Wilson of America. The three leaders have different reasons for the formulation of the treaty. George of Britain viewed this as a chance to stop the spread of communism. Clemenceau of France wanted to bring Germany to its knees for her not to start another war. On the other hand, Wilson of America wants to punish Germany in a way that would lead the Europeans to reconciliation instead of revenge. One of the many provisions of the treaty was called the Reparations. It is the 8th part of the treaty and also known as the “war-guilt clause” because in this section, it puts the blame of the war on the shoulders of Germany. Article 231 of the reparations states,
“The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies.”
With this, the Germans are asked to pay to certain countries for the damages brought by the war. The specific amount, however, was not stated in the treaty and will only be determined by the ...