Quick questions on Treaty of Versailles and the peace settlement: HSC Modern History Core Study

Germany accepted sole responsibility for causing the war. This was the legal basis for reparations and the political basis for the "stab in the back" myth.

Initially undefined; set at 132 billion gold marks by the London Schedule (May 1921). The Ruhr occupation by France and Belgium (January 1923) followed a German default and triggered hyperinflation. The Dawes Plan (1924) and Young Plan (1929) restructured payments.

Germany lost 13 per cent of its territory and around 6.5 million inhabitants. Alsace and Lorraine returned to France. The Polish Corridor and Danzig (a free city under League supervision) divided East Prussia from the rest of Germany.

The army was capped at 100,000 volunteers. Conscription was banned. No air force, no tanks, no submarines, and only six battleships were permitted.

Created by Part I of the Treaty (the Covenant). Germany was excluded until 1926.

Source A is an extract from John Maynard Keynes, The Economic Consequences of the Peace (December 1919): "The treaty includes no provisions for the economic rehabilitation of Europe." Using Source A and your own knowledge, explain how the treaty was viewed by contemporaries. [5 marks]

Evaluate the extent to which the Treaty of Versailles was responsible for the political instability of the Weimar Republic between 1919 and 1929. [25 marks]

Compare the views of Margaret MacMillan and A.J.P. Taylor on whether the Treaty of Versailles made the Second World War inevitable. [10 marks]