And if so, why were they treated so harshly, i mean even France should've known the terrible effect the reparations would have on the German economy? Didn't Wilson even warn about punishing Germany too hard?
And if so, why were they treated so harshly, i mean even France should've known the terrible effect the reparations would have on the German economy?
For one thing, the Allies weren't really aware of Germany's hyperinflation, which was a result of over-drawing on wartime loans, NOT Allied reparations. Furthermore, aside from the Blockade and war casualties, what had Germany suffered? Aside from brief occupations of small parts of Alsace and East Prussia, the country was untouched and intact, and still possessed the industry and resources that had made it the world's second largest, and most advanced, economy prior to the war.
Didn't Wilson even warn about punishing Germany too hard?
Not exactly; he felt Germany needed to atone for it's wartime actions, like unrestricted submarine warfare, pilfering it's occupied territories, deporting civilians for forced labour, and mistreating Allied POWs. In the end, he also made reparations unavoidable, as he refused to support the original French proposal, which was to maintain the inter-Allied fund and use American money to stabilize the European economy, thus avoiding large reparations. The fund was instead shut down before the war ended, and Wilson reiterated the expectation that Britain and France would repay their wartime debts in full.
As to offers for surrender, the initial peace offer would have allowed Germany to keep the territories gained at Brest-Litovsk in 1918, and keep the Reich's territorial integrity. This was the offer made in October by the government. The only other one I'm aware of was made in November, and this was a German offer to pay 100 billion marks in reparations (the allies would demand 132, but only expect 50), 20 billion immediately and 80 to be negotiated at a later time. The issue with allowing the Germans into the treaty deliberations is that there wasn't really a precedent for that. For example, France was excluded from the Vienna talks in 1814, and was only included in 1815 under the aegis of the Bourbon Monarchy. Plus, the Allies were hardly a united group and they knew this, so allowing the Germans an opportunity to sow division would be counterproductive. Attempts at negotiation during the war, particularly over reprisals against Allied POWs in 1917, had not gone well. As a result, the Allies did not trust the Germans to act in good faith.