What was the experience of the representatives of Germany with the peace negotiations after world war 1?

by RufusBrutus

I've read that on this day (18 January) in 1919 the peace conference started to discuss the peace treaty to end world war 1. What was the experience of german representatives at this conference? What was their role in this conference? Had they any say at all in this conference or was their task only to sign the treaty?

Starwarsnerd222

Greetings! I shall attempt to find answer this most interesting question that you have put forth here, though right off the bat I would highly recommend Margaret MacMillan's excellent publication Paris 1919: Six Months that Changed the World (2003, ISBN 9780375760525) for a more in-depth look at the Paris Peace Conference as a whole. With that recommendation out of the way, let's begin.

The German delegation at Versailles was composed of several key figures, all of whom brought some form of political agenda and feelings towards the Treaty. At it's head was Reich Minister for External Affairs Count Ulrich von Brockdorff-Rantzau, Reich Law Minister Dr. Landsberg, Reich Post Minister Johannes Giesberts, Prussian state president Robert Leinert, financial advisor Carl Melchior, and Professor Walter Schueking. All these men had practically the same reaction to the terms when it was presented to them on May 7th, 1919: utter shock and rejection of the Allied terms.^(2) Upon receiving the Treaty from French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau, Brockdorff-Rantzau famously remarked in his speech:

"It is expected from us that we should accept the guilt of War. This statement would be a lie in my mouth."

The problem with the German's position however, meant that the delegation was incapable of altering the Treaty in any way, shape, or form. By not involving the Germans in the peace negotiations or the treaty writing process, the Allied Powers had essentially stripped all chance of getting the Germans to agree to their terms without the torrent of complaints which inevitably followed. Almost immediately after being presented the Treaty, the German delegation began drafting and sending "notes" to the Allied delegations about the impossibility of fulfilling the Treaty conditions, and some included counter-proposals to specific questions. Here are some of them:

  • Protest on Reparations: The war reparations which Germany had to pay were crippling to say the least, and what's even more shocking is that no one quite knew how much Germany had to pay when the Conference was concluded. In the end however, Germany offered
  • Clause 231 (War Guilt): On May 13th, 1919 the delegation from Germany protested against the "War Guilt Clause", which stated that Germany accepted the responsibility (and hence the blame) for starting the Great War. The German text of this protest actually reads:

"The German people did not will the war and would not have undertaken a war of aggression. They have always remained convinced that this war was for them a defensive war... They cannot consider the former German Government as the party which was solely or chiefly to blame for the war."

  • Clemenceau responded to this protest by bringing up a note from November 1918 sent by the previous German government to US Secretary of State Robert Lansing, in which Germany admitted that she was indebted to make reparations on account of "Germany's aggression by land, sea, and air."
  • The Germans did agree to the concession of Alsace-Lorraine back to France, but vehemently protested the Treaty's stipulation of giving up the coal mines in the Saar Basin, the East Prussian corridor to a newly-formed Poland, Eupen-Malmedy, Upper Silesia, Prussian Moresnet, and various other German-run districts in what would form Poland.

These are of course, shortened versions and by no means an exhaustive list of the German protests at the Treaty of Versailles. The general experience of the German delegation was one of constant rejection and at times blatant antagonism by the Allied peacemakers. The chaos caused by the peace terms caused so much upheaval back home and in Versailles that Brockdorff-Rantzau left the Paris Peace Conference, and Germany's first democratically elected Chancellor Philipp Sceidemann resigned on June 20th over the Treaty. The Allies pressed the Germans, essentially giving them an "ultimatum" to sign the Treaty or (at least in the minds of the German government) face a renewed invasion of German territory and a continuation of the armed blockade. The new government quickly dispatched Foreign Minister Hermann Mueller and Colonial Minister Johannes Bell to accept the Allied peace terms, and the Diktat von Versailles (Decree of Versailles) was signed by the Germans on June 28th, 1919.

In short, though the Germans tried frantically to protest and revise the treaty terms, the Allies refused to budge on almost all but the smallest of problems. Hope this response helps, and feel free to ask any follow-ups you may have!

Sources:

Bhattacharya, Swapna. "The German Delegation at the Paris Peace Conference 1919." Proceedings of the Indian History Congress 51 (1990): 724-29. Accessed January 19, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44148322.

"GERMAN PROPOSALS AND COUNTER-PROPOSALS." The Advocate of Peace (1894-1920) 81, no. 6 (1919): 189-92. Accessed January 19, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20668298.

Marks, Sally. "Mistakes and Myths: The Allies, Germany, and the Versailles Treaty, 1918–1921." The Journal of Modern History 85, no. 3 (2013): 632-59. Accessed January 19, 2021. doi:10.1086/670825.

Fenwick, Charles G. "Notes on International Affairs: The Peace Treaty with Germany." The American Political Science Review 13, no. 3 (1919): 468-83. Accessed January 19, 2021. doi:10.2307/1945964.