Treaty of Versailles

Treaty of Versailles. Signed in 1919, bringing the Great War to an official close exactly five years to the day after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

One of the most important and controversial provisions of the treaty was the known as the War Guilt Clause. This article, also known as Article 231 demanded that Germany
“accept the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage” during the war.”

The treaty also required Germany to completely disarm, make large territorial concessions, and pay vast reparations of roughly 132 billion marks (£284 billion today) to the Entente powers.

German anger over this treaty was one of the key motivating factors behind Adolf Hitler‘s rise to power and the Second World War.