After the World War came to an end, French and British desire to crush Germany found expression in the Treaty of Versailles. While France wanted to ruin Germany so that it could never threaten the French possessions, Britain wanted the fulfillment of the war promises to ‘Hang the Kaiser’ and of getting from Germany “everything that you can squeeze out of a lemon and a bit more”. The following major provisions of the Treaty of Versailles prove that the Treaty was very harsh on Germany.
i) Germany lost possession of its overseas colonies.
ii) Germany lost a tenth of its population and 13 percent of its territories, 75 percent of its iron and 26 percent of coal resources were acquired by France, Poland, Denmark and Lithuania.
iii) Germany was demilitarized by allied powers to weaken its power.
iv) Compensation amounting to 6 billion pounds was required to be paid by Germany due to its responsibility for the war as held by the War Guilt Clause.
v) The resource rich Rhineland region was occupied by Allied powers for much of the 1920s.
