1. Clemenceau felt that the Treaty was not harsh enough
Wilson was very disappointed with the Treaty and said if he was German he would not sign it. He knew that no-one was satisfied
Germans did not feel that they had started the war or that they had lost the war
Many Germans did not know how Germany was getting on at the end of the war and believed that Germany had agreed to a ceasefire and should therefore not have to negotiate peace
The Germans were angry that they were not represented at the Peace talks and that the harsh Treaty was forced on them (DIKTAT)
The leader of Germany, Ebert, felt that he had no choice but to sign the Treaty in order to avoid more war. At first, Germany refused to sign the Treaty and sank its own ships in protest
The Germans hated the war guilt clause. Germans felt that the blame should be shared
The Germans were outraged that they had to accept blame and pay for all the damage, Their economy was already ruined. There was very little food and the reparations would finish them off
In 1923, French and Belgian troops invaded the Ruhr (industrial area of Germany) when Germany stopped paying reparations – they had run out of money. This was legal under the TofV. The French killed 100 German workers and the German economy collapsed
The disarmament terms upset Germans. The German army was a symbol of pride. Germany had to reduce the size of its armed forces far more than any other country
Germans felt that their treatment was not in keeping with Wilson’s 14 points. Whilst some countries were given self-determination (independence), German-speaking peoples were split up and ruled in other countries
Germany lost a lot of territory. This was a major blow to German pride and to its economy (important industrial areas were lost e.g. Saar). As Germany lost land, Britain and France gained land
Germany felt very insulted when it was not invited to joint the League of Nations
Many people felt that Germany deserved its treatment because of the harsh way that they had treated Russia in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1918
Many believed that Germany’s economic problems were caused by Germany themselves. Other countries had raised taxes to pay for the war but the German Kaiser planned to pay for the war using money from the countries that he had defeated
Clemenceau felt that the Treaty was not harsh enough
The British praised Lloyd George for the Treaty but he felt that the Treaty was a great pity and felt that it would cause another war