By the end of the First World War, Germany had become a ruined, humiliated and politically very unstable state. These are the keys of the Treaty of Versailles.
A clause especially irritated: article 231, which obliged them to assume full responsibility as initiators of hostilities. Prominent army officers and conservative sectors were even reluctant to accept the conditions, despite the fact that the alternative was the resumption of fighting and the consequent invasion of German soil. That's why the supporters of accepting the deal simply argued that there was no other choice.
Germany had to renounce its colonies and accede to the delivery of territories to different neighboring countries, such as France, Denmark and Poland. On the other hand, a series of military clauses forced to reduce the Army to the minimum expression. The Armed Forces had to be limited to 100,000 troops, and compulsory military service ended.
Aviation, heavy artillery and submarines were also suppressed. However, in a practical sense, the most severe measure was the economic compensation to pay to the victors of the war, which did not materialize until 1921. The amount established was 132,000 million gold marks (33,000 million dollars). This meant a decisive brake for the reactivation of the economy.
The State could not take on such an important debt in the following years and, thus, the economy of the country ended up sinking and the creditors only partially charged. Failure to pay these amounts led to the occupation of the main German industrial area, the Ruhr area, by a French and Belgian army.
