28th June 1919
Treaty of Versailles
Delegates from 32 countries met in Paris to negotiate a peace settlement after the war. The conference was dominated by David Lloyd George, Georges Clemençeau and Woodrow Wilson, the leaders of Britain, France and America respectively. After several months of negotiations of the Allied powers, a treaty was presented to Germany in May and signed in June.
The Versailles Treaty deprived Germany of around 13.5% of its 1914 territory (some seven million people) and all of its overseas possessions. The German army was limited to a maximum of 100,000 men, and a ban placed upon the use of heavy artillery, gas, tanks and aircraft. The German navy was also restricted and there was a ban on submarines. Germany had to accept responsibility for starting the war, and agree to pay for the cost of the damages (set at £6.6 billion in 1921).
