Do I need exact figures?

Learn the headline ones — £6.6 billion, 100,000 soldiers, 13% of land — precise figures turn a good explanation into full marks.

The Treaty of Versailles

The terms imposed on Germany in 1919, why Germans called it a diktat, and how it destabilised the Weimar Republic. AQA 8145, Germany 1890–1945.

GCSE
AQA
History
Spec 8145-GD3
5 min read
3 revision boxes

Introduction

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2 min read

What the Treaty did

The Treaty of Versailles (1919) ended the First World War on the Allies' terms. Germany lost 13% of its land and all its colonies, its army was capped at 100,000 with no air force, and Article 231 — the war-guilt clause — made Germany accept blame and pay reparations of £6.6 billion.

Germans called it a diktat, a dictated peace: Germany was not allowed to negotiate.

Learning

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3 points

Why it destabilised Weimar

Each term fed a different grievance:

War guilt + reparations
Fuelled the economic crises of 1923 and resentment of the government that signed.
The 'November Criminals' myth
Military limits
Left ex-soldiers unemployed and bitter — recruits for extremist groups.
Freikorps, the Kapp Putsch
Land losses
Split Germans from Germany and handed propaganda to nationalists.
The Polish Corridor

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Examples

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4 marks

Explain one way the Treaty of Versailles weakened the Weimar Republic

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Common questions

Do I need exact figures?: Learn the headline ones — £6.6 billion, 100,000 soldiers, 13% of land — precise figures turn a good explanation into full marks.