new borders did not favour the Germans at all, in fact they were rather hard for the Germans to accept. In the west, Alsace and Lorraine were returned to France, this removed one of the grievances that had made France eager for war in 1914. But the French did not stop with that, they also detached the coal and steel producing are of Saar from Germany and put it under the administration of the new League of Nations. In the east, new borders between Germany and Poland were drawn, but the 1919 border was no fairer than any other. It differed from the pre-war border only by including more Germans under Polish jurisdiction.2. New states. A number of new states were created in central and eastern Europe on the principle of self-determination. The state of Austria consisting mainly of German-speaking members of the old Austrian Empire was forbidden to unite with Germany, and the new state of Czechoslovakia included about 2 million German-speaking people. 3. German disarmament. The Versailles Settlement imposed severe restrictions on German armaments, the army was limited to 100,000 men, the navy was limited to 15,000 men and a few ships and an air force was forbidden altogether. Areas of Germany, like the Rhine area bordering to France, were turned into a demilitarised zone. This meant that no soldiers could be stationed or any fortifications built in these areas.4. Reparations. The Germans had imposed reparations on the French after 1871, to make them pay for the war, in 1919 a lot of British and French politicians were determined to make Germany pay for the great war that was just finished. In the end the demands were far beyond any reasonable ability the Germans had to pay. No figure was actually set and the treaty merely stated that the Germans would pay. The section on reparations also specified that Germany could be occupied by foreign troops if it failed to meet its payments.Germany never thought the Versailles Settlement w...
