FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
The Treaty of Versailles (French: Traité de Versailles; German: Versailler Vertrag, pronounced [vɛʁˈzaɪ̯ɐ fɛɐ̯ˈtʁaːk] (listen)) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919 in the Palace of Versailles, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which led to the war. The other Central Powers on the German side signed separate treaties.[i] Although the armistice of 11 November 1918 ended the actual fighting, it took six months of Allied negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference to conclude the peace treaty. The treaty was registered by the Secretariat of the League of Nations on 21 October 1919.
Of the many provisions in the treaty, one of the most important and controversial was: “The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies.” The other members of the Central Powers signed treaties containing similar articles.
This article, Article 231, became known as the War Guilt clause. The treaty required Germany to disarm, make ample territorial concessions, and pay reparations to certain countries that had formed the Entente powers. In 1921 the total cost of these reparations was assessed at 132 billion gold marks (then $31.4 billion or £6.6 billion, roughly equivalent to US$442 billion or UK£284 billion in 2022).
Prominent economists such as John Maynard Keynes declared the treaty too harsh—a “Carthaginian peace“—and said the reparations were excessive and counter-productive. On the other hand, prominent Allied figures such as French Marshal Ferdinand Foch, criticized the treaty for treating Germany too leniently. This is still the subject of ongoing debate by historians and economists.
The result of these competing and sometimes conflicting goals among the victors was a compromise that left no one satisfied. In particular, Germany was neither pacified nor conciliated, nor was it permanently weakened. The problems that arose from the treaty would lead to the Locarno Treaties, which improved relations between Germany and the other European powers, and the re-negotiation of the reparation system resulting in the Dawes Plan, the Young Plan, and the indefinite postponement of reparations at the Lausanne Conference of 1932. The treaty has sometimes been cited as a cause of World War II: although its actual impact was not as severe as feared, its terms led to great resentment in Germany which powered the rise of the Nazi Party.
Although it is often referred to as the “Versailles Conference”, only the actual signing of the treaty took place at the historic palace. Most of the negotiations were in Paris, with the “Big Four” meetings taking place generally at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the Quai d’Orsay.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Question of the Day
How did the term “bachelor’s degree” originate?
The word bachelor is derived from the Medieval Latin baccalarius and originally referred to someone of low rank in the feudal hierarchy. Over time, the meaning was extended to denote persons of subordinate position in other systems, including those holding a preliminary degree from a college or university. This enabled them to proceed to the degree of master, which then entitled them to teach at the university. A bachelor’s degree signifies that the holder is not yet a full member of the university.
Advice of the Day
Use small fish, such as minnows, when fishing for pike or pickerel.
Home Hint of the Day
Spread out your painting chores. Give the house one coat of paint now and the next coat in 2 or 3 years. Applying two coats in the same year doesn’t give the paint a chance to set and makes it more apt to peel.
Word of the Day
Rupophobia
Fear of dirt
Puzzle of the Day
A crystalline substance and a tear. (Use these clues to find the two words that, when combined, form the name of a flower.)
Answer: Snowdrop
Died
- Pope Paul I – 0767
- James Madison (4th U.S. president) – 1836
- Maria Mitchell (astronomer) – 1889
- Rod Serling (screenwriter) – 1975
- Terrance Stanley Fox (cross-country runner, Canadian hero) – 1981
- Queen Modjadji V (the rain queen” of South Africa’s Lobedu tribe”) – 2001
- Billy Mays (popular TV pitchman) – 2009
- Meshach Taylor (actor) – 2014
Born
- Henry VIII ( King of England) – 1491
- Peter Paul Rubens (painter) – 1577
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau (philosopher) – 1712
- Richard Rodgers (composer) – 1902
- Mel Brooks (director & actor) – 1926
- Pat Morita (actor) – 1932
- Gilda Radner (actress) – 1946
- Kathy Bates (actress) – 1948
- John Elway (football player) – 1960
- Mary Stuart Masterson (actress) – 1966
- John Cusack (actor) – 1966
Events
- Molly Pitcher took her mortally wounded husband’s place at a cannon at the Battle of Monmouth, NJ. As a recognition of her heroism, the valiant woman was commissioned a sergeant by General George Washington– 1778
- Cholera epidemic began in N.Y.C.– 1832
- Labor Day became an official U.S. holiday– 1894
- The Treaty of Versailles was signed, ending WW I– 1919
- First Corvette car assembled– 1953
- Israel annexed East Jerusalem– 1967
- The United States Supreme Court, in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, bars quota systems in college admissions but affirms constitutionality of programs giving advantage to minorities– 1978
- 7.3 earthquake shook Landers, California– 1992
- A brief 4.5 earthquake struck the Midwest rattling windows and awakening sleeping residents from Wisconsin south to Missouri and from Indiana west to Iowa– 2004
- Pope Benedict XVI waived the five year waiting period for a cause for beatification to be opened and the official process for beatification of Pope John Paul II began in the Diocese of Rome– 2005
Weather
- Laughlin, Nevada, reached 124 degrees F– 1994
- Tornado tossed tractor 1.5 miles in Camp Crook, South Dakota– 2018
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