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In 1978, Marks re-examined the reparation clauses of the treaty and wrote that "the much-criticized 'war guilt clause', Article 231, which was designed to lay a legal basis for reparations, in fact makes no mention of war guilt" but only specified that Germany was to pay for the damages caused by the war they imposed upon the allies and "that ...
English and French were the official languages of the treaty; in French, it was known formally as Article 231 du traité de Versailles or less formally as clause de culpabilité de la guerre ("war guilt clause"); and in German, as the Kriegsschuldartikel ("war guilt" + Artikel, "clause").
The so-called "War Guilt Clause" that they saw as blaming Germany for starting the war was seen as an insult to the nation's honour. The clauses calling on the Germans to hand over alleged war criminals also caused deep offence, as many of those accused were seen as heroes, and also because the Allies were seen as applying one-sided justice.
Notably, Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles, which would become known as the War Guilt Clause, was seen by the Germans as assigning full responsibility for the war and its damages on Germany; however, the same clause was included in all peace treaties and historian Sally Marks has noted that only German diplomats saw it as assigning ...
Hugenberg's proposed law called for the end of the Ruhr occupation, the official renouncement of Article 231 (the "war guilt" clause) and the rejection of the Young Plan. While politicians rejected it, it attracted enough support from voters in order to be put up for a referendum.
The Conference formally opened on 18 January 1919 at the Quai d'Orsay in Paris. [4] [5] This date was symbolic, as it was the anniversary of the proclamation of William I as German Emperor in 1871, in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles, shortly before the end of the Siege of Paris [6] – a day itself imbued with significance in Germany, as the anniversary of the establishment of ...
The most contentious article of the treaty, the so-called War Guilt Clause, did not use the word "guilt". It stated that Germany accepted full responsibility for all the loss and damage from a war that was imposed on the Allies by the aggression of Germany and its allies ( Article 231 ).
They believed that accepting the Young Plan meant confessing to the 'war guilt clause', which had not been modified under the Young Plan, and wanted to explicitly reject it. [14] In addition they wished to topple the government led by Hermann Müller of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and to hold new elections.