The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed in 1919 by the Allies and Germany at the end of World War I. The treaty required Germany to accept responsibility for starting the war, pay reparations, give up military land and equipment, and make territorial concessions.
The treaty also included a clause that stated if Germany violated any point of the treaty, it would be forced to pay an “indemnity not exceeding 50 percent” of its total annual exports.
In violation of the Treaty of Versailles, Hitler ordered the rearmament of Germany and the production of weapons.
In addition, Hitler violated several other parts of the Treaty of Versailles:
The Rhineland was a demilitarized zone under French control after World War I and until 1936 when Hitler ordered his troops into it without French permission.
In 1935 he announced that he would no longer abide by Part V which required him to “abide by all conventions concluded between them and their allies since August 2 1914”.
Hitler created a huge army with over 6 million soldiers by 1939 – this was allowed under Versailles only if there were no more than 100,000 soldiers; however, this number had been exceeded by 1934!
