Treaty of Versailles

1919-06-28

The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace of Versailles, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The treaty required Germany to disarm, make territorial concessions, and pay reparations, and included Article 231, the "War Guilt" clause, by which Germany accepted responsibility for the war. Bitter resentment of the treaty powered the rise of the Nazi Party and eventually the outbreak of the Second World War.