Seeds of Future Wars
Drawing depicting the victorious nations from the First World War sowing the "Seeds of Future Wars" following the Treaty of Versailles, 1919. Today 104 years ago, on June 28, 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was signed, officially ending Germany's participation in the First World War. On November 11, 1918, the Germans had effectively surrendered to the Allies in the Armistice of Compiègne, ending over 4 years of war on the Western Front. On January 18, 1919 the Allies began their Paris Peace Conference in the Versailles palace to draft the peace terms for post-war Europe, the same place the Germans had forced the French to sign the 1871 Treaty of Versailles, ending the Franco-Prussian War. By June 1919 the Allies, led by the 'Big Four' - France, Britain, Italy and the U.S.A, had drafted a final treaty, which they handed over to Germany, giving them 5 days to accept the terms of the treaty, threatening to invade Germany if refused. The treaty was composed of 15 diffe...