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Occupation of the Rhineland
The Occupation of the Rhineland placed the region of Germany west of the Rhine river and four bridgeheads to its east under the control of the victorious Allies of World War I from 1 December 1918 until 30 June 1930. The occupation was imposed and regulated by articles in the Armistice of 11 November 1918, the Treaty of Versailles and the parallel agreement on the Rhineland occupation signed at the same time as the Versailles Treaty. The Rhineland was demilitarised, as was an area stretching fifty kilometres east of the Rhine, and put under the control of the Inter-Allied Rhineland High Commission, which was led by a French commissioner and had one member each from Belgium, the United Kingdom and the United States (the latter in an observer role only). The purpose of the occupation was to give France and Belgium security against any future German attack and serve as a guarantee for Germany's reparations obligations. After Germany fell behind on its payments in 1922, the occupation was expanded to include the industrial Ruhr valley from 1923 to 1925.
In the early years of the occupation, a number of separatist movements – some supported by the French – attempted to create an independent Rhineland allied to France, but none of them had significant popular support. Relations between the occupying forces and the German residents were often strained, although more so in the French and Belgian zones than in the American and British. Both the French and the Germans engaged in major propaganda campaigns, the French to try to win the Rhinelanders over to their side and the Germans to rouse national and international feelings against the occupation. The German propaganda war included racist attacks against black French colonial troops.
Following the signing of the Locarno Treaties that settled Germany's western border in late 1925, the northern occupation zone around Cologne was evacuated in January 1926. The Koblenz region, which the Americans had handed over to the French in 1923, was evacuated in November 1929. After a "final" agreement on reparations was reached in the 1929 Young Plan, the occupation of the Rhineland ended on 30 June 1930, five years earlier than originally set down in the Treaty of Versailles.
At the peace negotiations that began in Versailles in January 1919, French prime minister Georges Clemenceau sought to fix France's border with Germany at the Rhine. All the territories on the west bank of the river were to be detached from Germany and form one or more sovereign states aligned with the French Third Republic. He saw the idea, which had originated with General Ferdinand Foch, as the only way to remain secure against Germany, noting that it had invaded France four times in 100 years (1814, 1815, 1870 and 1914).
Clemenceau was unable to convince his allies to accept the proposal. U.S. president Woodrow Wilson advocated the right of peoples to self-determination, which he said should not be denied the Germans. British prime minister David Lloyd George did not want the settlement to "leave a legacy of injustice which would rankle as Alsace–Lorraine had rankled".
As a compromise, the United States and the United Kingdom agreed that if Germany should attack France again, they would enter the war on its side. Clemenceau then accepted a maximum fifteen-year time limit for the occupation. As a prerequisite for withdrawal, Germany would be required to fulfil the requirements of the peace treaty and meet its reparations obligations on time. The function of the occupation was thus changed from an instrument for weakening Germany to a bargaining chip for Germany's reparations obligations.
Article 42 of the Treaty of Versailles stipulated that the west bank of the Rhine and "the right bank to the west of a line drawn 50 kilometres to the East of the Rhine" be demilitarised. The provisions that related specifically to the occupation of the Rhineland were laid out in articles 428 through 432. The key article (428) states:
As a guarantee for the execution of the present Treaty by Germany, the German territory situated to the west of the Rhine, together with the bridgeheads [at Cologne, Koblenz, Mainz and Kehl, per Article 429], will be occupied by Allied and Associated troops for a period of fifteen years from the coming into force of the present Treaty.
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Occupation of the Rhineland
The Occupation of the Rhineland placed the region of Germany west of the Rhine river and four bridgeheads to its east under the control of the victorious Allies of World War I from 1 December 1918 until 30 June 1930. The occupation was imposed and regulated by articles in the Armistice of 11 November 1918, the Treaty of Versailles and the parallel agreement on the Rhineland occupation signed at the same time as the Versailles Treaty. The Rhineland was demilitarised, as was an area stretching fifty kilometres east of the Rhine, and put under the control of the Inter-Allied Rhineland High Commission, which was led by a French commissioner and had one member each from Belgium, the United Kingdom and the United States (the latter in an observer role only). The purpose of the occupation was to give France and Belgium security against any future German attack and serve as a guarantee for Germany's reparations obligations. After Germany fell behind on its payments in 1922, the occupation was expanded to include the industrial Ruhr valley from 1923 to 1925.
In the early years of the occupation, a number of separatist movements – some supported by the French – attempted to create an independent Rhineland allied to France, but none of them had significant popular support. Relations between the occupying forces and the German residents were often strained, although more so in the French and Belgian zones than in the American and British. Both the French and the Germans engaged in major propaganda campaigns, the French to try to win the Rhinelanders over to their side and the Germans to rouse national and international feelings against the occupation. The German propaganda war included racist attacks against black French colonial troops.
Following the signing of the Locarno Treaties that settled Germany's western border in late 1925, the northern occupation zone around Cologne was evacuated in January 1926. The Koblenz region, which the Americans had handed over to the French in 1923, was evacuated in November 1929. After a "final" agreement on reparations was reached in the 1929 Young Plan, the occupation of the Rhineland ended on 30 June 1930, five years earlier than originally set down in the Treaty of Versailles.
At the peace negotiations that began in Versailles in January 1919, French prime minister Georges Clemenceau sought to fix France's border with Germany at the Rhine. All the territories on the west bank of the river were to be detached from Germany and form one or more sovereign states aligned with the French Third Republic. He saw the idea, which had originated with General Ferdinand Foch, as the only way to remain secure against Germany, noting that it had invaded France four times in 100 years (1814, 1815, 1870 and 1914).
Clemenceau was unable to convince his allies to accept the proposal. U.S. president Woodrow Wilson advocated the right of peoples to self-determination, which he said should not be denied the Germans. British prime minister David Lloyd George did not want the settlement to "leave a legacy of injustice which would rankle as Alsace–Lorraine had rankled".
As a compromise, the United States and the United Kingdom agreed that if Germany should attack France again, they would enter the war on its side. Clemenceau then accepted a maximum fifteen-year time limit for the occupation. As a prerequisite for withdrawal, Germany would be required to fulfil the requirements of the peace treaty and meet its reparations obligations on time. The function of the occupation was thus changed from an instrument for weakening Germany to a bargaining chip for Germany's reparations obligations.
Article 42 of the Treaty of Versailles stipulated that the west bank of the Rhine and "the right bank to the west of a line drawn 50 kilometres to the East of the Rhine" be demilitarised. The provisions that related specifically to the occupation of the Rhineland were laid out in articles 428 through 432. The key article (428) states:
As a guarantee for the execution of the present Treaty by Germany, the German territory situated to the west of the Rhine, together with the bridgeheads [at Cologne, Koblenz, Mainz and Kehl, per Article 429], will be occupied by Allied and Associated troops for a period of fifteen years from the coming into force of the present Treaty.