No other treaty in history has been given so many epithets as this one: a peace of shame or disgrace, a peace of dictatorship, a peace of annihilation or of violence, in May and June 1919 it made German emotions boil and mobilized the masses. The outcry of indignation is enormous and will not abate even after the signing on June 28, 1919. Was it responsible for the Second World War? Was it responsible for Hitler and National Socialism? Or was it perhaps not strong enough to prevent German plans for world domination once and for all?

One thing is certain: it is one of the great factors that have been a burden on the first democratic republic in Germany from the very beginning. For ZDFHistory we explain how it came about.

WRITER & DIRECTOR: Judith Voelker     EDITOR: Marie Wilbers     CAMERA: Dieter Stürmer     COMMISSIONING EDITOR: Stefan Gierer (ZDF), Winfried Laasch (ZDF)