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The Paris Peace Conference was a meeting between the victorious Allied Powers of the First World War, to discuss the post-war peace terms for the defeated Central Powers. The most significant outcome of the conference was the Treaty of Versailles; which outlined Germany's penalties, restrictions and reparations, set the foundations for the new borders within Europe, and founded the League of Nations; an international organization with the primary goal of establishing and maintaining global peace. In total, there were 440 articles included in the treaty, which was split into fifteen parts, with a varying range of topics and number of articles. The Treaty of Versailles was signed by 32 countries on June 28, 1919 (exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand) and came into effect on January 10, 1920.

Political, territorial and military implications

The Treaty begins by listing all representatives present at the conference, before Part I outlines the aims and parameters of the League of Nations. Following this the new boundaries of Germany and the recognition of new Eastern European states are set out in Part II, while Part III (the section with the most articles) discusses the legal implications of the areas seceded by Germany. Party IV discusses the effects of the League of Nations' Mandate, where Germany lost all of it's overseas territories (mostly to France and Britain). Parts V to VII deal with the restrictions applied to Germany's military and navy, and the processes for dealing with POWs, graves and war trials (Article 227 specifically deals with plans to try ex-Kaiser Wilhelm II for war crimes, however the Netherlands government refused to extradite him as it would go against their neutrality in the war. Wilhelm remained in the Netherlands until his death in 1941).

Economic aspects, and the "war guilt clause"

The second half of the treaty deals with Germany's financial and logistical future, outlining the need for a Reparations Commission, and establishing the extent of allied control relating to Germany's economy and transport networks. Part VIII, which deals with Reparations, opens with the most controversial article in the treaty. Article 231, known as the "war guilt clause", states that Germany was the primary aggressor in the First World War and therefore is legally responsible for compensating all the losses sustained by the Allied Powers. This clause was used as a focal point by the treaty's detractors in Germany, who saw this as an unjust national humiliation, as Germany was being held responsible for a war initiated by Austria-Hungary. This article was not intended to have such significance by the treaty's authors, however many historians have pointed to it when discussing the inadvertent damage caused by the Treaty of Versailles, and it's role in elevating the "stab-in-the-back myth" that was integral to the rise of German nationalism in the 1920s and 1930s.