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Treaty of Versailles: Topics in Chronicling America

The Treaty of Versailles is signed in 1919 to end World War I. This topic provides access to materials related to "The Treaty of Versailles" in the Chronicling America digital collection of historic newspapers.

Introduction

Political Cartoon of the Paris Peace Council and the creation of the League of Nations. January 26, 1919. New York Tribune (New York, NY), Image 1. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers.

Newspaper headlines around the world proclaim, “World War Ends as Pact is Signed” on June 28, 1919, ending one of the deadliest conflicts in history that resulted in over 35 million casualties. Exactly five years after the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the Treaty of Versailles was signed as crowds cheered and wept, while Germany bitterly protested. Many historians claim the peace treaty's harsh terms set the stage for the Second World War. Read more about it!

The information in this guide focuses on primary source materials found in the digitized historic newspapers from the digital collection Chronicling America.

The timeline below highlights important dates related to this topic and a section of this guide provides some suggested search strategies for further research in the collection.

Timeline

January 18, 1919 Peace Conference opens in Paris; League of Natiions is created and approved.
June 23, 1919 Gemany officially indicates it will sign treaty but expresses reservations about its content.
June 28, 1919 Germany signs treaty, officially ending the war.