Talk:Treaty of Versailles

War crimes
Whilst in the end not resulting in very much in the way of convictions, the war crimes issues around the Versailles agreement were an important factor in both the negotiations and the implementation of the agreement. That this is so is evidenced by, for example, the last-minute refusal of the Germans being explicitly because of articles 227-230 (i.e., the ones dealing with putting the Kaiser on trial, and trying war criminals) as well as article 231 (i.e., the "war guilt" clause). Previously this article did not mention the topic at all which is a serious omission. Even general histories of the WW1 period typically mention this issue, and there is substantial scholarship on the topic. I've added in the relevant content to each of the "big four" (though I don't think the Italians had an explicit agreed position), to the description of the agreement, and to the violations section (since in the end extradition was refused and the Germans declared not to have carried out the trials properly). FOARP (talk) 09:38, 3 March 2024 (UTC)

Section on the formation of the German empire in the background?
I think one thing this article is possibly missing is some of the context of why states wanted what they wanted from Germany. For example, regaining Alsace-Lorraine was a very important goal of France, but we essentially leave the question of "why?" hanging. similarly, Poland kind of just appears in the text of the article with no real explanation as to why so much Polish territory was occupied by Germany. Since the article is already very long, and also since I am aware that one can always extend the period in a history article backwards to further explain who-did-what which can turn in to a historical blame-game, I don't feel confident to simply add this in without discussing first. What I'm thinking of is something along the lines of:
 * ===The German Empire===
 * During the German wars of unification, Prussia under Bismarck successfully unified the smaller German states into an empire. In the course of these wars Schleswig-Holstein and (formerly-French) Alsace-Lorraine were added to earlier Prussian conquests in Poland as constituent parts of the German Reich. The peace Bismarck imposed on France in particular caused lasting bitterness in that country.

For sources on all this Weinberg's "The Defeat of Germany in 1918 and the European Balance of Power" appears to be a good source both factually and for these being relevant to Versailles (see, e.g., 252-3 on Poland). FOARP (talk) 10:10, 6 March 2024 (UTC)

Hitler's reaction
The section on Hitler's reaction seems to be severely downplayed. For example, he was so incensed by the treaty that he later forced the French to surrender in the same railway car. This car was then destroyed. 45.26.61.142 (talk) 03:19, 7 May 2024 (UTC)

link to spain
In Reactions-Portugal section: "... Spain—which had remained neutral in the war..." add Spain during World War I link. 81.0.46.69 (talk) 21:18, 13 May 2024 (UTC)

Expiration date
The expiration date of the Treaty of Versailles was September 1, 1939, following the Invasion of Poland that started World War II, and the expiry date was April 18, 1946, when the League of Nations dissolved. 2603:8001:B202:3294:A479:81FC:A6F9:78D7 (talk) 09:23, 9 July 2024 (UTC)