What Were the Five Peace Treaties of World War I?
Following the end of World War I, the Allied Powers signed five different peace treaties with the various members of the Central Powers: the Treaty of Saint-Germain-in-Laye, the Treaty of Trianon, the Treaty of Sèvres, the Treaty of Lausanne and the Treaty of Versailles. These treaties stripped the defeated nations of large amounts of territory and resulted in the creation of a number of new, independent nations.
The Treaty of Saint-Germain-in-Laye was signed on Sept. 10, 1916 and created the Republic of Austria, while also taking lands from the former Austrian Empire to create the new nations of Czechoslovakia, Poland and what would eventually become Yugoslavia. Hungary, the other half of the defeated Austro-Hungarian Empire, signed the Treaty of Trianon a little over a year later, ceding lands to Romania, Czechoslovakia, and the Kingdom of Croats, Slovenes and Serbs.
Both the Treaty of Sèvres and the Treaty of Lausanne were signed by the Turkish, with the Ottoman Empire originally signing the Treaty of Sèvres in 1920. However, this led to the Turkish War of Independence that eventually resulted in the creation of the Republic of Turkey, who then signed the Treaty of Lausanne three years later.
The most important and strictest of the five treaties was the Treaty of Versailles, which Germany signed on May 7, 1919. This treaty forced Germany to give up lands to many of their neighboring countries, while also requiring that the nation accept full responsibility for starting World War I.
