The destruction of German military power was thorough.The entire navy,with minor exceptions,was turned over to the Allied and Associated Powers;Germany's total equipment for the future was limited to six battleships and six light cruisers,with certain small vessels but no submarines.The number of enlisted men and officers for the army was fixed at not more than 100,000;the General Staff was dissolved;and the manufacture of munitions restricted.
Germany was compelled to accept full responsibility for all damages;to pay five billion dollars in cash and goods,and to make certain other payments which might be ordered from time to time by an inter-allied reparations commission.She was also required to deliver to Belgium,France,and Italy,millions of tons of coal every year for ten years;while by way of additional compensation to France the rich coal basin of the Saar was placed under inter-allied control to be exploited under French administration for a period of at least fifteen years.Austria and the other associates of Germany were also laid under heavy obligations to the victors.Damages done to shipping by submarines and other vessels were to be paid for on the basis of ton for ton.
The disposition of the German colonies and the old Ottoman empire presented knotty problems.It was finally agreed that the German colonies and Turkish provinces which were in a backward stage of development should be placed under the tutelage of certain powers acting as "mandatories"holding them in "a sacred trust of civilization."An exception to the mandatory principle arose in the case of German rights in Shantung,all of which were transferred directly to Japan.It was this arrangement that led the Chinese delegation to withhold their signatures from the treaty.
The League of Nations.-High among the purposes which he had in mind in summoning the nation to arms,President Wilson placed the desire to put an end to war.All through the United States the people spoke of the "war to end war."No slogan called forth a deeper response from the public.The Presi-dent himself repeatedly declared that a general association of nations must be formed to guard the peace and protect all against the ambitions of the few."As I see it,"he said in his address on opening the Fourth Liberty Loan campaign,"the constitution of the League of Nations and the clear definition of its objects must be a part,in a sense the most essential part,of the peace settlement itself."
Nothing was more natural,therefore,than Wilson's insistence at Paris upon the formation of an international association.Indeed he had gone to Europe in person largely to accomplish that end.Part One of the treaty with Germany,the Covenant of the League of Nations,was due to his labors more than to anyother influence.Within the League thus created were to be embraced all the Allied and Associated Powers and nearly all the neutrals.By a two-thirds vote of the League Assembly the excluded nations might be admitted.
The agencies of the League of Nations were to be three in number:（1）a permanent secretariat located at Geneva;（2）an Assembly consisting of one delegate from each country,dominion,or self-governing colony （including Canada,Australia,South Africa,New Zealand,and India）;（3）and a Council consisting of representatives of the United States,Great Britain,France,Italy,and Japan,and four other representatives selected by the Assembly from time to time.
The duties imposed on the League and the obligations accepted by its members were numerous and important.The Council was to take steps to formulate a scheme for the reduction of armaments and to submit a plan for the establishment of a permanent Court of International Justice.The members of the League （Article X）were to respect and preserve as against external aggression the territorial integrity and existing political independence of all the associated nations.They were to submit to arbitration or inquiry by the Council all disputes which could not be adjusted by diplomacy and in no case to resort to war until three months after the award.Should any member disregard its covenants,its action would be considered an act of war against the League,which would accordingly cut off the trade and business of the hostile member and recommend through the Council to the several associated governments the military measures to be taken.In case the decision in any arbitration of a dispute was unanimous,the members of the League affected by it were to abide by it.
Such was the settlement at Paris and such was the association of nations formed to promote the peace of the world.They were quickly approved by most of the powers,and the first Assembly of the League of Nations met at Geneva late in 1920.