War-guilt clause

(noun)

Article 231, commonly known as the "Guilt Clause" or the "War Guilt Clause", is the first article in Part VIII, "Reparations" of the Treaty of Versailles. The article, in which Germany was assigned the responsibility for damages caused by World War I, serves as a justification for the obligations put upon Germany in the remainder (Articles 233 through 247) of Part VIII, which was concerned with reparations.

Related Terms

Examples of War-guilt clause in the following topics:

  • Territory and Reparations

    • The Treaty of Versailles resulted in territorial changes around the world and required Germany to pay reparations for war damage.
    • Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles (the war-guilt clause) assigned blame for the war to Germany; much of the rest of the Treaty set out the reparations that Germany would pay to the Allies.
    • Such provisions were highly unpopular in Germany, and contributed to Germany's frustration that led to World War II .
    • The total sum of war reparations demanded from Germany—around 226 billion Marks—was decided by an Inter-Allied Reparations Commission.

  • The Paris Peace Conference

    • The Paris Peace Conference determined the terms of peace after World War I between the victorious Allies and defeated Central Powers.
    • The most contentious outcome of the Paris Peace Conference was a punitive peace accord, the Treaty of Versailles, which included a “war-guilt clause” laying blame for the outbreak of war on Germany and, as punishment, weakening its military and required it to pay all war costs of the victorious nations.
    • The United States did not believe responsibility for the war or the war-guilt clause placed on Germany was fair or warranted.
    • Map of the world with the participants in World War I.
    • World War I involved most the world, and subsequently peace negotiations did as well.

  • War Debts and Reparations

    • World War I reparations were compensation imposed during the Paris Peace Conference upon the Central Powers following their defeat in World War I by the Allied and Associate Powers.
    • Article 231 of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles (knows as the "War Guilt Clause") declared Germany responsible for all "loss and damage" experienced by the Allied and Associated powers during World War I.
    • In June, Hoover publicly proposed a one-year moratorium to reparation and war debts.
    • At the latter conference, the US informed the British and French that they would not be allowed to default on their war debts.
    • In turn, they recommended that war debts be tied into German reparation payments, to which the Germans objected.

  • Congress

    • Two constitutional clauses, the Constitution and Foreign Commerce Clause and the War Power Clause, give Congress foreign policy powers.
    • Perhaps the most important powers are in the War Power Clause which was given to Congress in the Constitution and Foreign Commerce Clause.
    • This clause provides Congress with the power to regulate commerce overseas.
    • Five wars have been declared under the Constitution: the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Spanish-American War, World War I, and World War II.
    • Evaluate the War Powers Clause and how the United States' process of declaring and entering into war has changed over time, identifying the general role that Congress plays in making and coordinating foreign policy

  • The Supremacy Clause

    • The Supremacy Clause established the U.S.
    • Article VI, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution, known as the Supremacy Clause, establishes the U.S.
    • Two sections of the essays deal with the Supremacy Clause, in which Alexander Hamilton argues that the Supremacy Clause is simply an assurance that the government's powers can be properly executed.
    • The state of Virginia passed a statute during the Revolutionary War allowing the state to confiscate debt payments to British creditors.
    • Discuss how the Supremacy Clause shapes the relationship between federal and state law.

  • The Reconstruction Amendments

    • During and immediately after the Civil War, the U.S.
    • In Delaware, where a large number of escaped slaves had settled during the war, 900 people became legally free.
    • The three main clauses of the amendment are the "Citizenship" clause, the "Due Process" clause, and the "Equal Protection" clause.
    • This clause was the basis for the 1954 Brown v.
    • In the final years of the American Civil War and the Reconstruction that followed, Congress repeatedly debated the rights of the millions of black former slaves.

  • The President

    • Since World War II, presidents have never asked Congress for (or received) a declaration of war.
    • Congress's most concerted effort to restrict presidential war powers, the War Powers Act, passed despite President Nixon's veto in 1973.
    • Another section of the Constitution that gives the president power over foreign affairs is Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution, known as the Appointments Clause.
    • This clause empowers the President to appoint certain public officials with the "advice and consent" of the Senate.
    • This clause also allows lower-level officials to be appointed without the advice and consent process.

  • Expressed Powers

    • While historically presidents initiated the process for going to war, critics have charged that there have been several conflicts in which presidents did not get official declarations, including Theodore Roosevelt's military move into Panama in 1903, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the invasions of Grenada in 1983 and Panama in 1990.
    • Clause 1 states that "the executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America.
    • He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows. " Clause one is a "vesting clause," similar to other clauses in Articles 1 and 3, but it vests the power to execute the instructions of Congress, which has the exclusive power to make laws.
    • Clause 2 states the method for choosing electors in the Electoral College.
    • The Constitution's Ineligibility Clause prevents the president from simultaneously being a member of Congress.

  • Separating Church and State

    • Many early immigrant groups traveled to America to worship freely, particularly after the English Civil War and religious conflict in France and Germany.
    • The Establishment Clause is the first of several pronouncements in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
    • Together with the Free Exercise Clause ("... or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"), these two clauses comprise the "religion clauses" of the First Amendment, which is part of a group of the 10 initial constitutional amendments known as the Bill of Rights.
    • The establishment clause has generally been interpreted to prohibit: 1) Congress' establishment of a national religion, and 2) US governmental preference of one religion over another.
    • The establishment clause arose as an important issue to address during Madison's efforts to ratify the Constitution.

  • The Ford Inauguration

    • As president, Ford signed the Helsinki Accords, marking a move toward détente in the Cold War.
    • Ford continued the détente policy with both the Soviet Union and China, easing the tensions of the Cold War.
    • When he announced the Nixon pardon, Ford also introduced a conditional amnesty program for Vietnam War draft dodgers who had fled to countries such as Canada.
    • Supreme Court decision which stated that a pardon indicated a presumption of guilt and that acceptance of a pardon was tantamount to a confession of that guilt.