The Versailles Peace Treaty: June 28, 1919
The Versailles Peace Treaty: June 28, 1919
The Versailles Peace Treaty, signed on June 28, 1919, officially ended World War I. Of note, on the same day, five-years earlier the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated at Sarajevo, Bosnia, starting the war. Ten days after the Armistice, the German High Seas Fleet steamed into the Firth of Forth between parallel lines of the Allied Grand Fleet Ships. The German ships were to be interned at a neutral port but were instead interned at Scapa Flow, the Grand Fleet's anchorage during the war, upsetting the German Navy. All naval aircraft were collected and immobolized in German bases. The German Navy was limited to six battleships, six cruisers, 12 destroyers, and 12 torpedo boats. Submarines were out-lawed in the Treaty.
Image: LC-DIG-PPMSCA-07634: Peace Treaty at Versailles, June 28, 1919. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
