In 1919, world leaders gathered in the glittering Hall of Mirrors at Versailles to end World War I. The treaty they signed placed almost all of the blame on Germany, stripping it of colonies, limiting its military, and demanding reparations worth billions.

Germany was forced to accept sole responsibility for the war under Article 231, the “war guilt clause.” To many Germans, the terms felt humiliating and impossible to meet. The resentment fueled economic collapse and political instability, creating the conditions that Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party later exploited.

The treaty was meant to secure lasting peace, but instead it planted the seeds for an even more devastating conflict: World War II.