Versailles #77: War or Shame

Join me and other history friends on Flick - a great app for history friends and important conversations!My agora friends and others are going to be in New York for a special conference on 29th June - meet Mike Duncan, Kevin Stroud, David Crowther and more! Search Intelligent Speech Conference now! Use the code WDF to get 5% off your ticket!While the allied rejection of the Counterproposals seemed to signify that there was no going back for Germany, certain individuals within the German delegation in Paris, and the German government back in Weimar, were keen to try a few final desperate things. At the top of the list of these desperate men was Ulrich von Brockdorff-Rantzau, the German Foreign Minister and recipient of the allied terms on 7th May. BR was, incredibly enough, not just planning to reject these terms, he was also preparing for war with the allies. What was more, this German and many of his peers in the German delegation had become convinced that this was the only way to avoid the humiliation of defeat, whatever the cost may be.So we examine here the forgotten story of Germany's planned resistance to the peace treaty, which the allies had made plain, could not be negotiated. To BR though, the apocalyptic vision of what would follow German rejection of the terms, complete with an allied invasion of German lands, soldiers in Berlin and maybe even the dissolution of the German Empire into individual German states, all this was worth it if it provided Germans with an opportunity amidst the carnage. As we will learn in this episode, BR was banking on noting less than an allied collapse in the midst of this invasion, which would enable Germans to bring the divided allies back to the negotiating table, and get a better peace. As we will also learn though, BR had it all wrong. So very wrong in fact, and the allies knew that at this point, it would have been the ultimate crime to hold back after coming this far...**********The Versailles Anniversary Project is possible because of your support and interest - make sure to spread the word, engage with the debate, and look at the different ways you can help this project succeed!->Visit the homeland for this new project!->Become a delegate and play the Delegation Game for just $6 a month!->Support the podcast financially and access ad free episodes with transcripts from just $2 a month! ->Follow WDF on Twitter! ->Join the Facebook group!->Subscribe on iTunes! Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.