Treaty of Aachen

The **Treaty of Aachen** (German: *Frieden von Aachen*, French: *Traité d'Aix-la-Chapelle*) was a peace treaty signed on 19 November 1920 that brought an end to the German Civil War. It was signed by representatives of France, the United Kingdom, the United States and Belgium on one side and Spartacist Germany on the other. The terms of the treaty were set to expire after fifteen years, and thus will expire on 19 November 1935 unless renegotiated.

The treaty was hastily signed to prevent a large-scale conflict between the Entente powers and the so-called Spartacists. It was preceded by an armistice on 15 November 1920, which delineated a cease-fire line that would go on to become the de-facto national borders. The armistice followed the collapse of the White Movement in October, as well as the French intervention in Baden-Württemberg.

The terms of the treaty primarily revolved around reaffirming the armistice line but also included other terms. None of the terms established an official change in national borders. There were several notable terms involving the jurisdiction of the river Rhine. Burdened by an influx of refugees fleeing the Spartacists, as well as a general lack of optimism for a protracted conflict, the Entente powers agreed to evacuate the Rhine bridgeheads at Koblenz, Cologne and Wiesbaden. The left bank regions of the Rhine remained under Entente occupation, and unlike the terms of the Treaty of Versailles no terms were established for a timeline in which Entente forces would evacuate the area. Both sides agreed to refrain from disrupting trade along the river and limiting terms were established regarding the usage of small military boats. Additionally, a number of bridges were agreed to be dismantled, with those remaining being designated as demilitarized zones. To avoid military confrontation, it was also mandated that military forces along the Rhine be confined to their barracks, but in practice this term has not been respected by either side. Emergency lines of communication were to be established in case of crises as well. There were also provisions regarding the exchange of prisoners of war, who were allowed to choose whether or not to return home. Though official numbers are not known, prisoners from both sides are known to have chosen to stay in the jurisdiction of their captor. The Entente refused demands for the repatriation of interned White forces, who the Spartacists intended to prosecute.

Notably, the treaty did not include many of the terms that had been in the Treaty of Versailles, which had been signed by the government of the Weimar Republic but never enforced in full due to the German Civil War. The German socialist government refused to accept responsibility for the Great War, instead placing blame on the "bourgeois-imperialist" imperial government. Additionally, no form of reparations or military restrictions were able to be imposed on Germany. The Entente powers failed to force German recognition of French sovereignty in Alsace-Lorraine, though Germany has nonetheless not staked an official claim and has instead called for a democratic referendum. In conjunction with the German refusal to accede to the Treaty of Versailles, League of Nations sovereignty over the Saar Territory was likewise not recognized, though it continued to function in practice until French annexation in 1925. The German socialist government thus managed to achieve a de facto recognition of their government by the Entente powers without having any significant terms imposed upon them related to the Great War. However, this came at the cost of de facto recognition of significant territorial losses.

After the signing of the treaty, the Kingdom of Baden-Württemberg was established under French guidance, followed later by the Rhenish Republic. The establishment of the two states, which are unrecognized by Germany, was the first of many actions that would strain relations between France and Germany. Economic terms imposed on these states, which contain significant amounts of industries and natural resources, have been widely seen as a means for France to extract the reparations they had tried and failed to seek from the Treaty of Versailles and Treaty of Aachen.