Treaty of Versailles Obverse

Signed on June 28, 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the event that launched the war the Treaty of Versailles brought the conflict officially to a close. The treaty required that Germany accept guilt for starting the war, accept terms that were designed to weaken the country militarily, and accept crippling war reparations to the Allies. By the mid-1920s, attempts were made to renegotiate some of the terms as Germany’s economy crashed and political instability was rampant. By the mid-1930s, with the rise of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party, the Germans began to repudiate the terms as vindictive and harsh. By the end of the decade, a newly remilitarized and spiteful Germany attacked its neighbors launching the Second World War.

A nude male astride a winged horse; on either side are the male embodiment of Justice and the female personification of Peace. To left, JUSTICE (scales and wreath); to right (ANS seal)/ PEACE; at lower right, signed CB monogram.