World War I officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919. It was written by the Allies (Britain, France, United States, and Italy) with little participation by Germany. The Treaty consisted of many parts that mostly punished Germany. For example, Germany was stripped of its colonies, had its armed forces reduced, and had to pay reparations (the making of amends for a wrong one has done) for all the damage and destruction the war caused. The Treaty of Versailles had a lasting impact on Europe and would help contribute to WWII.  Germany had great animosity towards the victors of WWI because of the punishment they were dealt in the Treaty of Versailles.

The Treaty of Versailles effected the Germany greatly because they lost their colonies and got downgraded from their high position as a world power. The Treaty of Versailles also took away some classes of weapons from Germany and reduced their armed forces.  Some people believe that if this Treaty was more lenient to Germany, then we might not have had a WWII. The U.S. did not sign the Treaty because it objected to its terms and negotiated its own settlement with Germany in 1921. The Treaty officially put an end to a war that killed 8.5 million people.