The Trust marked 100 years since the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on 28 June 1919 with a Peace Concert. Although the English summer weather was against us on the day, the concert was moved indoors and the Belvedere Concert Band played magnificently on, finishing with a proms-style finale. Thanks to all those who came, we raised an amazing £800 for local charity Carers’ Support (Bexley).
Although the war had ended in Western Europe when Germany singed an armistice on 11 November 1918, the peace treaties which officially ended the First World War were not signed until 1919. The Treaty of Versailles, signed between Germany and the Allies on 28 June 1919, was the most prominent peace treaty. However, the terms forced Germany to take responsibility for all the loss and damage caused by the war (known as the ‘war guilt clause’) and imposed crippling financial reparations, loss of territories and the requirement to disarm. The terms became a source of deep national resentment and the Treaty is seen by many as fuelling the rise of Hitler and a cause of the resulting Second World War.
