Signed | 25 August 1921 |
---|---|
Location | Berlin, Germany |
Effective | 11 November 1921 |
Condition | Ratification by Germany and the United States. |
Signatories |
Weimar Republic United States |
Languages | German, English |
The U.S.—German Peace Treaty is a peace treaty between the U.S. and German governments, signed in Berlin on August 25, 1921, in the aftermath of World War I. The main reason for the conclusion of that treaty was the fact that the U.S. Senate did not ratify the multilateral peace treaty signed in Versailles, thus leading to a separate peace treaty. Ratifications were exchanged in Berlin on November 11, 1921, and the treaty became effective on the same day. The treaty was registered in League of Nations Treaty Series on August 12, 1922.
During World War I, the German Empire was defeated by the Allied Powers, one of which was the United States. The U.S. government declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917. At the end of the war in November 1918, the German monarchy was overthrown and Germany was established as a republic.
In 1919, the victorious Allied Powers held a peace conference in Paris to formulate peace treaties with the defeated Central Powers. At the conference, a peace treaty with the German government was concluded. The U.S. government was among the signatories of that treaty, but the U.S. Senate refused to ratify the treaty, due in large measure to its objections to U.S. participation in the League of Nations.
As a result, the two governments started negotiations for a bilateral peace treaty not connected to the League of Nations. On July 2, 1921, U.S. President Warren G. Harding signed the Knox–Porter Resolution, which had been passed by the U.S. Congress and ended the state of war between the U.S. and Germany, Austria and Hungary, further setting the stage for bilateral peace treaties. The treaty between the U.S. and Germany, formally titled the "Treaty between the United States and Germany Restoring Friendly Relations" was signed in Berlin on August 25, 1921. The United States Senate advised ratification on October 18, 1921 and the treaty was ratified by President Harding on October 21, 1921. The treaty was ratified by Germany on November 2, 1921, and ratifications exchanged in Berlin on November 11, 1921.