June 28th: Anniversary Of The End Of World War I

On June 28, 1919, the Allied leaders signed the Treaty of Versailles, which officially ended World War I, writes Business Insider.

With hardly any German involvement, the principal architects of the treaty – Britain’s David Lloyd George, Italy’s Vittorio Orlando, France’s Georges Clemenceau of France, and America’s Woodrow Wilson – adjusted Germany’s borders and demanded steep war reparations.

Germany finally paid off its World War I debt in 2010, according to Business Insider and the German magazine Der Spiegel.

That treaty, known as the “unhappy compromise,” had harsh terms laid out in 15 parts and 440 articles.

Those harsh terms reportedly gave rise to more German nationalism, which in turn gave Nazi leader Adolf Hitler a political platform, according to Business Insider.

http://www.businessinsider.com.au/the-treaty-of-versailles-was-signed-96-years-ago-today-2015-6

Israel Rejects Palestine Peace Deal

According to the BBC, US Secretary of State John Kerry met the chief Palestinian negotiator in London over moves to set a timetable for an end to the Israeli occupation.

The European parliament settled on a compromise resolution recognizing Palestinian statehood and the two-state solution in principle as long as peace talks progress on Wednesday.

Rivaling the Europeans, Kerry was expected to urge the Palestinians not to push for a UN Security Council vote on a draft resolution calling for Israel to leave the occupied territories by November 2016.

A separate draft would set a two-year deadline for a final peace treaty.

Israel looked for reassurance from the US that it would veto both resolutions.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he saw no reason why Washington would not “stand by its position for the past 47 years that a solution to the conflict will be achieved through negotiations”.

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