On This Day
1935 – Adolf Hitler orders the Luftwaffe to be re-formed, violating the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles.
The Treaty of Versailles (French: Traité de Versailles; German: Versailler Vertrag, pronounced [vɛʁˈzaɪ̯ɐ fɛɐ̯ˈtʁaːk] (audio speaker iconlisten)) was the most important of the peace treaties that brought World War I to an end. The Treaty ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919 in the Palace of Versailles, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which led to the war. The other Central Powers on the German side signed separate treaties.[i] Although the armistice, signed on 11 November 1918, ended the actual fighting, it took six months of Allied negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference to conclude the peace treaty. The treaty was registered by the Secretariat of the League of Nations on 21 October 1919.
Of the many provisions in the treaty, one of the most important and controversial being that: “The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies.” (the other members of the Central Powers signed treaties containing similar articles). This article, Article 231, later became known as the War Guilt clause. The treaty required Germany to disarm, make ample territorial concessions, and pay reparations to certain countries that had formed the Entente powers. In 1921 the total cost of these reparations was assessed at 132 billion gold marks (then $31.4 billion or £6.6 billion, roughly equivalent to US$442 billion or UK£284 billion in 2022). At the time economists, notably John Maynard Keynes (a British delegate to the Paris Peace Conference), predicted that the treaty was too harsh—a “Carthaginian peace”—and said the reparations figure was excessive and counter-productive, views that, since then, have been the subject of ongoing debate by historians and economists. On the other hand, prominent figures on the Allied side, such as French Marshal Ferdinand Foch, criticized the treaty for treating Germany too leniently.
The result of these competing and sometimes conflicting goals among the victors was a compromise that left no one satisfied, and, in particular, Germany was neither pacified nor conciliated, nor was it permanently weakened. The problems that arose from the treaty would lead to the Locarno Treaties, which improved relations between Germany and the other European powers, and the re-negotiation of the reparation system resulting in the Dawes Plan, the Young Plan, and the indefinite postponement of reparations at the Lausanne Conference of 1932. The treaty has sometimes been cited as a cause of World War II: although its actual impact was not as severe as feared, its terms led to great resentment in Germany which powered the rise of the Nazi Party.
Although it is often referred to as the “Versailles Conference”, only the actual signing of the treaty took place at the historic palace. Most of the negotiations were in Paris, with the “Big Four” meetings taking place generally at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the Quai d’Orsay.
Born On This Day
1909 – Fanny Cradock, English chef, author, and critic (d. 1994)
Phyllis Nan Sortain Pechey (26 February 1909 – 27 December 1994), better known as Fanny Cradock, was an English restaurant critic, television chef and writer.[1] She frequently appeared on television, at cookery demonstrations and in print with her fourth husband Major Johnnie Cradock who played the part of a slightly bumbling hen-pecked partner.
FYI
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Courtesy of Craig Medred in response to a post on Nextdoor regarding Red King Crab, etc.:
the state closed our biggest red king crab fishery in Sept. i haven’t checked to see if they followed up with a Pribilof’s closure. there are issues going on in Western Alaska. it is possible the huge boom in BB sockeye salmon, which will eat young crab play a role here. and cod are involved as well. my old friend Hal Bernton took a shot at this: https://www.alaskajournal.com/2021-09-29/valuable-bering-sea-crab-populations-are-%E2%80%98very-scary%E2%80%99-decline
the warming benefiting BB sockeye is not a maybe. it’s real, but i guess he just couldn’t bring himself to say so.
long story short, if someone is selling truly fresh red king crab, it is probably from elsewhere. the Russians did stock them in the Barents Sea in the 1960s, and they have since done very well. both the Norwegians and Russians benefitted, at least crab wise. it’s a complicated picture. Sagaya’s crab could be Russian, but it could also be Norwegian I suspect: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/20/crab-22-how-norways-fisheries-got-rich-but-on-an-invasive-species
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Koti Beth: How to Make Cold Brew Coffee With Ground Coffee
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- Vegetable Tian June 5, 2026Meet Vegetable Tian – a colourful Provençal vegetable bake that I absolutely love! It’s full of beautiful colours, Mediterranean vibes, and looks as good as it tastes. Serve it as a side dish or enjoy it as a vegetarian main. Let’s go! Vegetable Tian I’ve been a ratatouille guy for as long as I can... […]Chef JB (RecipeTin)
- Chicken and Sweet Corn Soup with Noodles June 2, 2026This is my homemade version of Chicken and Sweet Corn Cup-a-Soup with noodles. It’s quick and easy, and the flavour is in a completely different league to the instant kind! Chicken and Sweet Corn Soup with Noodles I often get recipe ideas just by wandering the aisles of the grocery store, seeing what everyone’s buying.... […]Nagi
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- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for June 10 June 10, 2026Picture of the day Hills of České Středohoří (Central Bohemian Highlands): Malý Křižák, Křižák, Brník, Srdov, Milá
- Wikimedia Commons picture of the day for June 9 June 9, 2026Picture of the day Ringed kingfisher flying with freshly caught fish in Mato Grosso, Brazil
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