War Guilt Clause Diktat Philipp Scheidemann Weimar National Assembly government

Germans of all political shades denounced the treaty—particularly the War Guilt Clause that blamed Germany for starting the war—as an insult to the nation's honour. They referred to the treaty as "the Diktat" since its terms were presented to Germany on a take-it-or-leave-it basis. Germany's first democratically elected head of government, Philipp Scheidemann, resigned rather than sign the treaty. In an emotional and polemical address to the Weimar National Assembly on 12 May 1919, he called the treaty a "horrific and murderous witch's hammer", and exclaimed: 