Video: 'The Treaty of Versailles' (June 28, 1919, at 52:32)

(Saturday, June 28, 1919, 3:12 p.m. Western European Summer Time) — The Treaty of Versailles was signed today in France, formally ending the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers known at the time as the Great War (and later as World War I).

The treaty required Germany to disarm, make ample territorial concessions and pay reparations to certain countries that had formed the Entente powers.

Video: 'The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century - #7 Hatred and Hunger' (June 28, 1919, at 45:34)

The signing began at 3:12 p.m. WEST (Western European Summer Time). U.S. President Woodrow Wilson was the first of the allied delegates to sign, just two minutes later at 3:14 p.m. WEST, which was 10:14 a.m. EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) back in Washington, D.C.

Just six-and-a-half hours later, Wilson boarded a train in Paris to begin his journey home to the U.S. capital by ground and sea.