Asses the Significance of the Treaty of Versailles

Another term of the treaty was that the Germans had to reduce the size of their army and weaponry. This limited the army to just 100,000 of voluntary soldiers, and they also had to melt down their weapons, they were forbidden to use any sort of air forces too. This had the affect of making the Germans feeling angry and weak and thirsty for revenge. Also Germany was to pay £6.6 billion in damages which badly affected their economy.

The Treaty of Versailles formed after World War I forced Germany to pay great amounts in reparation payments, which was severely damaging to their economy and to their collective national ego. In addition, they were forced to greatly weaken their army by demobilizing, abolishing universal compulsory military service, and by having their army be comprised by no more than seven divisions of infantry and three divisions of cavalry. Furthermore, the country was also forced to return lands which they had viewed as 'Germanic' and had laid claim to, as well as overseas colonies, back to various other countries.

"So long as this Treaty stands there can be no resurrection of the German people; no social reform of any kind is possible!".1 The Treaty of Versailles demanded exorbitant repetitions for a war Germany did not start. Adolf Hitler took the opportunity to address issues in his own hands after he left WW1 because the situation in Germany incited immense anger and distress in the people.

Ninety-eight years ago, after the fighting of World War I subsided, the Treaty of Versailles (“the Treaty”) was signed at the Palace of Versailles in France by the Allied powers and Germany. The compromise of the Treaty is that it ended World War I. The conflict of the Treaty is that it fed the German’s hate for the Allied Powers and, in turn, was the cause of World War II. “In their hearts was a stern resolution that the fiasco of November 11, 1918, would not be repeated for all serious people in America, as in all nations, remembered that much hailed Versailles Treaty was sown the very seeds of World War II” (Library Of Congress. Manzanar free press, November 12, 1942. 1942. Newspaper. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84025948/1942-11-12/ed-1/. )

The Treaty of Versailles was to blame the outbreak of WW2. The treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of WW1 signed on 28th July 1919. It ended state of war between Germany and Allied powers. World War I was a global war centered in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918. The topics that are discussed in this essay are the terms of the treaty of Versailles, the countries and people involved in the treaty of Versailles, the Germans’ reaction to the Treaty of Versailles, the unfairness of the treaty of Versailles, the advantage of the terms of the treaty of Versailles used by the Nazi party and the climate in Europe like in the lead up to WW2. Overall, the treaty of Versailles was to blame for

The Treaty of Versailles could be described as a great step for peace by some, but in Germany the people were enraged. The Treaty of Versailles was seen by the German people as a way to take away Germany’s land and make Germany have to pay for the war. Extreme Nationalists like Adolf Hitler had a strong idea on who should be the blame for Germany’s loss of land and the failure at the Treaty of Versailles. Adolf Hitler and the Nazism party blamed the Weimar Republic. “Hitler and the Nazi Party gained power in Germany by exploiting the economic problems and constitutional weaknesses of the Weimar Republic.”

“The Allies continued to regard the treaty as an international contract” (Doc D) Laurence V. Moyer, Victory Must be Ours: Germany in the Great War 1914-1915, 1995 since Germany accepted the fact that the war was caused because of Germany’s aggression and her allies, and caused all the loss and damage to the allies. After continuous years of the treaty, Germans saw the Versailles treaty as an “evil thing which must be destroyed,” and as an act of humiliation because they were made to be seen as a disgrace and cast off from other nations. When Adolf Hitler came to power, Germans admired him because he made them feel a sense of pride, reawakened a sense of self-respect and forced the world to look at Germany from a new perspective. (Doc D) Leading to a huge impact on why it helped cause World War II since Germany now saw how betrayed they were by the treaty, and felt the need to put their trust on a new leader such as Hitler, who could restore Germany into a powerful nation again, in their

This was millions of dollars that Germany had to pay. Second, Germany had to reduce the size of their army. Third, Germany’s colonies were to be divided among the Allies. The treaty had many mistakes. The main mistake was it restricted Germany so much. It made Germany mad and they didn’t like the treaty one bit.

In this essay, I will discuss about the importance of the Treaty of Versailles for Germany. Personally I believe that it was of crucial importance for Germany and I will show why this is the case and why I believe this. I will also expand the points which I have taken into consideration before coming to my conclusion.

Treaty of Versailles: The treaty of Versailles was imposed on Germany on June 28 1919 by the Allies. France, Great Britain, the United States and the other allies demanded that Germany dismantled their military, only allowing a token army and navy and forbidding them an Air Force. Germany had to give up some of its lands to reconstitute Poland, and accept military occupation in its remaining territories. The treaty also contained a “Guilt Clause” required that Germany accept responsibility and promise to pay reparations to compensate the victors for their losses, but no amount or period of time was set for this clause.

What if your world changed in a moment, a quick yet tedious second in which you knew nothing would be the same? Realizing that your world was falling apart crumbling at the edges, the cascading pieces taking away those you love and your will to survive. This is what many felt like after the treaty of Versailles was signed by the November criminals, but many German natives suffered the treaty’s repercussions decades after the treaty was signed. This formal agreement was significant in Germany from 1919 to 1939 because it led to Hitler’s rise to power, distrust among German citizens, and a newfound opposition to all those who created the treaty.

The Treaty of Versailles was penned during the Paris Peace Conference, mainly to decide upon Germany’s consequences for beginning World War One. When Germany signed the treaty, it lost a tenth of its land to surrounding countries. Not only did they lose part of their country, but they also lost their overseas territories, including Chinese ports, Pacific Islands, and African colonies. One of the actual causes of the war was that Germany wanted ‘a place in the sun’, and requested

After years of extreme devastation and gruesome bloodshed, World War I concluded on November 11th, 1918 as the Allied Powers claimed victory and the Axis Powers accepted defeat. In order to promote peace, finalize the outcome and prevent another large scale war, the victorious Allied Powers created a treaty, the Treaty of Versailles. Under the terms and conditions of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany and its allies were harshly sanctioned. Germany, viewed by the Allied Powers as the primary inciter of World War I, received the worst repercussions and was forced to single-handedly bear the financial burden of paying for the entire war. Leaving Germany, an already depleted country, accountable for all war reparations sent them into deep depression and great desperation. Ultimately, Germany’s deplorable state led the nation to turn to the infamous radical leader, Adolf Hitler, who provoked World War II.

The Treaty of Versailles was a monumental stage in German history, helping to shape German history for arguably the best part of thirty years. It can be argued that the Treaty was the most significant event since the unification of Germany in 1890. The short term consequences were also highly prominent as over 300,000 Germans fled to America in the years 1917-23. Moreover many Germans were aggrieved by the Treaty, this lead to public exploits (Kapp Putsch and Munich Putsch) that lead to casualties accumulating into the 1000’s. With so much death and

November 11, 1918, Europe would be left in utter devastation from the effects of World War I. These effects which would have unprecedented effect on the development on European nations into modern nations. However, the immediate impact of the policies and treaties created by the “Big Four” (Great Britain, Italy, France and The United States) would leave devastating irreversible consequences on the Great War’s losers. The most important treaty that the allies would make would be The Treaty of Versailles, signed on June 28th, 1919. This treaty would have the most destructive consequences on Germany, whom would become bitter, nationalistic, and isolated from its effects. As Holborn puts it, “the treaty did not solve the problem of reparations, which was not settled for years to come in a fashion that would have stabilized the social and economic conditions of Europe. The struggle about the economic settlement of World War I kept alive and magnified the national hostilities which the political provinces of the peace produced.”1 The Treaty of Versailles would require Germany to surrender vast amounts of territory in Europe and oversea, diminish its military might significantly, impose insurmountable financial and economic demands, as well as making her accept the ‘War Guilt Clause;’ this in turn would make the Germans feel a national humiliation and cause tremendous resent, this in turn would lead to the rise of authoritarianism, expansionism and the public demand for redemption.