The Importance Of The Treaty Of Versailles

How did the Treaty of Versailles help cause WWII? The same treaty that ended the first world war played a huge role in starting the second. WWI ended on November 11th, 1918 with 17 million casualties, 7 months later the official document to end the war, the Treaty of Versailles, was created & signed. Leaders of the United States, France, and Great Britain shaped the terms of the treaty.

What responsibility did each of the “Big Three” have for the failure of the Versailles Treaty to bring peace to Europe? Be sure to discuss what each wanted to accomplish.

World War II was one of the bloodiest wars ever fought. World War II cost over 60 million lives and trillions of dollars. However, the entire war could of been prevented. Many wars in history could have been prevented. Rash decisions ignite wars and change history forever. One example of a rash decision is the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles required Germany to pay excessive reparations. This was impossible at the time, as the country was just in a long and expensive war. Another irrational decision was the laws of the League of Nations. The League of Nations was a good idea, but it had flaws. Allowing members to leave the League of Nations at anytime without consequences is an example of a flaw. Germany used this to their advantage and left it in 1933. Finally, the leaders of Europe should not have pacified Hitler, like they did in the Munich Conference in 1938. Changes to the Treaty of Versailles, and the League of Nations, and by not practicing a policy of appeasement against Hitler could have prevented World War II.

Some of the main ideas in the Treaty of Versailles are that Germany had to take the blame for starting the war. That was a big part because people got justice out of that. Germany also had to pay a lot of money for the damage that were done during the war. Next Germany was not allowed to own submarines or have an Air Force. They were only allowed to have a navy of six battleships, and an Army of just 100,000 men. In addition, Germany was not allowed to place any soldiers next to France. And lastly Germany lost lots of land in Europe, their colonies were given to Britain and France. There are many examples of this treaty still today, in modern times. It had big effects in earlier times as well. But first here are a few examples of how much

The Treaty of Versailles was unfair because Germany did not attend the Paris Peace Conference. In the conference, representatives from the Allied Powers were present and some from other countries (Doc 1) However, no representative of Germany was there. Therefore, they did not even have a say to what their consequences may be or anything in general. They could not defend themselves. This caused them to feel bitter and angry since in the end they were blamed about everything. This later caused World War 2. The treaty was supposed to conclude to peace but peace did not last.

Germany was not permitted to attend the treaty. Had they been able to go to the treaty, it could have help resolve issues between the other countries and Germany. Although Germany may have caused great damage during the first war, they should have been treated in a way that caused the other three countries to look upon them as the aggrieved party. Document D sates “Allies saw the treaty of Versailles as an international contract.” It then stated that Germany saw it as a “ atrocious injustice” and that “it must be destroyed.” It is apparent that Germany was resented by the other countries. Document B showed how much land Germany lost due to the financial strain, but Germany should not have been held fully for their actions in the war. The Germans did not fight alone, and as tough as WWI was, the opposing countries should have taken responsibility for the damage they had done too. Together, they would need money for the damages that the war brought. With Germany being the issue from the point of view of the opposing countries, not allowing them to go to the Versailles treaty would only cause greater

The Treaty would do several things that would make once proud Germany a nation what was beat and would have to pay the price of war, both literally and figuratively. Woodrow Wilson, current President of the United States at the time of the war, had the philosophy that there should be no winners, as with winners there were losers. He had 14 points that would end the war, and leave little to no gunpowder to ignite another. However, they British and French did not heed these warnings, as they would go on the limit Germany’s army. Including officers, the army would be limited to 100,000 men (Document B). While it can be seen as rational, as a restricted army would limit Germany’s chance of wanting to cause another war, it could also be seen as embarrassing. As Belgium, a country that was one of the smallest at the time had 530,000 troops after Article 160 of the treaty was passed (Document B). Now if a country that is almost one-eighth the size of you, has an army that is 5 times larger than your it is quite embarrassing, especially at a time that the size of your army was almost representative of your power. The new country of Poland had 3.2 million troops, despite its young age, (Document B). All of this was just simply unbearable to the German population, but the fact that they had to agree to a guilt clause

The Treaty of Versailles had many changes that impacted the course of history. Many historians believed the restrictions impeding the Germans were too harsh and was a major factor to the Second World War happening (Could the treaties be justified at the time?, 61). In my opinion, changing the treaty would not be historically possible. Not the fact that we can not go back in time, but because at the time the Treaty was thought to end all future wars and any future conflict was not considered. Furthermore, they knew the Germans would be unhappy, but not furious to the point of Hitler… (Hitler's Speech,1). Still, there are things I would change to the treaty such as not giving the French the coal mines. Taking the coal mines away from Germany was just greedy because Germany was still a nation with millions of families and civilians who need to survive. As the letter from Brockdorff-Rantzau stated that this would take away one third of their coal production and cause shortages in this

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.

How significant was the Treaty of Versailles to Germany? This is the question that has been posed to us for our first analytical history essay. I will go into depth about my opinions on both the long-term and short-term effects of the Treaty of Versailles. I believe that the Treaty had a powerful impact on Germany- it practically ruined their economy, and gave the Germans all the more reason to hate the Allies, eventually contributing to the beginning of World War 2. Although the Allies had a right to demand certain things from Germany (as they were the instigators of the war), they should have been more lenient and taken Germany’s poor economic situation into account. The war was a mistake on the part of the German government, but it was the people who payed the price. I have taken into account Germany’s loss of territory, the war guilt, the economical effects of the Treaty, and the armaments and discussed them in this essay.

The main clauses of the Treaty of Versailles are strongly against Germany, and will hurt Germany’s economy, and status. The Treaty of Versailles is not just, but the United States must respect the opinion of France, Britain, Italy and the other European countries. Germany deeply affected the lives of Europeans, and the war resulted in countless

impact on, and the affect that the treaty has had on them can also be

Personally, I would include more of President Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points in the treaty and make the treaty less about punishing Germany and more about preventing any further conflicts. The treaty as it stands seems like it will only create internal conflict within Germany. If any country had to pay off such a huge debt in war reparations, their economic state would obviously deteriorate, leading to tension between the government and the

World War I was a devastating war that had a long-lasting effect on every European country. After the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austrian throne, and his wife by the hands of a Serbian terrorist group known as the Black Hand. Germany urged Austria-Hungary to attack Serbia, but Russia stepped up to protect the country. Germany ambushed Belgium, and proceeded to Russia, throwing Great Britain into the war due to their alliance with Belgium. As a result, the continent of Europe, including Great Britain, Italy, Russia, Austria-Hungary, and France, was plunged into a great World War. The war lasted from 1914 to 1918, and it left Germany singled out as the catalyst. In November 1918, Germany finally agreed to an Armistice, a halt in the fighting, but they did not consider themselves to be surrendering. At the time, the Germans believed that they would play a role in constructing the treaty that would end the war, but when the time came, they were not allowed to participate. Germany was greatly angered by this, but there was nothing that they could do for their army had been disarmed. They had two choices: sign the Treaty or be invaded by the Allies. With no other option, the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919 in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles in France. Although the Treaty of Versailles did bring an end to World War I,

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.