The Treaty Of Versailles And The World War II

Though the treaty of versailles created peace and harmony in many nations after the first world war it left Germany to be humiliated and dishonored and to be worthless as a result Germany revolted, plunging the world into a second world war.

World War II was undoubtedly one of the most important parts of not only U.S. history, but world history as well. But do you know what contributed to the start of the war? The Treaty of Versailles was created to stop World War I, and any other future wars that could occur. So how did the Treaty of Versailles contribute to the start of World war II? The Treaty took away much of Germany’s land, gridlocked the German military, forced war reparations on the German government, and ordered them to accept responsibility for causing the war.

WWI and the Versailles Treaty had only a marginal (limited) relationship to the world Depression of the 1930s

Thesis: The peace treaty that resulted from World War 1 was not too harsh of a punishment for the offenses committed.

How does the result of one war lead to another? In 1918 WWI come to an end, the allies taking the roll of victors. 17 million people killed, civilians included and 10 million injured. After the war came to an end, leaders of the world came together to create the Treaty of Versailles in hope to avoid yet another war. Little did they know it would be the cause of the next. How did the Treaty of Versailles cause World War II? Reparations, loss of territory, reduction of military, war guilt, all consequences of the Treaty of Versailles, all which Germany had to pay for.

The first World War had devastated the balance of the 20th century with effects still felt today. The war had obliterated once powerful imperial dynasties, birthed new states from the fallen imperial powers, supported the idea of independence in European colonies, and led to the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Yet, it brought hope to the newly independent territories and minority groups, while plunging a heavy recession to countries that were once world powers. The war ended with the defeat of the Central Powers (German Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Ottoman Empire, and the Russian Empire) and the signage of the Versailles Treaty. This treaty along with the League of Nations was created to prevent another global crusade from happening again, but failed and led to World War II, which started only twenty years after the Treaty of Versailles was endorsed. And even with end of the Great War, it was evident that the world would never return to how it once was, four years earlier, in 1914. The destructive warfare brought out several unnerving and irreversible social and economic consequences that shook modern society for decades to come.

The Great War, or World War I, was the first modern warfare and the first total war in which almost everyone participated in it, both directly or indirectly. After the war, President Woodrow Wilson hoped that the Great War will be a war to “end all wars”; unfortunately, almost twenty years later, World War II erupted in Europe and the world plunged into an even deadlier war. With the end of World War I, the Treaty of Versailles was drafted to secure peace throughout Europe, but the cruel and unreasonable terms made World War II almost inevitable.

People often would assume that a peace treaty would bring peace to those involved and would end all violence. In the case of the Versailles Treaty and after the World War I ended in November 1918, that was not what appeared that happen. After the Versailles Treaty was officially signed on June 28, 1919 by victorious Allied nations and defeated Germany, that was when the beginning, prior to World War II began. Prime Minister George Lloyd Clemenceau of France had a voice in the Versailles Treaty and Germany did not. He specifically wanted Germany to pay France in land, gold, riches in general to pay for their suffering because of Germany’s mistakes during the First World War.

Among many academic scholars world wide, World War II is commonly referred to as “Hitler’s War”. Hitler’s personal experiences with the economic depression, being in battle during WWI, and seeing Germany be humiliated by the Treaty of Versailles all contributed to his ultimate dream of making Germany in to the greatest empire the world has ever known. Hitler knew that war was the key to Germany becoming the greatest empire on Earth from the very beginning, but the blame can not fall entirely on to Hitler. There was more an enough evidence before the war broke out that Hitler would be a menace to peace in Europe, to this effect Britain, France, and the United States all bear the weight of blame. Had the allies been able to rally together troops

The First World War saw more than 37 million people get injured or killed. (PBS) It was a gruesome war that lasted four years between 1914 and 1918. On November 11, 1918, the war was finally ended with the signing of an armistice. The winners of the war met in the Palace of Versailles to discuss the reparations Germany would face and also who should get the land that was to be divided up. The Chinese were also very interested in the peace talks. They had sent about 140,000 Chinese men to work as labourers for the French, British, American, and Russian armies. (Boehler) The Chinese wanted to back the Shandong province which Germany had occupied, but Japan an ally to the French led alliance took it from Germany, but didn’t give it back to China. China wanted it back because it was the birthplace of Confucius who is like the Jesus Christ or Mohammed in Christianity or Islam. The Treaty of Versailles would not give China what it wanted and it also created a bad taste in the mouth of Germany.

At the beginning of 1919 all eyes were turned towards Paris. The city was to become the main focal point for the world’s population. This was where the peace talks were to be held to draw a close to the First World War, the war to end all wars. World leaders from 32 countries converged on Paris armed with the demands for their countries reparation. The ‘Big Three’ participants of the peace talks wanted more than just reparation. For six months the world’s most powerful and influential men met every day arguing, then discussing, then arguing again. Deals were made, various treaties drawn up and new countries and organisations were created, the decisions made between January and June 1919 were the most important. This demonstration of power, debate and decision making had never been seen before nor would it be seen ever again. The treaty was signed at the Palace of Versailles between the Allies and Germany. The three most important politicians there were David Lloyd George representing Great Britain, Georges Clemenceau for France and Woodrow Wilson, president of the United States of America. The victors from World War One were in no mood to be charitable to the defeated nations and Germany in particular was held responsible for the war and its consequences. (http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/modern-world-history-1918-to-1980/the-treaty-of-versailles/ accessed 02 Feb 2016)

The Central Powers and Germany were defeated by the Allied Powers in the First World War. The Armistice was signed on 11 November 1918 putting an end to the war. On June 28, 1919, Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles (Thompson 548). The treaty demanded Germany to take full responsibility of all losses and damages which had occurred during the war. Also, the treaty called for the disarmament of Germany 's military force, territorial concessions, and war reparation payments. Although the Treaty of Versailles did not permanently weaken the German state, many Germans perceived the treaty as a demeaning continuation of the war by political means. Post-war, through the 1920s and early 1930s, Germany 's economy suffered greatly because of the harsh conditions of the Treaty of Versailles, the impact of the Great Depression, and a long succession of unstable governments (Thompson 550). During an era when European nationalism and imperialism was on a path to recovery and rise, Germany lacked political identification, military prowess, and leadership (Thompson 556). Their nationalistic pride had been wounded as a direct result from defeat and humiliation in the World War I. Germany desperately hoped to be redeemed, and found the qualities needed for recuperation in one of the most infamous leader in modern history.

The Treaty of Versailles was signed June 28, 1919 in Paris, France, from there; the war ended but would lead to another one. The treaty, which had been thought about in January of 1919 to June 1919, had 15 parts and 440 articles. The Treaty was enforced by the French and the Belgians for five years until The French began to lax on the subject because of financial problems. In 1924, and 1929, the Germans agreed to change the treaty, but the idea was never used, this lead to Adolf Hitler easily taking control and starting World War 2.

On June 28, 1919 the Treaty of Versailles was the ending of World War 1. The Treaty of Versailles causes many problems for Germany, especially the people of Germany. When the treaty was put into action the people of Germany had resentment for the government and for good reason too. The final treaty causes Germany to lose colonies and ten percent of their land because the land was lost so was trade. Austria-Hungary was divided up into seven parts. Germany lost land where they had businesses and factories so many people were out of work once the land was lost, according to markedbyteachers.com, “Much of the lost land was steel and iron factories” this caused a major unemployment problem. Germany also needed to demilitarise in result this caused

The Paris Peace Conference took place in January 1919 at Versailles near Paris. The purpose of the gathering was to build up peace after World War I. In spite of the fact that about thirty countries took part, the agents of the United Kingdom, France, the United States, and Italy wound up noticeably known as the "Enormous Four." The "Huge Four" commanded the procedures that prompted the detailing of the Treaty of Versailles, a settlement that finished World War I. The Treaty of Versailles explained the bargains came to at the meeting.