From 1914 to 1918, the world was overshadowed by a horrific war-World War 1. The Treaty of Versailles ended World War 1 with the hopes of no more wars in the future, however nobody expected it to be to foundation of the next catastrophe in Europe-World War 2.
World War One that lasted from 1914-1918 was one of the most horrific wars in history. Europe was devastated and covered in a veil of anger and bitterness. Millions of people died or were wounded. Many cities in Europe were completely destroyed, infrastructure was down, and people who were not killed by war or by the Spanish flu were starving to death. Europe was not able to function normally. Especially the part of Europe in the north-east was just a pile of rubble. Finally in
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German delegates were not allowed to be part of the negotiations so was Russia but could voice her opinion. The treaty mandated that Germany was responsible for financial reparations and completely reduces its army and all production of military weapons. Land was to be redistributed. Kaiser Wilhelm was to be tried by an international court. The goal was to establish world trade and world peace and punish the Germans for all the destruction they caused.
President Wilson was mostly interested in establishing peace and built a working world trade network. He tried to avoid a too aggressive punishment for German and did not believe in blaming a country for starting this war. Therefore he presented his fourteen points: President Wilson wanted to eliminate secret treaties, remove all trade barriers and guarantee freedom of the oceans. All countries were to reduce their armed forces to the lowest level. One important key of his fourteen points was that all ethnic groups in Europe would receive their own country without any interference from foreigners; he wanted self-determination for all people in Europe. German troops should evacuate Belgium, Austria-Hungary and Poland must become independent countries. A League of Nations was to be established to protect peace and independence of their member countries. Britain’s Prime Minister David Lloyd George had different ideas. First of all he wanted to protect his public image for any future
World War I devastated Europe and brought unprecedented human suffering. There were more than 38 million military and civilian casualties: 17 million deaths and over 20 million wounded, and a toll of $186 billion in direct costs, and an $151 billion in indirect costs. [1] The allied powers negotiated the Treaty of Versailles, which officially brought the war to end in June of 1919, with very limited participation by Germany. The provisions of the treaty primarily blamed Germany for the war, and imposed unreasonable terms that were responsible for German expansion, hyperinflation, and economic downfall, and eventually led directly to World War II. [2]
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.
The treaty of the Versailles was an agreement between France, England and the United states. Its intentions were to prevent a second world war however, it was a total fail. An obvious reason for not being effective could be because not everyone was included in the conference such as Russia, and Central Powers. Instead, Prime minister George Clemenceau had thought he would speak for all of europe and wanted to be the strongest of europe. Clemenceau seeked revenge towards Germany, in fact he desired most dismantle the best of Germany 's military and their nationalist pride. As for the United States, Wilson implemented the fourteen points which focused on self determination of people. Only few of his points were included in the treaty but these points had been the reason for conflicts happening in europe. Participation from everyone is important and not allowing everyone 's input could lead to negative outcomes such as, The league of nations which most likely failed because the United States wasn’t allowed to participate.
The situation required the formation of alliances as an insurance of support in case the war would break out. Central Powers consisted of Germany and Austria-Hungary, while the Entante powers were Great Britain, France and Russia – that had many formal and secret agreements. In 1915, Germany declared war on Great Britain at sea and attacked all ships, including merchant ships. By drafting these first five points, Wilson was hoping to prevent any future conflict at the same scale as the Great War, by eliminating the actual causes of war. By bringing every nation to the same level and introducing them to the free trade and free sea navigation Wilson hoped to engage the nations into an economically beneficial alliance. The more nations joined the League of Nations – the more benefits would they have. This diplomatic solution is revolutionary because it did not only refer to the couple of countries – it referred to the global stage.
WW1 also known as “The Great War” was a brutal war that wreaked havoc upon europe.
Almost all nations desired to completely destroy Germany and make them work almost like slaves (Doc 3). The other nations act as if they had no part or fault in the war when in reality they were part of it just as much as Germany. Great Britain, France, and Italy all wanted revenge and saw this as their opportunity to get it. The treaty caused restrictions to their military and also made Germany lose their territory and colonies. The fault was entirely placed on their shoulders and the weight only became greater with the treaty. Germany was also not the one to start the war but yet were accused of it
Thesis: The peace treaty that resulted from World War 1 was not too harsh of a punishment for the offenses committed.
An event ending in millions of lives takes place with the aid of the Treaty of Versailles. Following after World War 1 was the creation of the Treaty of Versailles (1919), which penalized the Germans. Due to the extreme regulations placed on the Germans, Germany became aggravated and a new leader came to power, Adolf Hitler, who and restored a sense of pride and reawakened a sense of self respect. The Treaty of Versailles, because of the extreme decrees, such as minimizing Germany's military, taking an excessive amount of land away, and the ridiculous amount of money the Germans had to pay, threw the world into chaos causing World War II.
The Treaty of Versailles main goal was to harshly punish the Germans for World War I which was stated in the War Guilt
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.
World War One was a big and horrible thing. It was the war where Britain,France, Russia, Italy, and eventually the US fought against Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria. World War One ended up killing over 38 million people from all around the world. It was a terrible thing and it had ruined people, businesses, and even countries themselves. There were many reasons behind World War One and there were also many different impacts it had on America.
Wilson never intended to enter the war but because of Germany attacking U.S. ships it forced the United States to enter the war. Most presidents would focus on the war and work on winning the war but Wilson was different. Wilson’s focus was on not just ending the war but also making peace with and between European countries. To start the peace process Wilson created his 14 points. “His 14 points outlined his vision for a safer world. Wilson called for an
Ultimately, all the nations associated with this peace treated came to the conference with different aims. Each country had suffered differently in the war; therefor, their desires were dictated by the extent of their suffering. Ultimately, the Treaty of Versailles was created to make Germany obligated to pay for the damage they caused in the war, give up their colonies and its armed forces. The treaty also abolished Germany’s air forces and practically redrew the map of Europe. This peace treaty was biased against Germany and caused anger and humiliation throughout their
The principle behind the formation of his Fourteen points was to ensure that the conditions that gave rise to WWI and the conflict in Europe wouldn’t happen again. Thus, the Points included measures such as the elimination of secret alliances, reduction of armaments in various nations, clarification of the national borers based on self-determination and the formation of an international forum which could ensure solving conflicts in a peaceful, non-aggressive, just and transparent way. Wilson also made proposals that would ensure world peace in the future, such as freedom of seas, removal of economic barriers between nations and the promise of ‘self-determination’ for those oppresses minorities and a world organization that would provide a system of collective security for all nations. [Ap. 1]
The end of World War I was finalized by the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919. It was signed by Great Britain, France, Italy, and Japan but not the United States, as the U.S. drafted its own treaty with Germany in 1921. Many historians argue that the Treaty of Versailles was the major cause of World War II which occurred twenty years later. On the Treaty’s most superficial level, the extreme punishment and fines that were levied by the Allied Powers on the Germans were causes enough for war. Historians argue that this and the international fallout that resulted most notably with the United States were simply too powerful to avoid war at all. The ramification of the Treaty sent the German economy into a severe depression