The Treaty of Versailles and The Two Great World Wars

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.

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.

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.

What began as an assassination of a single individual, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, led to one of the greatest despairs in all of history. Known throughout the world as The Great War or World War I, this global war ignited battles throughout the entire world where the Central Powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire fought against the Allied Powers which included several countries including Britain and the United States. Lasting for four treacherous years, the war led to the deaths of millions of people. From mere citizens trying hard to live their life safely and away from all the violence, to brave soldiers who stood up to fight for their countries, people living all around the world had hardly had any any nice memories of days that had just passed by or hope for the coming times.

The Treaty of Versailles was intended to be a peace agreement between the Allies and the Germans, instead with the harsh end terms for Germany, it created political and economic chaos in Germany. By the end of the First World War, Germany had surrendered and signed a peace agreement. The task of forming a peace agreement was now in the hands of the Allies. In December of 1918, the Allies met in Versailles to start on the peace settlement. The main countries and their representatives were: The United States, Woodrow Wilson; Great Britain, David Lloyd George; and France, George Clemenceau. It had seemed that making peace agreement would be fairly simple. Once they started, the Allies began having different ideas about the wording of the

In 1919 at the Paris Peace Conference The Treaty of Versailles was formally drafted and World War I was finally brought to an end. The treaty was drafted by the Allied Powers, which consisted of Great Britain, France and the United States. This treaty blamed the war solely on Germany, and it required them to pay an amount of “$33 billion dollars in reparations, cede all of colonies, dismantle their air force, and greatly reduce their other military operations”(German Delegation, 291).

World War I is often called “The Great War”. This was because it was the first war to affect such a large geographical area and involve so many countries. These countries’ governments had complicated relationships with each other and even the people who they governed. This war was largely unavoidable because of these complicated relationships and diplomacies.

The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand was a major cause of World War One. Archduke Franz Ferdinand was killed in the city of Bosnian. As he and his wife were visiting the capital of Sarajevo, a Bosnian revolutionary named Gavrilo Princip made his way to the open car and murdered the couple to death. This event was planned because the Serbian officials thought the killing of Archduke Franz Ferdinand would start a war that could bring down the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Austria-Hungary demanded war against Serbia on June 28 when Serbia could not reach Austria-Hungary's

Have you ever wondered why World War II happened despite World War I being the war to end all wars? World War I lasted four years and was very gruesome. Much of the Western Front was destroyed and about 10 million people died. Germany ended the war by ceasing fire and making an armistice on November 11, 1918. The Allied Power had successfully defeated the Central Powers and America had accomplished their goal to end the war. After the surrender from Germany, the Allied Power met up to make a treaty with Germany, however, Germany was not invited to come and negotiate. The Treaty of Versailles would soon be created and it would put most of the blame of World War I on Germany. The Treaty of Versailles contributed to the onset of World War II

There is a fine line between a grand leader and an absolute tyrant. Germany was unfairly accused of World War 1 and all the unfortunate deaths and destructions that occurred. They were solely blamed and not given a chance to recover because they were forced to sign a peace treaty, the Treaty of Versailles, which began the downfall of Germany. Before World War 1, Germans were incredibly proud of their heritage; however, compared to after World War 1 the people were seen with their heads hung in shame and humiliation. Everyone felt lost afterward and Germany was completely damaged, leaving a feeling of heartbreak, disillusionment, and sadness. In the end, it resulted in Adolf Hitler turning Germany into a totalitarian state. The most vital components that led to Hitler achieving power in Germany were World War 1 consequences, instability, and a charismatic leader.

The Great War, or World War One as we know it today, was only the beginning of significant international tensions that remain to this day. Casualties between the Central and Allied Powers totaled more than seventeen million-unheard of in wars up to this point in history. The Treaty of Versailles was agreed upon at the end of the war to prevent such horror from reoccurring. However, poor foreign policy choices, especially on the part of the United States, have had effects that are still visible today.

Everything commence in 1933, fifthteen years after World War I had ended because of the agreement to the Treaty of Versailles. Germany was still upset with the Treaty of Versailles, which basically said, Germany has to pay millions of dollars, there army was reduced, and they couldn’t join the League of Nations. That just didn 't settle with Germany so they decided to take matters into their own hands and start another global war, named World War II. WWII started in 1939 to 1945 because of many reasons, but the major reason was because of Britain and France, which were soon labeled the Allied Powers, just as they had been in World War I—both declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939. Germany had began its invasion of Poland two days prior to war being declared on them. Meanwhile, The Holocaust had just begun and it started wiping out the jewish community. Adolf Hitler, the ruler of Germany, and creator of the Nazi Party commence punishing the Jews because he thought they were the reason why Germany had lost WWI. Adolf Hitler began the worst crucifixion in history, which still affect the Jewish religion till this day. The six million deaths that was reported in Germany, was called “The Holocaust.”

World War Ⅰ was such a significant war in history, that contributed to many changes to the world today. From 1914 to 1918 the “Great War” was being fought between the central and allied forces. The trench warfare during the rough years provided a stalemate, a situation in which no progress can be made or no advancement is possible. So, as a result the allied forces made a peace treaty to finally end the prolonged bloodshed.

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.