Why Did The Treaty Of Versailles Fail To Maintain Peace

The Treaty of Versailles was a major event in the 1920’s that was largely responsible for the events to follow, including the rise of Hitler and World War 2. Woodrow Wilson came up with a fourteen point plan of how to end the war with fairness and lasting peace. Germany was willing to accept the consequences because they trusted the treaty would be based off of Wilsons’ plan. Unfortunately for Germany and her allies, there were meetings with the four main allie leaders at Versailles to determine the final terms of the treaty without them. These men were determined to punish Germany, excluding Wilson, and hold them completely responsible for World War One. The consequences for Germany were unreasonable and unfair because Germany was not able

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 an attempt to create World Peace after World War 1 by giving Germany all the blame for the war, but by blaming Germany it resulted in an inevitable second World War. The German Territorial Losses, Versailles Treaty, 1919 (Doc. A), Treaty of Versailles / The Economic Consequences of the Peace (Doc. C), and Treaty of Versailles / Victory Must Be Ours (Doc. D) all support that Germany's excessive war reparations lead the world into World War 2. Germany did not lose an excessive amount of territories in the result of the Versailles Treaty, but the territories Germany did lose were vital to their country.

World War 1, fought from 1914 to 1918, ended with Germany on the losing side, and Britain, France, the U.S., and Russia on the winning side. Many countries were unhappy due to the fact they had lost so much money and resources from the war, and vowed never to go through the terribleness of a world war again. Little did they know around 20 years later the second world war would begin. So France, England, and the U.S. Presidents met in Versailles, France to figure out how to gain peace. France was angry they had suffered so much from the war, and proposed Germany pay big sums of gold, land, resources, and reduce their military. This was agreed upon, and became known as the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty was a factor that helped cause WW2 due to crestfallen Germany’s loss of money, land and military.

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.

World War 1, it was the bloodiest war the world had seen. Four years of fighting just to end up with a treaty that would then just cause another war. This is what the Treaty of Versailles did. Woodrow Wilson’s intentions were to put an end to all the fighting, but all this treaty did was delay the inevitable truth: This world just likes to fight. Plain and simple, “we” cannot solve any problems without fighting a pointless war that will only lead to a pointless treaty that only favors the winners. I guess what I am trying to prove here is that this treaty caused more harm than good.

Instead, Küntay argues, “The European allies, victorious in the War, sought revenge and wanted to ensure their dominance on their rivals economically, militarily and politically, and devised the Treaty of Versailles accordingly to "punish" Germany, and forced it to make very important territorial concessions, pay reparations, and disarm, effectively crippling the country's war making capabilities.”7 The effects of the war on the Central Powers, mainly Germany, were immense, and very closely relate to why a second world war started. The Treaty of Versailles was meant to punish the Central Powers, but because of harsh conditions it caused a lot of

The Treaty of Versailles was created with the intent of preventing another war. The Allied powers met at Versailles to discuss the treaty without inviting the Central Powers. Although the opposition forces, both liberal and conservative reduced the possibilities of the treaty being passed, The Treaty of Versailles’ defeat was mainly because of Wilson’s quickly changed opinion on reparations, disapproval of senators, and his intransigence towards 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

In my opinion the Treaty of Versailles was not successful. The peacemakers had accomplished an enormous amounts of good deeds but it was not enough for it to be successful (Oates, 145). In my opinion there were too many countries and too many people to please, for the Versailles Treaty to ever be successful. Its main purpose was to negotiate peace and make Germany pay for the consequences of the war (Berkin, 669). People like Wilson hoped the nations would eventually live in harmony and that the Treaty would be the first step in getting them there (Oates, 145).

The Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919, was a peace settlement between the Allied Powers and Germany and it virtually ended the war. The treaty forced Germany to accept full responsibility for the war and peacefully cooperate with the reparations they were asked to pay. Germany was required to make territorial concessions along its eastern and western borders. Being the subject of dispute between France and Germany for a very long time, the ceding of Alsace-Lorraine back to France was a very important event. Along with the land concessions Germany was also forced to pay a great deal of money putting their already failing economy in a downward spiral. Many believe that because the conditions in the Treaty of Versailles were so punitive it laid the foundation for the uprising of Nazi power in Germany, in other words the second World

Germans saw nothing fair in a treaty that blamed them for starting the war. Nor

Although many people see the Treaty of Versailles concluding World War I as a successful compromise, in reality, the agreement was a failure at its core resulting in conflicts, specifically in China such as the Shandong problem caused by the “21 Demands”, and the May 4th movement, the fall of the Republic of China, and the intensified relationship between Japan and China that led to World War II. There are three specific incidents were caused by the Treaty of Versailles, a failed compromise, and they are 21 Demands, the Shandong Problem, and the May 4th Movement. The 21 Demands originated from the Treaty of Versailles confirming upon China that Japan would officially take control over certain land mass and that the Chinese government would

The Successes and Failures of the Treaty of Versailles in Addressing the Causes of Conflict and Restoring Peace and Normality

The Versailles Peace Settlement and its Failure to Secure British Foreign Policy Interests 1) British Foreign Policy interests at the time Peace - Britain had everything to lose and nothing to gain from a war. Balance of Power – Best insurance against renewal of war. Global interests rather than just continental. Preservation of empire Preservation of navy – had best navy fleet.