Why Was The Treaty Of Versailles Unjust

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.

The Treaty had what is referred to as the War Guilt Clause, which laid all the blame for the war on Germany (Doc D). Because of this, Germans despised the Treaty, and viewed it as "an atrocious injustice, an evil thing which must be destroyed" (Doc D). They wanted revenge against those who implemented the clauses, and in their opinion, unfairly blamed Germany. Hitler was accepted by Germans because he promised to destroyed the Treaty by violating its clauses and restoring Germany to it's former glory. Hitler gave back the pride and respect Germans had for their country, which the Treaty if Versailles had

There can never be an excuse for Nazi atrocities. World War I resulted in the death of 17 million people. The victorious Allies met at Versailles in 1919 to establish the terms of peace. The hope was that the treaty would make World War I the “war to end all wars.” The Treaty of Versailles punished Germany too harshly in four key ways: Loss of land, military reduction, reparations, and war guilt.

“Germany undertakes, that she will make compensation for all the damage done to the civilian population”(Doc C). Germany had to pay millions and billions of dollars for the damage they had caused. This can cause lots of conflict and hatred in other countries. The Treaty of Versailles caused Germany to lose lots of money, creating conflict, which they didn't like. How Germany overall felt about the Treaty of Versailles, of course, the Germans were very mad about the Treaty because of all the things it cost them.

I believe this was one of the many factors contributing to Germany's anger because of the amount of payment. As shown on the chart located in (Document C) when “Hitler comes to power,” he “Stops all reparations payment.” I believe the reason they stopped is that Germany felt the treaty and the payments were a sign of injustice. Using the evidence from (Document C) and my beginning statements Germany felt angry by the rules and “obligations” forced upon them such as the “obligation” to pay “within a period of thirty years.” It is not a surprise to see them

Though the amount Germany had to pay in reality was less than the amount stated, they still had to pay over $30 billion in reparations to victorious countries. Other restrictions were placed on Germany, as seen in the Treaty of Versailles, which calls for Germany to cut the size of their army and prohibits Germany from taxing exported goods to Allied Countries that are not also taxed to the rest of the world (Document 1). Germany’s response (Document 4) to this highlights the unfairness present in these requests, “The sum to be paid is to be fixed by our enemies unilaterally, and to admit of subsequent modification and increase…” showing that there is no room for negotiation on Germany’s

The treaty of Versailles was not fair to all countries involved in the treaty, especially Germany, but it was fair to Britain. The treaty of Versailles was unfair to Germany because they were treated harshly and had no say in the treaty. Source 2 shows this since Germany was forced to accept the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and had no control over them, as evidenced in source 2 where the political cartoon is depicting the big four shoving the terms down Germany's throat and harshly griping onto Germany making Germany not able to go anywhere without agreeing to the terms. As a result, it is clear that Germany had no choice but to agree to the treaty. Furthermore, source 3 shows how brutally the Germans were defeated and how ashamed they should be of what they started.

In the Treaty of Versailles, Article 232 states that Germany must make monetary payments to the allies as the result of the damage Germany created during the battle (Hooper). This article creates a biased point of view since it was originally a peace treaty. The allies made such ridiculous requests relating forcing Germany pay for all the damages when everyone was at fault. Germany’s economy spiraled down due to the reparations they had to pay; they lost all of their money because they gave it away to the allies due to the damages they made in the war. As their economy quickly fell apart, their currency lost its value. The downfall of the economy affected the people because millions of people lost their jobs due to lack of money. In addition to the downfall of the German economy, Adolf Hitler gained power due to the promises he made to the German people (Smith 2). He promised to stop the reparation payments, to give jobs and food to the people, which make them forget the humiliation they had post-WWI making them proud to be a part of Germany again. Hitler was able to get the necessary attention due to the promises he made, which got him the power he

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.

One reason why the Treaty of Versailles was unsuccessful in maintaining peace in Europe was due to the power it granted to the Allied Nations. As a result of the war, the colonial territories belonging to the Central powers were taken away as reparations to the Allies. Thus, all German and Turkish colonies were taken away from and subsequently placed under the control of the Allied Powers. These colonies were significant in the Treaty of Versailles’ inability to sustain peace in Europe because the Allied powers’ economy saw a massive influx as a result of the raw materials of the colonies. This contributed to further discord beyond the Treaty of Versailles, as the German and Turkish people envied the profitability of the colonies under Allied control and felt entitled to these profits. Furthermore, another reason the Treaty of Versailles was unsuccessful was due to the lack of sanctions it placed on the Allies themselves. While the Treaty was careful to act with severity against the Central Powers, especially Germany, on the other hand, the Treaty failed to set preventative measures in place against the Allies to limit the severity with which the Allies could pursue reparations. As a result of the lacking preventative measures, France was extremely aggressive in seeking reparations, so much so in fact, future agreements such as the Dawes Plan in 1924 and the Young Plan in 1929, which sought to roll back the aggressiveness with which the Allies sought reparation payments.

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.

Unfair terms that are laid out always leave the loser wanting Revenge. It was a failure for other nations not to see this. Being held responsible made them liable. Being hit with reparations for damages wear to an economic hit for Germany. Because there was not an indicated total allies have free reign to select the amount.

The Treaty of Versailles was a very unfair document towards Germany. According to Mike Dowling, the treaty had taken away Germany's overseas colonies and their coal source. Germany could not build large ships and their army was a joke.

The terms of the treaty of Versailles were somewhat harsh, but not out of ordinary for that time period. In 1871, Germany had forced France to accept similar terms (losing Alsace – Lorraine and paying heavy reparations), and one year earlier, Germany had made Russia sign a treaty that went far, far beyond what Versailles would ask Germany. At any rate, the terms were much milder than what France had originally wanted. France wanted to break up Germany for revenge for its suffering and humiliation that Germany inflicted on France after defeating her in 1871 in the Franco-Prussian war and also so that Germany could never be military threat to the rest of Europe.

I believe that Germany was punished too severely. I agree that they definitely should have been punished, but not as harsh as the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty did eventually lead to Nazism and the rise of Hitler because the German people were so demoralized that they would listen to anyone who could provide a better life, which consequently is why they listened to Hitler. I think that there should not have been the War Guilt Clause, and less reparations. One punishment that was uncalled for was that Germany was forced to pay for the damage caused during the war.