Wilson and the Treaty of Versailles

The Treaty of Versailles was the origin of all the problems that occurred to ignite the WWII. The treaty of Versailles was originally done to spread peace between countries and cool down the aggression that was spreading all over Europe. The treaty was believed to be an

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 Treaty of Versailles was a truly cruel document and expressed a large dislike for Germany. The document had a myriad of demands and if they weren 't met, then extortion was used to achieve goals. The treaty caused many hardships such as limiting the army down to almost nothing, stopped the building of large ships and took away submarines completely. Also, Great Britain and France collected money for all the damage the war had caused. To pay its war debts the country borrowed money from America, but soon after it stopped when the Great Depression began.2 In result, Germany had it 's very depression that was so severe the money ended up having almost little to no worth.

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 to end war sows the seeds to the succeeding war. The Treaty of Versailles was a mutual agreement between allied nations. The treaty was signed after World War I and was signed by Britain, France, Italy, Russia, and Germany. The United States wanted the nations of Europe to gain independence from the treaty. Whereas, England and France wanted the Treaty to make Germany to pay in land, gold, reduced military strength and resources.

Wilson’s first proposal for the treaty among the Nations stated that no secret treaties should be made among Nations. This point is

Wilson believed the war was dictated by a system of government with one person who had absolute power. Basing off that type of system, a peace settlement had to be based off liberal democratic ideals that would eliminate all the foundations of the war. But the Treaty of Versailles included clauses that were harsh and nearly impossible to repay from World War I. The devastating cost of the war was not only Germany’s fault but they were the ones heavily accounted for it in the War Guilt Clause. The unfairness Germany faced broke apart empires and changed boundaries which resulted in them to stop war payments after a year . Since they were in major debt, they were more prone to losing territory and vulnerable to weakened Military potential. The Germans had the mindset that the treaty was written to keep them militarily and economically weak. In Wilson’s effort to start a “New World”, Germany did not see it as a new beginning but saw it as a horrible punishment.

After the fighting of World War I stopped, the nations of the Allied powers gathered in Paris, France to negotiate and write the treaty that would end the war. What would become known as the Treaty of Versailles was signed by Germany and most of the Allied powers. However, the United States did not do so. Both liberal and conservative opposition as well as the behavior and actions of President Wilson significantly contributed to the defeat of the Treaty of Versailles in the United States. Liberal groups saw components of the treaty as being insufficient and failing to ensure the interests of the United States and this belief spread to many. Conservative groups viewed aspects of the treaty as being unnecessary and too harsh on Germany and many came to agree. In addition, President Wilson’s refusal to compromise on ratification of the treaty made it very difficult to allow it to receive the support it needed.

Woodrow Wilson, our 23rd president, became involved in a war that he did not want any part of. Wilson wanted to remain neutral and have peace as in his first term of office. During World War I Wilson’s roles in the war became well known in all countries. Wilson wanted peace more than anything else. In seeking for peace Wilson asked Congress for the U.S. to enter World War I. which may not sound like a peace strategy but Wilson felt it was the only way to stop Germany and gain peace. Wilson wrote his speech for world peace, Fourteen Points, that he was probably most famous for. He attended and played an integral part in The Treaty of Versailles. He was the founder of the League of Nations,

Article 232 states, “The [Allies]... require that she [Germany] will make compensation for all damage done to the civilian population… and to their property.” (Document E). Germany was not allowed to defend themselves or speak out against their agreement, and were compelled to accept the responsibility for starting World War I. Document F shows a chart titled “Reparations Established by Versailles Treaty with Later Revisions” and shows the dates 1921, 1929, and 1933. It displays how much Germany had to pay and how they responded/paid. In 1921 Germany had to pay 132 billion gold marks yet they paid very little due to their feelings of anger and humiliation. The amount they owed was reduced to 112 billion gold marks in 1929 and they only paid 2 billion marks over the next three years. When Hitler came to power in 1933, he stopped the process of paying the reparations. It wasn’t until 2010 that Germany would pay off their massive debt, and this was mainly their fault for not raising taxes and making their economy even worse by just printing out more money, causing

After the war the French wanted to destroy the German economy. The French wanted control of the German coalmines. But Wilson would not agree. He was looking out for the Germans economically. Premier Clemenceau called Wilson pro-German which obviously hurted the President. (p.29) With this going on President Wilson was self-determine to do his best for the redrawing of Europe. Most leaders in France believed the way to weaken Germany without hurting it economically was to move Germans under rule of other nations. Most of these small states have never set up a stable government for themselves and adding large amount of Germans to their native lands could be dangerous. This is one way how Wilson and his delegates were violated.

The Treaty of Versailles included the creation of the League of Nations where countries and nations would come together to solve international issues through peaceful means. Many politicians wanted to stay out of international affairs and focus on the US’s own issues which would ensure “the country it's freedom of action” (Foner 765). Do to health reasons, Wilson could not effectively defend his position and the Senate ultimately rejected the Treaty of Versailles on March 1920 (Foner 766). As Foner states in the textbook, Wilson’s plan to ensure a safe place for democracy failed (766). While it did encourage several groups of people to stand up against their foreign leaders, President Wilson’s failure to implement his views reflected badly amongst others. For example, anti-Western nationalism rose in the Middle East and Asia and other nations began to support other forms of politics such as Communism, especially among the Asian countries (Foner 765). Consequences of the Treaty of Versailles include future conflict between Germany and other European countries as well as conflicting political views as each try to be superior to the

I believe that Wilson's Fourteen Points are superior to the Treaty of Versailles. I believe that Wilson’s points would not have made as many people angry and wouldn't have failed as some points in the treaty did. For example the fourteen points would have given people independence and decisions while the fourteen points left some countries unhappy because they did not gain independence instead they were mandated nations. I also believe that the League of Nations would have been successful if the fourteen points were in effect. The United States ignored the league because they believed the only way to maintain peace was to say out of European conflicts. If the treaty wasn’t so biased to the

Even though Wilson strongly voiced that he desired freedom of the seas, Germany still sank civilian ships after they discovered that they were smuggling war supplies since Germany "could not" attack them. Also the Treaty of Verasilles never discusses nor guarantees freedom of the seas or free trade after the war, which are some of his own principles that Wilson goes against to ensure the establishment of the League of Nations. However, even though a League of Nations is formed the United States never joins which goes against what Wilson orginally wanted in his 14 Points. Wilson also goes against his goal of no secret treaties when he does not allow Germany, Russia or Japan to attend the negotiations at the Treaty of Verasilles signing. Germany and Turkey are stripped of land and divided into the hands of Britain, France, and Japan. Germany is blamed for the whole war leaving them to pay $33 billion dollars for damages not including reconstructing in their own country. However, even though America does not achieve most of their goals they still have some successes. Austria-Hungary is split up and they can finally govern independently as well as vote. Czechoslovakia and Poland are formed after the war and Germany leaves Belgium and France to be free of their

for their actions. This had to be done as Germany had lost the war and