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World War I Was One Of The Most Destructive Wars

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Eleni Bonneau
International Relations
Dr. Bilinski
1 December, 2015

World War I was one of the most destructive wars in modern history. Nearly ten million soldiers died as result, in part, from the introduction of new weapons, like the machine gun and gas warfare, as well as the failure of military leaders to adjust their tactics to the increasingly mechanized nature of warfare. Viewing Germany as the chief instigator of the conflict, the Allied Powers decided to impose particularly harsh terms and conditions upon defeated Germany. The Treaty of Versailles, signed June 28, 1919, did little to shape any sort of long-term peace from the results of World War I. Instead, the treaty, hastily put together, was vague, exposed the Allies’ inability to cooperate toward an agreement, and fueled German nationalism from resentment over its treatment by the Allies. It was doomed from the start, and another war was practically certain. The main reasons for the failure of the Treaty of Versailles to establish the long-term peace it envisioned involved the Allies disagreement on how to treat Germany, Germany’s refusal to accept the terms of reparations, the “war-guilt” clause which led to growing German resentment and nationalism, and the lack of enforcement and willingness of the Allied powers combined with the United States’ isolationism. The Allied powers had many different views from each other involving the future of Germany, one of the most important being how to go about with

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