The Treaty Of Versailles and Establishment of Peace
The Treaty Of Versailles established an uneasy peace. I will prove
this by looking at such factors as The Big Three's lust for revenge on
the Germans, the four major problems encountered when composing the
treaty, the final terms of the treaty and the Germans' anger at it.
The Big Three were three powerful leaders from three powerful nations.
They would be Woodrow Wilson, Georges Clemenceau and David Lloyd
George, of the USA, France and the UK respectively. These great men
would decide the fate of Germany.
Woodrow Wilson wanted to create a League of Nations which was a new
organisation which could end disputes between countries without wars.
He also despised secretive treaties between countries, and wanted
military power in all countries reduced. He also wanted every country
to have self-determination - which was the right for a nation to run
itself as a country independently.
David Lloyd George wanted to keep the British Empire strong and as
well-defended as ever. He also wanted to build up trading links
between other countries, including Germany, which would now cease
alliances with Austria-Hungary.. Germany would pay an appropriate
figure to compensate for war damages.
Georges Clemenceau wanted Germany to pay a massive amount of money to
compensate for war damages. He also wanted Germany to accept
unconditional blame for World War I. Another aim was to make Germany
so weak that it would never attack another country again. Clemenceau
wanted revenge above all else.
The Big Three all had very different opinions and ideas, but combined
would not make a sensible treat...
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...ld the law. They were
aggravated furthermore when they discovered that no other country
intended on disarmament.
The Germans strongly disagreed with Article 231. Germany was forced
into signing it, and in doing so was eligible to pay reparations.
It is arguable that the Treaty would have been much more unfair on
Germany if Clemenceau had got his way - he was angry at Germany for
thieving Alsace-Lorraine all those years ago.
Germany had absolutely no say in the Treaty of Versailles whatsoever.
All they were needed for was a signature. Several factors including
barring them from the League of Nations, seizing their foreign land,
and making them pay reparations would only make them boil in their own
stew, and once the country would recover economically, revenge would
be sought on all previously opposing nations.
What started with an assassination of an Austrian prince unpopular in with royalty in Vienna and plotters in Belgrade ended in war. Four years of artillery, machine guns, and poison gas had ruined the countryside of Europe. Woodrow Wilson put the blame for dead millions at the feet of secret diplomacy, excessive armament, imperialism, and the lack of international cooperation. His plan for a lasting peace was presented to the world in the form of the Fourteen Points, some of which were present in the final plan for peace, the Treaty of Versailles, which faced internal opposition at home. It was the strength of this opposition, from self or fawning-historian labeled "progressives" to conservatives and isolationists, in conjunction with the intractability and incompetence of President Wilson that encouraged the Senate defeat of the Treaty of Versailles.
However, the main creators of the Treaty, the US, Italy, Britain and France, did not realize that the Treaty was potentially leading to the Second World War. The Treaty was very harsh to Germans, its main terms were Germany admitting to the blame for the First World War and changing territorial claims. A lot of land was taken from Germany and the economy became very poor because of the debt they had to pay to others. There were very little jobs, and food was very expensive as well as other services. It made Germans end up supporting Hitler a lot because he promised to ignore the Treaty shortly after coming to power. The Treaty of Versailles was too harsh and as a result did not keep the peace if was supposed to, much like the League of Nations which was created alongside the Treaty.
The goal of the treaty of Versailles was to prevent war, but instead it caused another. World War I was fought through 1914-1918 and ended with more than 41 million casualties. World War I was supposed to be the war to end all wars but, the Treaty of Versailles punished Germany which led to more conflicts.Therefore, the Treaty of Versailles was a cause of World War II because, it weakened the German economy, the terms of the treaty angered and humiliated Germany, and it helped Hitler to rise to power.
“The Treaty of Versailles” was written to prevent future wars, it didn’t. “The Treaty of Versailles” is a document that cut down Germany as a country, it did this to prevent Germany for ever rising to power again. World War I, the supposed “The War to End All Wars” was a War between the Central Powers (Austria-Hungary, The Ottoman Empire, and Germany) and the Allied Powers (France, Great Britain, Russia, and other smaller nations). The Allied Powers had defeated the Central Powers November 11, 1918. A weakened economy sparked anger and humiliation in the German people. Which lead to the uprise of Hitler.
The United States had watched the fighting in Europe from a distance. One of the Allies, Russia, sustained great losses and signed a peace treaty with Germany. The treaty ended fighting on the Eastern Front. Germany began to focus on the Western Front and weakening Britain on France even more. The United States remained neutral even when Great Britain and France put pressure on it to join the Allies. Truman was re-elected in 1916 using the slogan “He Kept Us Out of War.” He did for a long time. When a German submarine torpedoed the Lusitania, more than a hundred United States citizens lost their lives. Germany apologized for the disaster and agreed to stop submarine attacks. In early 1917, they broke their promise and started sinking American cargo ships. On April 2, 1917, Wilson went to Congress and asked for war to be declared. War was declared and troops were sent to Europe. The policy of United States Isolation was over. War continued and ended on November 11, 1918 with the signing of an armistice. The Treaty of Versailles followed and was signed on June 28, 1919.
World War I was the most destructive and deadly war for its time the world has ever experienced. There was a great amount of effort put into insuring that it would not happen again. At the Paris Peace Conference the ground work was laid for a new safer, and more organized Europe. In doing so it was necessary to instruct new laws, and to reestablish boundaries of countries. This meant that the losers of the war, mostly Germany, would have to suffer the most. The resulting laws agreed on by all the attending countries were known as The Treaty of Versailles. The treaty of Versailles failed to ensure permanent global peace because Germany resented the terms of the treaty. Feeling as if the treaty were unfair, Germany became increasingly set on
“Given these results, the Versailles treaty must be judged one of history’s greatest catastrophes”. The treaty of Versailles was one of the worst treaties or even agreement that the United States and their allies ever agreed to. The treaty of Versailles was the end result of WW1 between the Allies (England, France, Russia, United States) and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire). WW1 was the first time in history that multiple nations all over the world fought against each other through alliances and because that caused major blood shed on a scale that was never seen before and is therefore called “The War to End All Wars”. The Allies eventually won the war on 11 November 1918 that was than preceded by the Treaty of Versailles on 28 June
At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 the “Big Four” meet to settle terms of peace. Britain and France wanted to punish Germany, Italy wanted money or land, and the United States wanted to heal wounds through Wilson’s League of Nations. There was a discussion about whether the United Sates wanted to accept the Treaty Versailles or not. President Wilson wanted the League of Nations to “end all wars”. It was not the influence of the opposing forces of the U.S., conservative or liberal, that led to the absolute defeat of the Treaty of Versailles, but rather the political unawareness, incapability, and stubbornness of President Woodrow Wilson.
The Treaty of Versailles was a violation of Wilson’s ideals. The Treaty is one of the most important agreements (or disagreements) that shaped 20th century Europe socially and physically. Woodrow Wilson on January 22, 1917 in an address to the United States Senate called for a peace without victors, but the Treaty signed by the participating nations was everything but that. The blame for the war was placed on Germany and justified the reparations that were outlined by the treaty for the war. The terms of the treaty were very harsh to the Germans and they took on great resentment. It was a fragile peace agreement that would be used as fuel to keep hostilities going 20 years later.
On November 11th, 1918, the Germans finally ended World War I by signing an armistice after many casualties. At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, the “Big Four” met to deliberate and decide what the peace terms would be for the defeated Central Powers. The peace treaty produced for Germany was the Treaty of Versailles, which Germany had no choice but to sign even though the punishment was harsh and deserved. The Treaty of Versailles took away German conquered land, large part of its army, and stated that Germany had to compensate the Allied Powers for the damages they caused.
The first step in identifying whether or not the peace settlement after World War I (WWI), would be the effectiveness of communication to the Germans. In order to properly communicate, one must simply tell the people involved what the conditions are and the consequences for not following them. In addition, the demands must be moderate and the opponent needs to be made clear that it will not favor them in the long run if they do not comply to the terms. While Germany was effectively given the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, one could argue that it was done in an unfair manner. Germany was not even present at the negotiations of the Treaty of Versailles and the Germans expected something along the lines of Wilson’s 14 point plan. At the end of the discussions,
The Treaty of Versailles was a treaty created at the end of World War I, in hopes of establishing peace among nations. Although it sought after harmony, the United States’ Senate refused to ratify the treaty due to the distasteful idea of the United States’ involvement in the League of Nations, and Woodrow Wilson’s unwillingness to compromise with Henry Cabot Lodge’s revisions of The Treaty of Versailles.
The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, marks the day that WWI descended into armistice. However, the involved countries reached an agreement as to the events following the war on the 28th of June, 1919. The famous Treaty of Versailles was known for its role in ending war. But it was not known for being a double-edged sword, as the ending of war came with the consequence of causing future war. The Treaty consisted of uncontested biases due to Germany's unconditional surrender. The Allies held a gun to Germany's head, with their trigger finger tense. Each article of the Versailles Treaty only made Germany more restless, until 1933 when Hitler produced his own gun and pointed it at the Allies. The Treaty had a series of unproportional effects upon Germany and its people. It caused a rift between the two sides because of the alliances that it formed, brewing tension. The punishments enforced upon Germany were unrealistically huge and it increased the wish among the Germans for the nullification of the Treaty. Finally, the accumulated hatred amongst the people gave birth to potential for a revolution. The Treaty of Versailles is, therefore, an indirect cause to World War II, because of the alliances it caused, the punishments it enforced, and the hatred it developed.
Ellicia Chiu Mrs. Daly World History: Period 3 4/27/15 How Did the Versailles Treaty Help Cause World War II? The first World War is recorded as one of the “deadliest conflicts in human history”. With over 16 million dead, it was one of the first wars with a high amount of casualties. However, the one that tops the list with around 60 million deaths was World War II.
The Justification of the Treaty of Versailles At the beginning of this week, after months of negotiation between the ‘Big Three’, two German representatives arrived in France to sign the treaty sign the Treaty of Versailles, stating that Germany is blame for the Great War. The question is why have the Germans given in and signed the treaty and can the treaty be justified? The Germans were in an impossible position and had to sign the treaty. They basically had no choice as they were incapable of restarting the war again.