The Failure of the Treaty of Versailles The First World War was deemed “the world to end all wars” by author H.G. Wells. It was one of the deadliest human conflicts of all time, resulting in millions of deaths across the world. However, there was a belief around the world that this war would bring everlasting peace. Numerous conflicts foreshadowed a war between the most powerful countries in the world. The U.S. president of the time Woodrow Wilson thought “the world must be made safe for democracy”, and the only way to achieve this goal was declaring war on Germany. The resulting peace brought by World War I was supposed to outweigh the extremely high death toll, but this was not the case. In 1919 the Paris Peace Conference met to resolve …show more content…
But aside from all the money, territory, and other resources the country lost, there was a much greater punishment. Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles states that Germany was responsible for World War I. The section reads "the Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies.” Germany had no option but to accept this statement. The national debt was already so immense and it would just go up if the Germans refused to claim responsibility for the war. A sense of humiliation spread across all of Germany. The War Guilt Clause infuriated many political leaders in Germany, as well as the citizens. Adolf Hitler, for example, was outraged by the Treaty of Versailles and he saw it as an opportunity. Leadership in Germany was lacking during this time period, which meant there was potential for Hitler. Germany was at its lowest point and it was desperate for any sort of leader. Adolf Hitler created a party that eventually became known as the Nazis. He promised to free the German citizens of the horrible conditions of the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler made a myriad of promises that he simply could not fulfill. The Nazi Party promised “to rearm, to reclaim German territory, particularly in the East, to remilitarize the Rhineland, and to regain prominence again among the European and world powers”. This sounded so good that the voters supported Hitler without realizing his much more radical plan. Adolf Hitler impressed with his speeches and won the hearts of the Germans. Once Hitler came into a position of power he proceeded to break the rules of the Treaty of Versailles one by one. He continued to develop a strong
Adolf Hitler, easily one of the most influential people to have ever walked on the Earth. His rise to power also one of the most oppurtunistic seized to date. How did he achieve such a powerful control over Germany and its people? Through what you could call a series of unfortunate events.
World War I, or the Great War, lasted from 1914 to 1918. In harsh battles between some of the world’s strongest economic powers, millions of people were killed and wounded. Woodrow Wilson was the President of the United States during these years, and he yearned for peace. Towards the end of the conflict, Wilson delivered a speech called “Fourteen Points” on January 8, 1918. His goal in doing so was to create some stability in a time of crisis. Even though the leaders of some countries did not jump on board right away, they eventually agreed to signing the Treaty of Versailles, officially ending the war. Through emphasizing peace, security, and freedom, President Woodrow Wilson’s “Fourteen Points” paid off overall, ultimately revealing that
The Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I, affected Germany terribly. Pauley says that, “Virtually all Germans were equally convinced that it was an instrument to suppress, exploit, and permanently humiliate Germany” (37). The Treaty exclusively blamed Germany for the outbreak of World War I, forced massive reparations on the German economy, shrunk the German army, took away German colonies and returned Alsace-Lorraine to France, and did not allow Austria to merge with Germany through self-determination (Geary 14). The Weimar Republic, which only recently took over the German government, was blamed signing the Treaty. The German citizens were extremely enraged by the terms of the Treaty mainly because they were unaware of how poorly the war was going; German propaganda told them that Germany was winning on the
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.
The war reached an end on Nov. 11, 1918. The German proposition for peace came amidst the Congressional races. Against the guidance of those near him, the president chose to go to the peace gathering in Paris and battle for his beliefs face to face. Wilson not being present during congressional races shows how determined he was to keep peace in the World and finish what he started. “On December 13 he arrived in Europe. Probably no man has ever been given such an ovation. Wherever he went enormous crowds gathered, sobbing, cheering, shouting his name. (World War One Woodrow Wilson)” When the treaty of Versailles was created in 1919 many of his ideas were implemented in the treaty. However getting the Senate to agree with the Treaty was a whole nother can of worms. In search for support to overwhelm the senate WIlson started campaigning around the United States. Wilson was working extremely hard until late september in Colorado where Wilson suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed. Wilsons hard work and dedication is an example for everybody, his will to make the world a better place is unmatched and will be remembered in
At the end of World War One, Germany was required to pay a large sum of money to the Allies consequently resulting in the German Depression. The sum Germany had to pay was set after the Treaty of Versailles was enacted at approximately six billion, six hundred million – twenty-two billion pounds, (World War Two – Causes, Alan Hall, 2010). The large amount of reparations that Germany had to pay resulted in a depression and angered the Germans because they thought it was an excessive amount of money to pay, (World War Two – Causes) The Germans hatred of the Treaty of Versailles was of significant importance in propelling the Nazis to power. Germany could not pay their reparations and was forced into a depression, (World War II – Causes). The Treaty of Versailles deprived Germany of its economic production and its available employments, (World War II – Causes). The German Depr...
Adolf Hitler came into the lime light as a man with a totally reputable objective and the antidote for poverty in Germany after the war. Hitler actually seemed to be living up to his word as he rebuilt the country and so Germans gave his more and more power.
“The British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, recognized the feelings of the British people when he said ‘the Germans are going to pay every penny: they are going to be squeezed … until the pips squeak” (. This was the general conscious the British and the French people had because they felt they were owed for all of the wartime damages that occurred, the civilian and Soldiers lives that were lost, and because of the recourses the allies used to fight central powers. Ultimately the British and the French wanted revenge on Germany and for the first time they were in the power to do it. “Germany was not invited; as the defeated party, it was only required to sign the treaty once the cost of defeat had been established”2. The German s had no say at the negotiating table at the treaty of Versailles and because of this the “Big Four” ultimately and the power to punish Germany however they sought fit. This was a long shot from “Wilson’s proposed, “peace among equals,”2 and created much resentment from the German people. “Acceptance of blame appeared in Clause 231 of the treaty, later known as the ‘War Guilt clause’. Once Germany was made to acknowledge that it was responsible for the
In addition, having lost the war, the humiliated Germans were forced by the Allies to sign the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 that officially ended World War I. According to the harsh terms of the treaty, Germany had to hand over many of its richest industrial territories to the victors, and was made to pay reparations to the Allied countries it devastated during the war. Germany lost its pride, prestige, wealth, power, and the status of being one of Europe's greatest nations. (Resnick p. 15)
On 30 January 1933, the German president, Paul von Hindenburg, selected Adolf Hitler to be the head of the government. This was very unexpected. Hitler was the leader of an extreme right-wing political party, the National Socialist German Workers (Nazi) Party. Hitler sought to expand Germany with new territories and boundaries. Hitler also focused on rebuilding Germany’s military strength. In many speeches Hitler made, he spoke often about the value of “racial purity” and the dominance of the Aryan master race. The Nazi’s spread their racist beliefs in schools through textbooks, radios, new...
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.
World War I was ultimately ended in 1918 after the Treaty of Versailles was signed. Peace settlements were signed on June 28, 1918 at the Hall of Mirror in Versailles, Paris. The Treaty was an agreement among the United States, Great Britain, and France. Woodrow Wilson, George Clemenceau, and David Lloyd, who represented the "Big Three" countries, collaborated in negotiating the Treaty. The Treaty of Versailles was designed to weaken Germany and give Germany full blame for causing the war. The Treaty implemented massive reparations to Germany which would obliterate Germany's economy, notwithstanding the millions of dead allied soldiers. The settlement strictly limited the German's military. Germans were additionally forced to depart from their homes in Russia, Poland, and Alsace-Lorraine and return to Germany or Austria. Furthermore Germany had to give back any land belonging to other countries. With no alternative, Germany signed the peace settlements. The Treaty of Versailles was undoubtedly justified, Germany was positively the main instigator of the war and its excessive brutality of fighting provoked the war more particularly. Thus, making the amends to Germany was rational because of all the destruction Germany had triggered.
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 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 President of the United States after World War I was Woodrow Wilson. Wilson was an idealist who longed for peace among nations. After the war he left for Europe to attend a peace conference where he, the prime ministers of Britain, Italy, and France met to discuss what provisions had to be taken in order to weaken Germany (Tindall and Shi 2013, 1008).
On April 2nd 1917, President Woodrow Wilson of the United States of America, ??went before Congress and called for a declaration of war. Both the House and the Senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of going to war with Germany.?# This was an act that led to much resistance among the American people. Not four months earlier the American people re-elected President Wilson, partly because of his success in keeping the United States out of this European war. However, a series of events, such as the Germans continuing submarine warfare and the attacks on five American ships, led President Wilson to sever diplomatic relations with Germany and send the United States into what would be labeled as World War I. As a result of the war the
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.