The Treaty Of Versailles A Carthaginian Peace: The Third Punic War

But if the Second World War arose not so much from the Treaty of Versailles, but the strains placed on democracy through economic and cultural dislocations from monarchy to democracy with new borders, and from economic prosperity to depression, then we have a need for an answer. In our time we have cultural economic transitions from an industrial manufacturing economy to global trade and immigration as creating real and perceived winners and losers10. If the seminal cause of the Second World War, with its attendant ending of democracy in much of Europe is not so much a treaty individual to its time in 1919, but common transitory events eighty years apart, then historians need to take a fresh study of this question. If the answer is No, then

And even that leads to a question if the reference is to the Second or Third Punic War and the peace terms imposed by Rome. The Second Punic War led to a severe peace and the Third Punic War led to the annihilation of Carthage. I will assume Keynes is referring to a ‘harsh’ peace of the Second Punic War, since Germany was not annihilated, unless I find writings that proves otherwise.
This viewpoint of Keynes has been rigorously opposed by much recent work by Sally Marks12 whom has written, “For nearly forty years, historians of twentieth-century diplomacy have argued that the Versailles treaty was more reasonable than its reputation suggests and that it did not of itself cause the Depression, the rise of Hitler, or World War II. Their efforts have had little effect, despite Margaret MacMillan’s best-selling Paris 1919.” 13
Although these recent treatments of John Maynard Keynes’ book have not been positive, can we lightly dismiss Keynes? Keynes was at the Paris meetings that led to the Treaty of Versailles. His book the Economic Consequences of the Peace dealt with the treaty using an economic critique. Keynes would be among the most influential economists for the middle part of the 20th