Some major terms of the Treaty of Versailles affected Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey. The most notable was the treaty signed by Germany. They were forced to sign the war-guilt clause, pinning all the blame on Germany for starting the war which led to Germany having to pay for all the damages caused by the Allies being subjected to the casualties of the imposed aggression of Germany and its allies. Germany considered this too harsh.
On top of the guilt clause, Germany’s military and territory were cut down by the treaty. Limiting the Germans to what they had as far as military strength was to help lower the chances of Germany “starting” another war. It’s army was reduced to 100,000 men. Germany’s navy was also reduced and to top it off, Germany had to eliminate its air force.
Germany’s military wasn’t the only thing to take a hit. Germany had many territorial losses as well. It had to return Alsace and Lorraine to the French and a few sections of Prussia to the new Polish state. It had to establish about 30 miles east to west as demilitarized zones. Germany was stripped of armaments and or fortifications so as to protect France from any moves from Germany in the future. Germany was immensely irate but nonetheless agreed to the treaty and its dictated peace.
After David Lloyd George, the prime minister of Great Britain, wanted to make sure that Germany paid for the dreadful war. He made his platform for being elected on the basis that he would make sure Germany was punished.
France’s main objective was to insure national security. France felt it had taken the worst of the war as it was at the forefront of Germany’s attacks. This led France to want security from the possibility of attacks in the future. In order...
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...n of Austrian Demands. And Russia for its mobilization of its troops that gave the Germans an excuse for mobilizing its own. I would stay with the reduction of German troops and arms to discourage any enthusiasm of going to war anytime soon.
I don’t believe I would agree with having Germans work their own mines to make another country take all of their profits, forcing Germany to be unable to pay its workers, which in turn would starve its people. This would be less harsh on the Germans which I strongly believe would have helped to discourage the second world war. Germany would have been much less humiliated if the other factors were also sharing the blame and received their penalties. Ive heard it said that a generation that receives a beating, is usually followed by one that deals a beating. Germany received a beating, which in turn led to them seeking revenge.
Wilson's fourth point in his plan was the reduction of national armaments. He stated that there should be "adequate guarantees given and taken that national armaments [would] be reduced to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety." In the Treaty of Versailles, it was stated that the German army was to be limited to 100,000 and that Germany was not allowed to draft its citizens or to have an air force. Also, Germany was no longer allowed to operate submarines because of the unrestricted submarine warfare that they had displayed during the war, and their naval ships were limited in size and in the amount that they were permitted to own. Furthermore, the Rhineland was to be permanently disarmed and occupied by the Allies for fifteen years to ensure that there would be no attacks against France that might start another war. In addition to this, it was stated that Germany would never be allowed to unite with Austria because they would form an incredibly strong fighting force. This resulted in much complaining by the Germans on the account that they believed they were being left without a military force significant enough to protect themselves. Also, the treaty did not require any of the other countries to perform even the slightest demilitarization.
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.
3. The main German aim was to support Austria-Hungary, Germany's only firm ally. 4. The German government realized too late that the conflict could not be localized.
The Versailles Peace Treaty of 1918 was the end result of the brutal First World War. Europe was devastated, and the Allied forces were faced with the task of coming to terms with their former German enemy. It is well known that the French were determined to punish Germany; they sought revenge and made little attempt to hide their objective. At the Versailles Peace Conference the struggle between the French and Germans began a new path. The French demanded large reparations payments and several other drastic measures that would keep Germany from ever being capable of attacking them again. The agreement that was reached enacted several harsh measures against Germany. Aside from the huge reparations that they would be forced to pay, the Allied nations forced the Germans to completely demilitarize their military. Germany was also str...
The harshness of the Treaty and the way in which it blamed Germany for World War I crippled Germany. Much of its territory was taken away from it, including West Prussia that went to form a new Polish Corridor to the sea. Plus the Treaty forced Germany to reduce its army, demilitarise the Rhineland and get rid of its navy. The Treaty also forced harsh reparations for the War resulting in a great deal of the German people resenting the Allies. And it was later that Hitler used the bitter memories of Versailles to gain public support for his actions.
The Treaty of Versailles is a cause of World War II because of the restrictions it placed on Germany as the alleged sole aggressor of the war. The war reparation totaled $98 billion, and under Clause 231 Germany was forced to take the entire load onto her ruined economy and attempt to repay the debt starting with an initial $5 billion payment. In terms of military, Germany was limited to a 100,000 man army, with her navy stripped to the level of a coast guard, she was allowed no heavy artillery, no weapons of mass destruction and the border with France became a demilitarized zone for 15 years following the signing of the treaty on June 28 1919. Germany also lost all her territories in Africa and became a mandate of the Allied Forces, those living in mandated zones could participate in “self-determination” after the Allies taught them how to be a democracy (...
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.
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...
The stipulations of the Versailles Treaty were aimed to bring down Germany and make it as weak as possible. One of the solutions the the victors came up was to take territory away from Germany, resulting in the country losing more than forty percent of their coal producing areas. They took away the Polish Corridor, parts of East Prussia, parts of Denmark, as well as Lorraine-Alsace (Doc A). Taking away the Polish Corridor put Germany in a difficult position, as it geographically split Germany into two pieces. In addition, the city Danzig was also a very...
(p.20-21) As a result of the war, Russia was severely weakened, which greatly upset the balance of power in Europe. Taylor claims that, “What gave France independence as a Great Power was the alliance with Russia, which automatically halved German strength.” (p. 35) By the end of the war the “German Problem” remained.... ...
Many people in other lands thought that the treaty was a way of making legal the punishment on the Germans and this was in violation of Wilsonian idealism. The peacemakers should have been able to set aside hatred that was built up from the past in order to come up with a more proper and fair settlement. Instead of doing this, they placed the blame on the Germans by forcing them to pay for reparations they couldn't afford, insulting them with the accusation of guilt from the war and taking away their territory. The treaty would only intensify the hatred felt by all the parties involved in the treaty and heighten German nationalism. This was a poor beginning for democracy in Germany and for Wilson's New World.
France aimed to get revenge on Germany for the Franco - Prussian war of 1970 - 1971 where France were disastrously defeated, Germany aimed to stay free from an invasion from France and keep Austria-Hungary happy as France and Austria- Hungary were on either side of German, and Russia wanted an ally so it could feel safe form Germany.
In December of 1918, The Allies of Europe met in Versailles to Sign possibly one of the most changing documents in history. The document they signed nearly turned Europe upside down, broke down and put up many new social barriers, and definitely made history. The Document that the allied forces all gathered to sign was known as the Treaty of Versailles. Initially, the treaty intended to keep peace between the nations, however, forcing Germany to sign the treaty ended up as one of the worst decisions anybody could have made. The forced signing created tensions between Germany and other countries, let Germany rise back up to Power, Created an optimal situation for Germany to wage war, and ultimately caused World War II, resulting in one of the biggest failures in Debate and Diplomacy of all time.
One thing the treaty did was make Germany admit to being responsible for the war and the losses and damage to the Allies (Article 231)
International Disputes Versailles: The Western powers after the First World War viewed Germany as the main leader of the war and imposed a treaty upon the defeated nation. The Treaty of Versailles was one of the post-World War I treaties, presented by the Western powers, for German leaders to sign in order to surrender different territories belonging to the different nations prior to Germany’s invasion and occupation. The different territories belonged to Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Poland, parts of Prussia and France. In addition, Germany was forced to surrender all their overseas colonies to the League of Nations. However, the greatest thing that affected Germany was not their loss of colonial land but the “War Guilt Clause,” Article 231 of the treaty, which forces Germany to accept the complete responsibility for starting World War I and make reparations to all nations for material damage.