9 In what ways did the Treaty of Versailles punish Germany? When Germany surrendered, they knew they had to pay a price, but the peace treaty was more severe than they expected. British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau and American President Woodrow Wilson, the three leaders of the Allies, decided the fate of Germany. The Treaty
On 28 June 1919, the countries involved in World War I gathered at Versailles Palace, to sigh the treaty which was a symbol of the end of World War I. This treaty is known as Treaty of Versailles. The treaty changed the world pattern, caused conflicts and controversies among victorious countries, and displeased the Germans, contributing to the occur of a more destructive world war - World War Ⅱ. The original goal of signing the treaty is to keep the peace, but every country pursued its own national interests, so, unfortunately, it failed quickly. The treaty is like a blasting fuse, causing a much bigger disaster for people all over the world.
One of the greatest wars mankind has ever faced ended in 1919, and a peace treaty was negotiated between the allied nations and Germany. The treaty was called “The Treaty of Versailles” since it was negotiated in the palace of Versailles in France. Germany, however, did not get the memo and was purposely left out of this negotiation. Leaving Germany out of the negotiation resulted in an unfair treatment of Germany through the terms of the negotiation. The treaty of Versailles unfairly punished Germany by damaging it’s economy and it’s military, which will directly lead to World War II (WWII).
His aim was to take control of the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. The Sudetenland was home to over 3 million Germans who had been separated during the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler’s demand that the Sudetenland be returned to German control greatly contributed to the outbreak of World War 2. Czechoslovakia was in an alliance with France which meant that if Hitler invaded, the French would enter the war. Chamberlain feared that this would lead to the outbreak of a Second World War and so he met Hitler on two different occasions to try and persuade him to rethink his plot.
The Weimar Republic was established in 1919 and was a democratic state to replace imperialism because the Treaty of Versailles stated that Germany had to become a democratic country. The Weimar Republic was significantly weak due to hyperinflation, the economic collapse, the Treaty of Versailles, and other issues that were present during that time. The Weimar Republic faced chaos and violence with the Communist uprising and the Kapp Putsch. The Kapp Putsch, which took place in March 1920, was a threat to the new government and was assisted by General Luttwitz who led a group of Freikorps men (Kapp Putsch). They were against Friedrich Ebert’s beliefs about the humiliation of the Treaty of Versailles.
One of the biggest issues that the new government had to face was the exaggerated terms of the Treaty of Versailles. These terms limited the Weimar Republic from fully developing and growing to become a fully fledged society. The signing of the Treaty of Versailles meant torture for the country and the people populating it, and a vast majority of the population felt it was betrayal from the German government, naming the Weimar Republic officials the ‘November criminals’. Many people that supported the Weimar Republic changed their views after the terms of the Treaty of Versailles became publicly available since they felt the Weimar Republic was just the result of losing the war rather than the actual choice of the majority of the population. The problems faced by the Weimar Republic
However, for other countries, it was the opposite; for example, the Treaty enraged Germany because they felt their punishment for the war was unwarranted. The Treaty of Versailles was a leading factor of the Second World War because, although its purpose was to retain the peace, it angered countries such as Germany and Italy into retaliation; it also allowed access for other places to start taking control of surrounding areas of the land they received from the treaty. Out of all the countries that were a part of the treaty of Versailles, Germany was afflicted the most. According to the article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles, the Guilt Clause, “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
The treaty of Versailles, created by the allied nations, aimed itself at weakening Germany as much as possible. The treaty forced a German loss of territory, massive economical problems, which again were only worsened by the great depression in the 1930s and forced a large number of German people to flee their country. It also severely weakened the German government, so that when the time came, it became a lot easier for Hitler on his way to power in Germany with fascism and nazism. And in most people’s opinion, Hitler is the main character and factor of the Second World War. But without the treaty of Versailles, Hitler was most likely to fail on his path to power in Germany, and would never have succeeded to start a war in the first place.
The Big Three: Wilson, Lloyd George, and Clemenceau all signed the Treaty of Versailles at the Paris Peace Conference. Those signatures, representing the unfounded condemnation of Germany for starting the war, which is completely wrong, helped give rise to Hitler. The terms of this Treaty gave Germany one voice, a voice against the Treaty. However, even though the Treaty was the main issue - the main cause for the war - it was worsened by a force that didn’t just affect Germany, but the world as a whole: the Great Depression. In 1929, the American stock market crashed over a period of a few days.
After the First World War, the great powers from around the globe gathered in France and signed the Treaty of Versailles, which was registered by the League of Nations to be the one treaty to end all feuds between countries and resolve problems caused by World War I. This treaty gave Germany a lot to deal with and put them in a really bad position. According to the treaty, Germany had to demobilize their military and paid huge amounts of money to the countries that were affected by World War I (the war that was supposedly caused by the Germans). Adolf Hitler, who took control of Germany in the 1930s, decided to not follow the treaty and did the exact opposite, which was to authorize military recruitments. This was considered an act against the agreement between the countries and made other governments unhappy.