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.
However, it was clear that they had no choice; Germany was obviously incapable of undergoing more war. If Germany were to be invaded by the Allies, it would’ve been very difficult for them to defend themselves since they had been weakened by the war. Furthermore, Germany hadn’t taken part in the Paris peace conference; only the winning countries had been allowed to participate. When Germany had signed the armistice in 1918, they had thought they were accepting the fourteen point peace plan formulated by the USA President Wilson. Since this peace plan was based on fair and democratic ideas, Germany thought the Treaty would also be honest, but when, the 7th May 1919, the Treaty was put ahead of the German government, their expectations were proved
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
Although Truman’s actions and the new ‘policies’ that he introduced were a major factor to the deterioration of America-Soviet relations, it is important to understand the pre-1945 factors that affected these relations. After World War I, European countries adopted an appeasement ideology: The world was horrified by what the war had done to Europe, and a war like that must never happen again, so peace must be protected at all costs. This led to many attempts to preserve peace in Europe, which ultimately failed as Germany invaded Poland and the world realized that another war was about to begin. However, one of the last agreements that the western countries signed with the Nazis might have been the start of the bad Soviet relations with these countries: the Munich agreement. This agreement said that Hitler was free to invade a portion of Czechoslovakia, as long as he went no further.
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.
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.
This was considered an act against the agreement between the countries and made other governments unhappy. Right from that moment on, people around the world knew what to expect from what was about to come – WWII. Hitler deciding to go against the Treaty was just the beginning; hundreds of other problems also occurred at the same time and led up to what we know today as the deadliest war in the history of mankind. Image 1: The treaty of Versailles being signed by the world’s great powers. (Treaty of Versailles.)
Propaganda was a ploy commonly used throughout history that deceived many with images deliberately created for people to carry out certain acts or believe in false ideas. Such is the poster depicting the German Kaiser, Wilhelm II under a massive, silver coin. The first world war had been taking a toll on the British economy. Britain was not prepared for the financial demands that war posed and as a result, an increased number of people were paying income tax and the British government decided upon taking the civilians’ money as well. On the other hand, in Germany, both civilians and soldiers were facing starvation due to German supply lines being cut off.
The ugly side of nationalism is that of foreign hatred, and Germans who had not forgotten the humiliating defeat in the war against Napoleon in the early nineteenth century had already had considerable hostility towards France. Bismarck said that the Germans were already having considerable hostility against France. If Bismarck could have a war against foreign countries, and especially if it was a war against France as an invader, then the western states would take all the doubts about Prussia as if