The Harsh Punishments of World War I World War I, also known as the great war started after the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, this was the main agitator that started the great war, the assassination was followed by the domino effect. Over 30 nations were involved in World War I and there were two main sides of the war, Great Britain, France, The United States, Russia, and Italy (The Allied Powers) who fought against Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire ( The Central Powers). After the war nations agreed for this to never happen again.The Treaty of Versailles was created but helped cause WWII by treating Germany harshly, reducing their army, and by taking away their territory. Many believe that the Treaty of Versailles was one of the most unfair armistices because they impaled war-guilt onto Germany and the rest of the Central Powers by forcing them to accept harsh punishments, one of them being the loss of their territory. In Document A we can see a map showing places that Germany owned before and after the war and places they had to demilitarize. We see how they lost the Polish Corridor, which separated East Prussia from the rest of Germany. They also lost Alsace-Lorraine which was a coal-producing area, this reduced …show more content…
Germany now had to decrease their military troops in their country to one hundred thousand, and they could only defend themselves within their territory. Document B features a German political cartoon, it shows a picture of men surrounding the country of Germany with chains. These men represent the Allied Powers and they are visibly bigger than Germany. It shows how the Treaty of Versailles almost in a way imprisoned Germany and secluded them from the rest of the world. In addition to these punishments, we can see in Document C how Germany had to pay a hefty amount of money in reparations. 132 billion gold mark to be exact, which is over 500 billion dollars