The Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was drafted and signed at the Paris peace conference. All of the victorious super powers were represented there: the United kingdom, France, Italy, and United States. Although the United States did have some input into the treaty, Woodrow Wilson did not actually sign it.
The Treaty of Versailles, in a nutshell, was saying that Germany was entirely at fault FOR THE horrors of World War 1, and therefore, they needed to pay for the damages done during the war, also known as war reparations. Some of the other conditions of the treaty were that Germany could not unite with Austria, that they had to have a very small army, it should not have large ships, an Air Force or heavy artillery. One of the other aspects of the treaty was that all of Germany’s colonies were taken away and divided up amongst France and the United Kingdom.
The country of Poland was also carved out of Germany as part of the Treaty of Versailles.
Many historians believe that the unnecessarily large war reparations placed on Germany in this treaty decreased the morale of the German people. The required reparations caused the Germans to grow to hate and resent the French and the British people. Their low national esteem was enough to allow a leader like Hitler to arise in the following times. In the end, by trying to prevent another world war, the Treaty of Versailles took reparations too far, and if it did not directly cause, it can be directly linked to the rise of Fascism and the seeds World War II.
The Treaty of Versailles was drafted and signed at the Paris peace conference. All of the victorious super powers were represented there: the United kingdom, France, Italy, and United States. Although the United States did have some input into the treaty, Woodrow Wilson did not actually sign it.
The Treaty of Versailles, in a nutshell, was saying that Germany was entirely at fault FOR THE horrors of World War 1, and therefore, they needed to pay for the damages done during the war, also known as war reparations. Some of the other conditions of the treaty were that Germany could not unite with Austria, that they had to have a very small army, it should not have large ships, an Air Force or heavy artillery. One of the other aspects of the treaty was that all of Germany’s colonies were taken away and divided up amongst France and the United Kingdom.
The country of Poland was also carved out of Germany as part of the Treaty of Versailles.
Many historians believe that the unnecessarily large war reparations placed on Germany in this treaty decreased the morale of the German people. The required reparations caused the Germans to grow to hate and resent the French and the British people. Their low national esteem was enough to allow a leader like Hitler to arise in the following times. In the end, by trying to prevent another world war, the Treaty of Versailles took reparations too far, and if it did not directly cause, it can be directly linked to the rise of Fascism and the seeds World War II.