Failure of the Treaty of Versaille
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The First World War, one of the most devastating wars to ever take place in the history of mankind, had finally ended in 1918. However, after the defeat of Germany a dilemma arose over how the world should end this massive war so that it will prevent any other wars from ever taking place and under what terms and punishment Germany will now face. The “Big Four” (Lloyd George of Britain, Orlando of Italy, Clemenceau of France, and Woodrow Wilson of the U.S.), leaders of the four strongest nation during the era, met on June 28 1919 in Paris, where they came to an agreements on terms under one document known as The Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles, ratified in 1919, was created with intentions to end a war that will end all wars (First World War). To be precise, The Treaty of Versailles was a document that was established with the future in mind, peace and stability. Though The Treaty of Versailles was meant to keep peace and stability, in reality it became the foundation for a war even more devastating than World War I, World War II. One can now conclude that The Treaty of Versailles was a failure, but what caused it to fail? To answer this, one must first see The Treaty of Versailles political, social, and economical aspect. In this aspect, one can deduce that the The Treaty of Versailles failed politically socially and economically due to its harshness towards Germany (such as strict enforcement of the treaty), its unreasonable demands, and its failure to represent Germany fairly as a part of the treaty.
Since the First World War was filled destruction never seen before, as a result, the “Big Four” created terms that they hoped would be sufficient enough to keep peace and stability by preventing Germany from ever being a Super Power again. However, this mind set was one of the greatest downfalls of The Treaty of Versailles. By trying to keep Germany oppressed so that they will never rise up and take control, unavoidably led to harsh terms that Germany was strictly enforced to follow. “ARTICLE 231.The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and 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 of Germany and her allies.(Document D)” As stated in Article 231 of The Treaty of Versailles Germanys government had no choice but to take responsibility for the war itself and all the damages that was caused by the war; even if it meant replacing government official until the treaty was signed. However, in truth, the war was really caused by the Serbian nationalist secret society (Black Hand) and with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and yet Germany was force to take full responsibility without any clemency. For instance, In Document G Count von Brockdorff-Rantzau states that “We were firmly resolved to do everything in our power with a view of fulfilling the grave obligations which we had undertaken. We hoped for the peace of justice which had been promised to us. We were aghast when we read in documents the demands made upon us, the victorious violence of our enemies.” The terms listed in the Treaty of Versailles were so severe that one can only be “aghast” to its unfairness. Furthermore in other Documents such as Document H, one is able to see how even other countries challenged the harshness of the treaty. “The peace conditions imposed upon Germany are so hard, so humiliating, that even those who have the smallest expectation of a “peace of justice” are bound to be deeply disappointedД This excerpt, an article/editorial written by a Dutch Algemeen Handelsblad, is clear proof that it wasnt just Germans who challenged the fairness of the Treaty Versailles; it was a global wide effort. The harshness of the treaty was in no doubt obvious, but yet the treaty was still ratified showing the political stance that most world leaders stood. Germany, in no position for negotiation, was in a situation that could not be won, because the damage of the war was so horrific that though many terms in the treaty was harsh, no one (out of the “Big Four”) wanted to challenge their allies and be seen weak by showing mercy upon Germany. Though the harshness of the treaty was inevitable, it is clear that many knew it was harsh and would soon lead to another war, but yet did nothing about it because of the political obligation they were faced with.
Beyond political pressure, and intentional harshness of the treaty, German was faced with numerous amount of trouble with unreasonable demand. Though Germany was already economically drained from World War One, they faced another economical struggle, reparation. Since the French was forced to pay enormous amount of reparation after the