March 15, 2018
The Treaty of Versailles started World War II
Many of us believed World War I would be the last war to end all wars. This deadly war lasted from July 1914 to November 1918, leading to millions of soldiers and civilians wounded and dead. After the war there was a meeting held, called the Versailles Peace conference in January 1919, however Germany was told not to attend. The purpose of this Treaty was to assign Germany boundaries and create future peace preventing further wars.
The Treaty of Versailles helped cause World War II in countless ways by the loss of territory, military size restrictions, damaged war payments and Article 231- the Guilt Clause with Germany.
Through the Versailles Treaty, Germany lost territories after World War I such as Polish Corridor, Lorraine and Alsace. These territorial provisions angered the Germans.
Adolf Hitler published Mein Kampf in 1924, one of his quotes were “No nation can remove this hand from its throat except by the sword”. He believes the best way to end this is through violence and blood to gain back their German territory. This helped cause World War II by creating controversy leading up to war. (Document A).
German military had a size restriction because of the Treaty, they were only allowed to have 100,000 military troops stated by Article 160. “The total effective strength of officers, including the personnel of staffs, whatever their composition, must not exceed four thousand.” The germans not only have limits but has more little power and protection than the rest. On the political chart, France had 4,753,000 soldiers and Belgium had 602,000 soldiers. This proved that these countries outpowered Germany. The Treaty of Versailles restricted their military, Germans are unable to protect their own country thus causing conflict. (Document B)
Payments from the damaged caused from World War I must be paid but by the Germans stated in Article 233. “The amount of reparations or payments to be made by Germany shall be determined by an Inter-Allied Commission.” Germany are responsible to pay for the damage caused during World War I. The reparation Versailles Treaty chart shows that German needs to pay 132 billion gold marks which was $367 billion in US dollars need to be paid over 30 years, their response was anger and humiliation. In 1933, Hitler comes to power and stops all the reparation payments, as he tries to save the Germans from following the Versailles Treaty. (Document C)
The Treaty of Versailles stated that Germany had to follow the Guilt Clause and were responsible with the loss and damage during World War I. In Article 231 states, “The responsibility of Germany and her allies causing all the loss and damage.” The Germans felt humiliated, however, Hitler was a leader that they admired. He forced the world to look at Germany differently, sensing pride and self-respect. (Document D).
The Versailles Treaty had a large impact on the start of World War II. Its purpose was to prevent further wars and establish peace. However it only led many negative factors to war such as Germans loss of territory, decreased size in military, reparations from war and Article 231- war clause with Germany.