was the treaty of versailles fair?

He stated: "I believe that the campaign for securing out of Germany the general costs of the war was one of the most serious acts of political unwisdom for which our statesmen have ever been responsible. When the outcome of the vote became known, 4,100 (including 800 refugees who had previously fled Germany) residents fled over the border into France. But rather than inform Ebert himself, he had Groener inform the government that the army would be in an untenable position in the event of renewed hostilities. The involved requirements were seen to be very harsh. Despite Woodrow Wilson's will to make the world a safer place, it only provoked German's anger and eventually became the motive of World War two. you to an academic expert within 3 minutes. [137][123] Wilson further reduced the garrison to 6,500 men, before Warren G. Harding's inauguration in 1921. The end of passive resistance in the Ruhr allowed Germany to undertake a currency reform and to negotiate the Dawes Plan, which led to the withdrawal of French and Belgian troops from the Ruhr Area in 1925. On 5 May 1921, the reparation Commission established the London Schedule of Payments and a final reparation sum of 132billion gold marks to be demanded of all the Central Powers. [155][156][157] The resulting rearmament programmes were allotted 35billion Reichsmarks over an eight-year period. "Their status defied exact analysis by both international and constitutional lawyers, but it was clear that they were no longer regarded simply as colonies of Britain. In April and May 1919, the French and Germans held separate talks, on mutually acceptable arrangements on issues like reparation, reconstruction and industrial collaboration. Was Germany treated fairly in the Treaty of Versailles? Germany ignored the limits that the treaty placed on its rearmament. [106][105], At the end of his speech, Scheidemann stated that, in the government's opinion, the treaty was unacceptable. March 4, 2015. This campaign lasted throughout the 1920s and 30s, although peaked in 1920 and 1921. The French garrison withdrew, and in February the Allies agreed to attach Memel as an "autonomous territory" to Lithuania. 22] [23], Both German and non-German observers have argued that these were the most devastating months of the blockade for German civilians,[24] though disagreement persists as to the extent and who is truly at fault. [119] We strive for accuracy and fairness. Moreover, compared to the treaties they made to Russia, the treaty of Brest-Litvosk, which was much more horrible, and the huge cost of the World War 1, Germany was fairly lucky. The armistice signed on November 11, 1918 officially ended the hostilities, but the negotiations between the Allied victors at the Paris Peace Conference lasted six months and involved diplomatic delegations from . For other uses, see, The following citations are direct links to primary sources held on, Toggle Treaty content and signing subsection, US shapes the peace terms with the Fourteen Points. Non-commissioned officers (NCOs) were not limited by the treaty, thus this loophole was exploited and as such the number of NCOs were vastly in excess to the number needed by the Reichswehr. Her promised share of German reparations never materialized, and a seat she coveted on the executive council of the new League of Nations went instead to Spainwhich had remained neutral in the war. Germany recovered very fast from the lost. With the onset of the Great Depression after 1929, economic unrest destabilized the already vulnerable Weimar Republic government in Germany, setting the stage for Nazi leader Adolf Hitlers fateful rise to power in 1933. [102], On 29 April, the German delegation under the leadership of the Foreign Minister Ulrich Graf von Brockdorff-Rantzau arrived in Versailles. "; a criticism over the failure to annex the Rhineland and for compromising French security for the benefit of the United States and Britain. [153] [121] Lithuania accepted the Memel Statute, a power-sharing arrangement to protect non-Lithuanians in the territory and its autonomous status while responsibility for the territory remained with the great powers. Evaluate the arguments presented regarding the treatment of Germany following WWI. The German navy was allowed six pre-dreadnought battleships and was limited to a maximum of six light cruisers (not exceeding 6,000 long tons (6,100t)), twelve destroyers (not exceeding 800 long tons (810t)) and twelve torpedo boats (not exceeding 200 long tons (200t)) and was forbidden submarines.[n. The League of Nations lasted for 26 years and had some initial successes but failed to advance a more general disarmament or to avert international aggression and war. Please select which sections you would like to print: Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. The first three in particular made the important decisions. On July 10, 1919, the president of the United States, for the first time since 1789, personally delivered a treaty to the Senate. The establishment of diplomatic ties with the Soviet Union, via the Genoa Conference and Treaty of Rapallo, was also used to circumvent the Treaty of Versailles. The chief people responsible for the Treaty of Versailles were U.S. Pres. The provisions were intended to make the Reichswehr incapable of offensive action and to encourage international disarmament.[75][n. [171], The British historian of modern Germany, Richard J. Evans, wrote that during the war the German right was committed to an annexationist program which aimed at Germany annexing most of Europe and Africa. Germany can rebuild the economy step by step till finally being able to pay off the compensation payment. Publicly, these diplomatic exchanges were largely in regards to trade and future economic cooperation. "wir kennen die Wucht des Hasses, die uns hier entgegentritt Es wird von uns verlangt, da wir uns als die allein Schuldigen am Kriege bekennen; ein solches Bekenntnis wre in meinem Munde eine Lge." The commission was required to "give to the German Government a just opportunity to be heard", and to submit its conclusions by 1 May 1921. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! [60][incomplete short citation], In June 1919, the Allies declared that war would resume if the German government did not sign the treaty they had agreed to among themselves. Furthermore, he claimed, it was "hardly a slap on the wrist" when contrasted with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk that Germany had imposed on a defeated Russian SFSR in March 1918, which had taken away a third of Russia's population (albeit mostly of non-Russian ethnicity), one-half of Russia's industrial undertakings and nine-tenths of Russia's coal mines, coupled with an indemnity of six billion marks. For his part, Orlando wanted to expand Italys influence and shape it into a major power that could hold its own alongside the other great nations. "[21] From January 1919 to March 1919, Germany refused to agree to Allied demands that Germany surrender its merchant ships to Allied ports to transport food supplies. PhDessay is an educational resource where over 1,000,000 free essays are collected. At the time, it was impossible for Germany, but it was not given a time limit. Not even Napoleon himself could touch England. Gdask (Danzig) was declared a free city. Military schools for officer training were limited to three, one school per arm, and conscription was abolished. Germany's eastern frontiers faced Russia and Austria, who had both in the past balanced German power. [94] All of the Irreconcilables were bitter enemies of President Wilson, and he launched a nationwide speaking tour in the summer of 1919 to refute them. Treaty of Versailles: Do Peace Settlements Create Conditions for New Conflicts? While the term was not used, self-determination was assumed. Was the Treaty fair to Germany? 17], The treaty was comprehensive and complex in the restrictions imposed upon the post-war German armed forces (the Reichswehr). The promoted idea called for the major powers to act as disinterested trustees over a region, aiding the native populations until they could govern themselves. The British later proposed and agreed to an increase in the Reichswehr to 200,000 men, and for Germany to have an air force half the size of the French. President Friedrich Ebert knew that Germany was in an impossible situation. [116] Between 1919 and 1921, three major outbreaks of violence took place between German and Polish civilians, resulting in German and Polish military forces also becoming involved. [54] This position fluctuated following the US entry into the war. Firstly, there is no fair in warfare. A complete withdrawal was considered, but rejected in order to maintain a presence to continue acting as a check on French ambitions and prevent the establishment of an autonomous Rhineland Republic. On 12 March 1938, following German pressure to the collapse of the Austrian Government, German troops crossed into Austria and the following day Hitler announced the Anschluss: the annexation of Austria by Germany. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, followed quickly by the entry of most European powers into an expanding conflict which became the First World War. Orlando was ultimately forced to abandon the conference and resign. [120] I believe that the Treaty was unnecessarily harsh and not as fair as it . Retrieved from https://phdessay.com/was-the-treaty-of-versailles-fair/, Run a free check or have your essay done for you, Hire experts, get original paper in 3+ hours. In addition to specific territorial settlements based on an Allied victory, Wilsons so-called Fourteen Points emphasized the need for national self-determination for Europes different ethnic populations. II and III. [citation needed] Within six months of the transfer, Belgium was required to conduct a plebiscite on whether the citizens of the region wanted to remain under Belgian sovereignty or return to German control, communicate the results to the League of Nations and abide by the League's decision.[n. Versailles ignored any possibility of there being a third way: the kind of compact represented by the Swiss Federation; a bilingual or even trilingual Schleswig-Holsteinian state" or other options such as "a Schleswigian state in a loose confederation with Denmark or Germany, or an autonomous region under the protection of the League of Nations. 18] Type your requirements and I'll connect 6000 Fairview Road, It is easy to say what should have been done, but more difficult to have found a way of doing it. More recently economists have argued that the restriction of Germany to a small army saved it so much money it could afford the reparations payments. The Treaty of Versailles was the primary treaty produced by the Paris Peace Conference at the end of World War I. [158], On 7 March 1936, German troops entered and remilitarized the Rhineland. It was also negotiated for the French Army to be reduced. It had been seized by Germany more than 40 years earlier. In March 1935, Germany reintroduced conscription followed by an open rearmament programme and the official unveiling of the Luftwaffe (air force), and signed the Anglo-German Naval Agreement that allowed a surface fleet 35% of the size of the Royal Navy. It was signed in the Palace of Versailles, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which led to the war. The main motive of the Treaty was to unite the Maori and British settlers. Treaty of Versailles | The Canadian Encyclopedia The conference was dominated by the national leaders known as the Big FourDavid Lloyd George, the prime minister of the United Kingdom; Georges Clemenceau, the prime minister of France; Woodrow Wilson, the president of the United States; and Vittorio Orlando, the prime minister of Italy. The people of Schleswig were presented with only two choices: Danish or German sovereignty. The sovereignty of part of southern East Prussia was to be decided via plebiscite while the East Prussian Soldau area, which was astride the rail line between Warsaw and Danzig, was transferred to Poland outright without plebiscite.[n. ", "How the Treaty of Versailles Contributed to Hitler's Rise", "Peace Without Victory (speech to Senate)", "Reassembling a World Order: Toward a New Historiography of the Paris Peace Conference", "The Making of a Masterpiece: John Maynard Keynes and The Economic Consequences of the Peace", Treaty of Peace between Germany and the United States of America, Documents relating to the Treaty from the Parliamentary Collections, The consequences of the Treaty of Versailles for today's world, Text of Protest by Germany and Acceptance of Fair Peace Treaty, Map of Europe and the impact of the Versailles Treaty, The Signing of Peace in the Hall of Mirrors, Armistice between Russia and the Central Powers, Japan-US Treaty of Peace and Amity (1854), Dutch-Japan Treaty of Peace and Amity (1854), Japan-Netherlands Additional Treaty (1856), Treaty of Amity and Commerce (United StatesJapan) (1859), Treaty of Amity and Commerce between Russia and Japan (1859), Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce 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How the Treaty of Versailles and German Guilt Led to World War II From the moment the leaders of the victorious Allied nations arrived in France for the peace conference in early 1919, the. Germany had to recognize the independence of Poland and renounce "all rights and title over the territory". [31][32], Talks between the Allies to establish a common negotiating position started on 18 January 1919, in the Salle de l'Horloge (Clock Room) at the French Foreign Ministry on the Quai d'Orsay in Paris. The treaty's terms against Germany resulted in economic collapse and bitter resentment which powered the rise of the Nazi Party, and eventually the outbreak of a second World War. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allied Powers. 8] The Belgian transitional administration, under High Commissioner General Herman Baltia, was responsible for the organisation and control of this process, held between January and June 1920. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. As these programs did not require an expansion of the military, they were nominally legal. In 1917, the new Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic under Vladimir Lenin in March 1918 signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, amounting to a surrender that was highly favourable to Germany. The government headed by Philipp Scheidemann was unable to agree on a common position, and Scheidemann himself resigned rather than agree to sign the treaty. [9][10] In addition, it established that Allied forces would occupy the Rhineland. The Treaty of Saint-Germain was fair and just, Austria was forbidden from ever seeking unification with Germany and her army was limited to 30,000 men. The Treaty of Versailles was a peace agreement that marked the end of World War One. 10 minutes with: Explore more free examples on similar topics, To what extent was the treaty of Versailles. Heather Smith Smith 1 Dr. Dixie Hicks Essay #2 2-27-13 Peace Pact to War Message In August of 1928, Kellogg proposed a multilateral treaty outlawing war as an instrument of. Territorial changes imposed by the treaty were also factored in. Though nearly thirty nations participated, the representatives of the United Kingdom, France, the United States, and Italy became known as the "Big Four.". [124] What were the main provisions of the Treaty of Versailles? Nonetheless Japan emerged from the Treaty with territorial gains, including the Kiautschou Bay Leased Territory and all the territories of German New Guinea north of the Equator, forming the South Seas Mandate. [116][117] ", while General Jan Smuts (a member of the South African delegation) wrote to Lloyd-George, before the signing, that the treaty was unstable and declared "Are we in our sober senses or suffering from shellshock? An area of 51,800 square kilometres (20,000 square miles) was granted to Poland at the expense of Germany. American and British representatives refused the French claim and after two months of negotiations, the French accepted a British pledge to provide an immediate alliance with France if Germany attacked again, and Wilson agreed to put a similar proposal to the Senate. Woodrow Wilson, French Premier Georges Clemenceau, and British Prime Minister David Lloyd George. This is also the most important point of my view. This is, for me, our main and principal expansion." [142][143] In March, 18,000 German troops entered the Rhineland under the guise of attempting to quell possible unrest by the Communist Party of Germany and in doing so violated the demilitarized zone. They referred to the treaty as "the Diktat" since its terms were presented to Germany on a take-it-or-leave-it basis. 9][122], In late 1918, American, Belgian, British, and French troops entered the Rhineland to enforce the armistice. Congress failed to ratify the Treaty of Versailles, U.S. Department of State: Office of the Historian, https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/treaty-of-versailles-1. Consequently, passive resistance was called off in late 1923. 38] His next visited in 1661, he had fallen in. Gauge the moods of the European people and statesmen as Woodrow Wilson arrived to forge an end to World War I, Examine how the Allied powers dismembered the Central Powers of World War I by a treaty that failed to prevent World War II, German reparations and military limitations, The Great War Infographic of Deaths and Milestones, https://www.britannica.com/event/Treaty-of-Versailles-1919, History Learning Site - The Treaty of Versailles, United States History - Treaty of Versailles, 1919, Palace of Versailles - The Treaty of Versailles, 1919, Holocaust Encyclopedia - Treaty of Versailles, GlobalSecurity.org - 1919 Treaty of Versailles, Spartacus Educational - Versailles Treaty, Maurice Pascal Alers Hankey, 1st Baron Hankey, international relations: Peacemaking, 191922. [164] He believed the sums being asked of Germany in reparations were many times more than it was possible for Germany to pay, and that these would produce drastic instability. 34] 26] [25][26][27][28][29] According to Dr. Max Rubner 100,000 German civilians died due to the continuation blockade after the armistice. Order custom essay Was the Treaty of Versailles Fair? "[163] After the Belgian government reported this result, the League of Nations confirmed the change of status on 20 September 1920, with the line of the German-Belgian border finally fixed by a League of Nations commission in 1922. They thought it punished the defeated countries but gave them the opportunity to recover. [176] Having noted that much, Peukert commented that the policy of rapprochement with the Western powers that Gustav Stresemann carried out between 1923 and 1929 were constructive policies that might have allowed Germany to play a more positive role in Europe, and that it was not true that German democracy was doomed to die in 1919 because of Versailles. Germany was prohibited from the arms trade, limits were imposed on the type and quantity of weapons and prohibited from the manufacture or stockpile of chemical weapons, armoured cars, tanks and military aircraft.[n. In this regard, the wrongs of racial discrimination have been, and continue to be, the source of "profound resentment on the part of large numbers of the human race", directly affecting their rights and their pride. Although he shared his countrymen's disgust with the treaty, he was sober enough to consider the possibility that the government would not be in a position to reject it. (, da Atti Parlamentari, Camera dei Deputati, Discussioni, 'Von 1.058.000 Deutschen, die noch 1921 in Posen und Westpreuen lebten', ist bei Cartier zu lesen, 'waren bis 1926 unter polnischem Druck 758.867 abgewandert. Other countries entered as fighting raged widely across Europe, as well as the Middle East, Africa and Asia. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. The terms of the Treaty were very damaging to Germany for a number of reasons: Territory was taken from Germany, depriving it of . [115], Following the implementation of the treaty, Upper Silesia was initially governed by Britain, France, and Italy. The economy and industry in Europe collapsed. During the year, over half of Chinese arms imports were German and worth 13million Reichsmarks. In the West, Germany was balanced only by France and Belgium, both of which were smaller in population and less economically vibrant than Germany. [95], The closest the treaty came to passage was on 19 November 1919, as Lodge and his Republicans formed a coalition with the pro-treaty Democrats, and were close to a two-thirds majority for a Treaty with reservations, but Wilson rejected this compromise and enough Democrats followed his lead to end the chances of ratification permanently. "[vi] However, Wilson had refused to bring any leading members of the Republican party, led by Henry Cabot Lodge, into the talks. Despite the oppression and migration, Opole Silesia "remained ethnically mixed. 15], Article 119 of the treaty required Germany to renounce sovereignty over former colonies and Article 22 converted the territories into League of Nations mandates under the control of Allied states.[n. The total number of troops committed to the occupation rapidly dwindled as veteran soldiers were demobilized, and were replaced by inexperienced men who had finished basic training following the cessation of hostilities. [127][130], The British Second Army, with some 275,000 veteran soldiers, entered Germany in late 1918. The largest bloc, led by Senator Lodge,[93] comprised a majority of the Republicans. [128] My Lloyd George wanted terms of reparation that would not cripple the German economy, so that Germany would remain a viable economic power and trading partner. "[vii] Treaty of Paris Signed by the United States and Spain, December 10, 1898The United States of America and Her Majesty the Queen Regent of Spain, in the name of her. The four Dominions and India all signed the Treaty separately from Britain,[n. 2] a clear recognition by the international community that the Dominions were no longer British colonies. The video below describes the contents of the Treaty of Versailles. Among the treaties, the 1919 Treaty of Versailles held Germany responsible for starting the war. In the west, Germany returned Alsace-Lorraine to France. Most importantly, Article 231 of the treaty, better known as the war guilt clause, forced Germany to accept full responsibility for starting World War I and pay enormous reparations for Allied war losses. Part XIII organized the establishment of the International Labour Office, to regulate hours of work, including a maximum working day and week; the regulation of the labour supply; the prevention of unemployment; the provision of a living wage; the protection of the worker against sickness, disease and injury arising out of his employment; the protection of children, young persons and women; provision for old age and injury; protection of the interests of workers when employed abroad; recognition of the principle of freedom of association; the organization of vocational and technical education and other measures.[n.
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