However eventually the treaty became ineffective and ultimately was the main cause of World War 2. Richard Jones-Nerzic’s statement that the treaty ‘did a remarkably good job’ can only be considered true when looking at the short term effects , but overall the treaty created horrific outcomes. The Treaty of Versailles initially achieved its aims as Richard Jones-Nerzic stated. Germany had to agree to numerous terms including; war guilt, reparations, limited armies, loss of colonies as well as the creation of the League of Nations. All of the terms weakened Germany as the Allies wanted to prevent another war and knew that Germany was the greatest threat.
Economically, Germany’s desire to build a central European customs association was at odds with France, Russia and Britain’s economic aspirations. The rise of Hindenburg and Ludendorff as leaders of the third Supreme Command placed huge power with the military in Germany and further prevented diplomatic negotiation. Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg’s programme of 9 September 1914 defined Germany’s general aim of the war as ‘security for the German Reich in west and east for all imaginable time.’[2] Essential to this aim was the weakening of France so ‘as to make her revival as a Great Power impossible for all time.’[3] Bethmann’s programme had unpalatable territorial, economic and political implications for France. Such a direct, provocative aim forced France’s hand. Prolonged warfare with Germany was more appealing than surrender and facing being controlled by a German state.
In an effort to promote such reconciliation, President Woodrow Wilson called for the creation of the League of Nations which would serve as an international peacekeeping organization. Germany signed the Treaty of Versailles under protest and eventually sought revisions to the sanctions outlined in it while, at the same time, “the US Senate rejected the Versailles settlement and vetoed U.S. membership of the League of Nations”. The peace that was sought by crafting the Versailles Treaty had failed to materialize and it was this very treaty that became a contributing factor to World War II. German Reaction to the Treaty of Versailles The German people began to
While both peace treaties intended on maintaining a lasting peace, The Treaty of Versailles would quickly fail and contribute to conflicts leading up to World War 2 and on the contrary, the successful Congress of Vienna would stabilize Europe for nearly a century until the Great War. The Treaty of Versailles sparks a savage, war spirit to be born within Hitler’s Germany, thus preventing any long lasting peace to avoid battle. The Congress of Vienna however utilizes Metternich’s principles to sustain conservative order. Ultimately, the fundamental objective of each peace treaty was to maintain some sort of lasting peace, to prevent war. Metternich, desiring to contain France, successfully unites Europe through the conservative Congress of Vienna.
It also severely restricted Germany’s military power. The treaty, to Germany, was something that was not only unfair, but also humiliating. This caused Germany to bear resentment against the winning powers and caused some to thirst for revenge. America’s policy of isolationism also played a major part in starting World War II. Their refusal to join the League of Nations severely weakened it, and effectively destroyed the League of Nation’s ability to follow through with its threats and stop wars.
Question; What reasons did the Germans have to feel that they had been conquered by the Allies? After World War One, the leaders of the three major allied countries, Britain, America and France, decided upon several terms which aimed to maintain peace. These were compiled together, after much negotiation and compromise, into a treaty which was signed at Versailles. Many of the terms centred on the punishment of Germany, mainly to ensure that it couldn’t cause another war and to make it pay for all of the damage. Germany was treated in this way because, by invading Belgium, it was seen as starting the war by the Allies, as it had unnecessarily marched through a neutral country to invade a country with which it wasn’t yet at war.
Britain was still recovering from the Depression which had devastated her economy; her economy could not afford a major conflict. The French preferred a defensive policy against a potential German threat and she spent time and money building the vast Maginot Line - a series of vast forts on the French and German border. The most Britain, France and Italy did was to form the Stresa Front which issued a protest against Hitler's rearmament policy but did nothing else. It seemed that Britain was even supporting Germany’s breaking of the Treaty of Versailles. This treaty had clearly stated what Germany’s navy should be - no submarines and only six warships over 10,000 tons.
“How important were weaknesses and divisons among his opponents in explaining Hilters’s rise to power by 1933?” After their defeat in the first world war, Germany was given an extremely harsh peace treaty, the Treaty of Versailles, which they were forced to sign in 1919. The treaty was a crippling blow to the newly formed Weimar Republic, which caused many problems for them and led to the eventual rise of Hilter and the Nazi party into power. The Nazis faced tough opposition from parties such as the Communists and Socialists, who didn’t believe in a democratic government, however these parties were relatively weak and divided, so were therefore defeated easily. There were many other factors which contributed to Hitlers rise to power such as weaknesses of the Weimar Republic, resentment over the Treaty of Versailles, economic crises in 1923 and 1929, the popular appeal of the Nazi’s and their effective use of propaganda and Hitler as a speaker. Historians disagree to an extent as to what the main reasons for Hitlers rise to power was.
This made the new Weimar government, who signed the treaty, extremely unpopular and there was a lot of opposition to the government. Deep anger about the First World War and the Treaty of Versailles created an underlying bitterness to which Hitler's viciousness and expansionism appealed, so they gave him support. Hitler promised to get rid of the Treaty. These examples show how the Germans turned to Hitler because they needed a new leader to restore its former glory. After the Stock Market Crash in the United States, much of Europe was suffering an economic depression just as the United States.
It can be argued that had these short term factors not come about, the outbreak of war would have been avoided regardless of the fact that these triggers were deemed to be less important than other long term factors such as Britain’s relationship with Germany. The treaty of London, signed in 1839 stated that Britain should protect Belgium and with Germany violating this with their invasion, forced the government to go to war, with the help of pressures from the public who were extremely pro-war at the time. The alliance system may also be to blame for Britain’s involvement in the war as due to the assassination of the Archduke and his wife, causing Austro-Hungary declaring war on Serbia, dragging all the other powers in Europe into war. This, however, can only be seen as a catalyst as tensions within Europe had been increasing rapidly since the turn of the century. Germany’s decision to build a navy that would rival Britain’s did nothing but sour relations further between the two dominant powers of Europe at the time.