Treaty+of+Versailles+anallysis

Kyler Morgan

The Treaty of Versailles was the conclusion to WWI. The treaty was set up to stop any wars like WWI from happening again but it failed miserably. The ideas in the treaty were good but were poorly executed. The Treaty of Versailles was not fatally flawed but many of the issues addressed were not well thought out.

The first thing that was poorly executed was placing entire war guilt on Germany. Germany may have escalated the war but entire war guilt was an exaggeration. German officials were greatly angered by the overstatement. This greatly decreased the possibility of Germans cooperating with the treaty without resistance. When the Ruhr was seized by France to forecfully acquire the reparation papyments, the German workers just stopped working. They used passive resistance against French authorities so the French would not get the money. The resistance was eventually stopped by Stressman.

The war reparations were another big mistake made by the victorious powers. The amount was exorbitant. It was set at a total of 6600 million pounds (1). Clearly even half that amount would be extreme especially for one country to pay themselves. The reparations were also required to keep up with the rising cost of goods, so something that cost 100 pounds one year could cost 150 the next. Another part of Germany's reparations was providing livestock to the French government of 233500 animals and to the Belgian government 135400 animals (2). Germany tried to make the payments by producing more money but that only led to depression (3). The treaty took away Germany's colonies and areas that housed natural resources so Germans could not pay reparations in coal and other minerals (4).

In the treaty, Germany was forced to turn over colonies and some areas in Europe to neighboring countries. The territories taken away from Germany included three cities on the eastern border to Belgium, Northern Schlswig to Denmark, and most of the area that is now Poland, and Alsace and Lorraine were returned to France (5). Besides losing 2 million people, Germany also lost three quarters of their total iron resources (6). Germany was also stripped of her colonies. The colonies that Germany lost from Africa also deprived her of many natural resources usable in reparations.

Disarmament was another big part of the treaty. The area 50 kilometers wide east of the Rhine River was demilitarized, making a safe border for France and Belgium. The //Entente// powers occupied the western bank of the river to increase the security. The treaty limited many aspects of Germany's armed forces. Limiting Germany's army was going to be implemented as a standard for all other countries but never was (7). The limitations on the army put many men out of work because they were not in the military making it harder on the whole of Germany.

The final main point that the Treaty of Versailles did was to create the League of Nations. This was in theory a good idea but was executed horribly. First the nation that the idea came from, the United States of America, did not join because it was seen as an "entangling alliance" (8). Germany was an excluded power because of its role in the war. Russia was also denied participation because it was a communist state. Right there the three strongest nation in the world were not in the League of Nations. They would not be able to help mediate disputes between countries. The league was unable to stop two member nations from invading other territories (9). Japan in Manchuria and Italy in Ethiopia. Both nations exited the league in the end (10). The only thing that the league did was put economic sanctions on Italy, but that did nothing to stop the invasion (11). Finally the biggest failure of the League of Nations was its inaction when German troops entered the demilitarized zone east of the Rhine River. The league was able to provide some economic aid for poor countries but that hardly makes up for the many problems that went unchecked.

The league was started with good intentions for the whole world in mind. If the rest of the treaty had not angered Germany so much, eventually they might have joined. Also if America had not seen it as such an inconvenience, it would have joined right away and given it some real authority. Having a world government would not be a bad thing, but the countries are so different it would be really hard to please all of them at once.

The execution of the Treaty of Versailles led to its ultimate failure. The ideas and intentions were good but not truly attainable so soon after such a conflict. Fatally flawed is an overstatement on the Treaty of Versailles, but the treaty was certainly not dressed for success.

(1) Layton, Geoff. The Great Inflation. 3rd edition. London Hodder, 2005

(2) "Treaty of Versailles 1919." EBSCOhost: n. pag. EBSCO host. Web. 3 Dec. 2009. .

(3) Layton

(4) ibid.

(5) Wolfson, Robert, and John Laver. The Peace Treaties and the Successor States. N.p.: Hodder Murray, n.d. Print.

(6) ibid.

(7) ibid.

(8) "World Problems in Review as to Geneva." World Affairs 101.1 (2007): 5-8. Print.

(9) ibid.

(10) ibid.

(11) ibid.

20th Century World History: Course Companion. Oxford: Oxford U. Press, 2009. Print.

Layton, Geoff. Weimar and the Rise of Nazi Germany. 3rd ed. London: Hodder, 2005. Print.

"Treaty of Versailles 1919." EBSCOhost: n. pag. EBSCO host. Web. 3 Dec. 2009. [].

Wolfson, Robert, and John Laver. International Relations and Crises 1919-39. third ed.: Hodder Murray, n.d. Print.

Years of Change European History 1890-1990. ---. The Peace Treaties and the Successor States. N.p.: Hodder Murray. n.d. Print.

"World Problems in Review As to Geneva." World Affairs 101.1 (2007): 5-8. Print.