Treaty+of+Versailles+Flaws

To what extent was the treaty of Versailles fatally flawed? The Treaty of Versailles is one of the most controversial decisions of the 20th century. Many scholars argue that the treaty led directly to German aggression and World War II. Following WWI leaders from Britain, France and the United States met in Paris to create a post war settlement. The treaty made territorial and military changes in Germany, and Article 231 forced Germany to take full blame for the war. In addition, the “Big Three” imposed harsh reparations on Germany. Lastly the Treaty set up the League of Nations, which partially succeeded but ultimately failed to keep peace. WWI “seriously weakened Europe both economically and politically” [i] and the treaty failed to resolve post war issues such as the reshaping of Europe, the treatment of Germany, and international monetary stabilization. The settlement fueled German nationalism from resentment over her treatment by the Allies in the treaty rather than bringing about everlasting stability and peace. This bitterness “sowed fertile psychological ground” for the eventual rise of the Nazi party. [ii] The treaty of Versailles failed to solve post WWI issues in Germany and Europe that led directly to World War II. The treaty imposed limits on Germany to ensure that another world conflict would not happen again. The allies agreed that the German navy was to be limited to 15,000 officers and men, six battleships, six light cruisers, twelve destroyers and twelve torpedo boats. Meanwhile, the army was to be restricted to 100,000 men who would be obliged to enlist for twelve years. [iii] In addition to disarmament, the treaty laid the blame for World War I solely on Germany in 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 impose upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies// .” [iv] This clause, known as the war-guilt clause was the cause of lasting resentment in Germany more than any other clause in the treaty. [v] In addition the victorious powers required Germany to pay reparations for the war, which led to hyperinflation as the government resorted to printing more marks in order to pay the sum. The long-term political implications brought on by the reparations and inflation aided the Nazi party electoral gain. [vi] Lastly, Germany lost significant amounts of territory and resources in Europe and overseas. These terms saddled Germany with what “seemed to be iniquitous penalties” and nearly every party in Germany “concurred in condemning the Versailles Treaty as unjust and unacceptable”. [vii] Although the terms of the treaty were directed towards Germany, the peace settlement also affected Europe as a whole. It was primarily the actions of the big three that left Europe vulnerable to “external shocks and exposed to internal collapse” [viii]. The treaty failed to include provisions for the economic rehabilitation of Europe and thus no arrangement was reached at Paris for restoring the disordered finances of Europe. Countries stabilized their exchanges throughout the decade after the war at different dates and with different exchange rates. The League of Nations commented on the situation in 1944: “The piecemeal and haphazard manner of international monetary reconstruction sowed the seeds of subsequent disintegration. It was partly because of the lack of proper co-ordination during the stabilization period of the Twenties that the system broke down ion the Thirties” [ix] The peace settlement also set up new successor states that were formed from nationalist groups that claimed territory. The main problem with these new states was that in giving free reign to ethnic claims the European map came to “resemble a patchwork mosaic which had no real coherence and which shattered the balance of power that had prevailed in the nineteenth century.” [x] These new states were weak, backward economically and their administrations were open to corruption. The states contained an assortment of different nationalities and religions, which inevitably gave rise to political and social tensions. [xi] Even more significant was the fact the most of the independent states contained Germans who were anxious to unite with Germany. By the early 1920’s the European political and economic landscape had “become decidedly fragmented and this effectively provided the breeding ground for the Second World War.” [xii] There are several reasons why the Treaty can be viewed as tragically flawed. First the Versailles treaty did little to shape any sort of long-term peace because it lacked enforcement. The reluctance to enforce the terms by the Allies stopped the Treaty from approaching success. [xiii] The allies assumed that Germany would cooperate with the terms, but within a year of the peace conference the victorious alliance, which defeated Germany, had crumbled away. It was this “critical collapse, rather than the provisions of the peace terms themselves, which ensured that the Treaty of Versailles was never fully accepted or enforced.” [xiv] One of the most crucial omissions of the treaty was “the absence of time limits” [xv]  The treaty was vague and did not specify how long disarmament should last so Germany disobeyed the provisions on disarmament. Another defect of the settlement was that each of the victorious powers had contradicting goals regarding the treatment of Germany. French leaders were disgruntled because they feared the treaty was not harsh enough while the British felt it was too harsh. [xvi] Because of these conflicting views, the treaty left Germany largely intact and allowed her to regain economic and political strength. Despite the treaty, the country still had enormous potential and emerged from the war as the strongest power on the continent. The peace invoked by Versailles left Germany both powerful and resentful. This resentment of the treaty combined with nationalism led to German aggression and ultimately World War II. Many Germans considered the peace settlement to be too harsh and the Treaty of Versailles came to be known as the Versailles ‘Diktat’. Germany “harbored a burning resentment against the victors and was determined to secure revenge for such ignominious treatment.” [xvii] Thus Germany became a breeding ground for extremist right-wing thought and support of Hitler grew drastically. The disillusionment with democracy allowed Hitler to be voted into power in the 1930 elections. Once in power Hitler ignored the terms of the Treaty and invaded Poland, starting the Second World War. The League of Nations, set up by the settlement, was neither willing nor capable of intervening and therefore failed. The Treaty of Versailles was intended to prevent another massive conflict, however, the Treaty was fatally flawed. Its effects on the German population were a factor in Hitler’s rise to power and WWII. Europe remained in a fragile state and was unable to withstand later shocks. Although the failures greatly overshadow the successes, the treaty did set up the League of Nations, which partially succeeded. Also, it is necessary to consider the context in which the Treaty was signed. The political environment played an important role in the inability of the Allies to forge a lasting peace. The peace conference was “held at a time of unprecedented political, social, economic and ideological upheaval.” [xviii] This international instability made the attainment of a lasting peace so difficult. Even the leaders knew the goal of restoring stability would be difficult. The Treaty proved to be an ultimate failure in 1939 when the Second World War broke out. (1,222)

[i] Aldcroft, Derek. "The Versailles Legacy." //History Review// 29 (Nov. 1997): n. pag. //Questia Online Library//. Web. 19 Nov. 2009. . [ii] Ibid. [iii] Kitchen, Martin. //Europe Between the Wars//. New York: Longmen, 2006. N. pag. Print. [iv] Henig, Ruth. //Versailles and After, 1919-33//. New York: Routledge, 1995. N. pag. Print. [v] Ibid. [vi] Aldcroft. [vii] Ibid. [viii] Greene, Theodore. //Wilson at Versailles//. Boston: D.C Health Place of Publication, 1957. //Questia Online Library//. Web. 19 Nov. 2009. . [ix] Aldcroft [x] Keylor, William. "A Re-evaluation of the Versailles Pact." //Revelance// 5.3 (1996): n. pag. Web. 3 Dec. 2009. . William Keylor is a professor of International studies and history at Boston University. He is the author of many scholarly articles and journals as well as several books including “The Legacy of the Great War: Peacemaking 1919”. [xi] Aldcroft. [xii] Ibid. [xiii] Henig [xiv] Ibid. [xv] Kitchen. [xvi] Ibid. [xvii] Ibid. [xviii] Henig.