Treaty of Versailles

The Treaty of Versailles was undoubtedly unfair to Germany. Terms of it included: Germany had to admit that it alone was guilty of starting the war, and must pay an undetermined amount of money for reparations, it must give up a good deal of land, Poland was to be restored as an independent nation, it had to abolish conscription and could not maintain an army of more than 100,000 men, it was not allowed to manufacture heavy artillery, tanks, planes, or poison gas, it could have no submarines, and very few ships, and the port of Danzig became a free city. The Allied Powers felt that these terms were justified, in order to prevent the start of another war. Because these terms were so harsh, however, gave the German people even more reason to want revenge. The League of Nations was to watch over Germany, being sure that it didn’t violate any terms of the treaty. In WWII, when Germany began to rearm and make aggressions in Europe, the League did nothing to stop Hitler. With this, he felt he could do as he pleased, later leading to the start of WWII. This is how the Treaty of Versailles backfired when it came to the start of WWII.

European countries allowed Hitler to make his minor aggressions in the late 1930s, because they, for one, didn’t think that much would come of it, and secondly, if they were to take a stand, then another war might erupt between Germany and the rest of Europe. When a war finally did break out, and Germany conquered France, forcing the Pétain government to sign an armistice in the same railroad car as the Treaty of Versailles in the end of WWI. The harshness of the Treaty caused Hitler to want much revenge, taking too great an offensive in some places, and too little of one in others, and thus costing him the war. In WWII, Hitler’s failed offensive in Russia cost him millions of troops, essentially costing him the war. This is contrary to WWI, where a stalemate developed, and the two sides signed a treaty to stop fighting. Germany then sent home all its troops. With this, the Allies forced upon the Germans the Treaty of Versailles. WWII was lost fighting, and WWI was lost for a lack of troops to fight. The way Europe developed after the world wars was palpably affected by the Treaty of Versailles.