How did Treaty of Versailles cause problems in the year after it was made?

Question

How did Treaty of Versailles cause problems in the year after it was made?

Answer 1

Just imagine witnessing a new treaty that will end World War I and stop the fighting. Finally the world will be in peace again. You say this to your family. You watch as their hearts fill with glee. But…

Not all the problems from World War I were solved by the Treaty of Versailles and many other peace attempts and speeches for peace that ended the war. Some of these issues led to World War II. Many historians trace the roots of World War II to the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles was an agreement to try to stop the fighting between Germany and the other countries at the end of World War. They did this to try to stop the war.    

The League of Nations, the countries that were fighting against Germany, went into Germany during World War I. They forced Germany to give up their weapons and give up land. Germany also had to pay the countries they attacked back for all the stuff they did to them. Germany also had to admit that they started World War I.

The Treaty of Versailles ended the military fighting against Germany in World War I. It was signed at the Palace of Versailles near Paris, on June 28th, 1919. It didn’t go into affect until January 10th, 1920. The actual fighting had stopped when Germany accepted the truce to quit fighting between Germany and the Allies on November 11, 1918. The treaty made a peace between Germany and 32 other countries. Some of these countries that they had an official peace with were Britain, France, Italy, and Japan. China never agreed to quit fighting. The USA was going to make a separate peace agreement with Germany in 1921 because the United States Senate did not agree with the treaty. The treaty required Germany to change the boundaries of the countries and also places Germany owned. The treaty also created the League of Nations also took away the colonies of countries that lost in the war. The main writers of the treaty were President Wilson of the United States, Prime Minister David Lloyd of the United Kingdom, Premier Georges Clemenceau of France, and Prime Minister Vittorio Orland of Italy. These men were known as the Big Four.

Preparations for peace started far before the truce. Starting in 1915, a number of connected governments, including Italy and Japan, looked forward to secretly taking land in Germany. They also were looking forward to taking German colonies in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific Ocean. Italy promised that that would happen by joining the Allies in fighting against Germany. Italy did this so they could get some of Germany’s land, too.

President Wilson expressed his opinions in what as known as the Fourteen Points Address, a speech of his ideas on January 8th, 1918. Just imagine hearing President Wilson’s ideas. You believe that there is some hope that everything will go his way and that the war will finally stop. President Wilson’s main goal was to punish Germany economically (money wise). The president didn’t want to take so much that the country couldn’t even pay the fine. Premier Georges Clemenceau said they should take all of Germany’s money even if they couldn’t afford it. The premier also wanted Germany’s land, military, and weapons. He wanted everyone to join the League of Nations, including Germany, to help keep wars from happening in the future. The Allies still were not in favor of the president’s ideas. In order to get more people in favor of President Wilson’s ideas, he needed to compromise.

One of the things the president compromised on was how much money Germany had to pay. He ended up going with what the Clemenceau said. They wanted Germany’s land and money because of all the stuff they did to all the other countries. The President doing this caused the Congress to get mad at him. Therefore America was almost completely out of the whole treaty. America never joined the League of Nations. They never did because of President Wilson’s choice to compromise.

In May 1919, the treaty was taken to Germany. German officials disagreed but were forced to accept the treaty, including the things they had to do or give to the countries, and sign the treaty. The treaty finally took effect in 1920. All of the Allied governments approved the treaty except The United States and China. Many Americans still disagreed with Wilson’s decisions. In March 1920, the US Senate disagreed with the treaty, so they decided to write a separate one called the Treaty of Berlin.

Germany ended giving the Allies lots of things such as coal, livestock, money, ships, timber, and other resources. Germany’s colonies were taken away. These things got taken away because of Germany’s choice to do bad things to other countries during the war.

The Treaty of Versailles caused World War II by making the Germans mad. It made them mad because they got their land, natural resources, and livestock, taken away. They also had to make their military stop fighting, and many other things. These things made them mad and want to get back at the countries that made them do that. These problems led to the rising of Adolf Hitler and the German n***s, who then started World War II.

Answer 2

The big problem was that almost all of the blame for the war went to Germany so they had to pay reparations to fix the countries ravaged by the war.

Answer 3

It punished germany severely

Answer 4

The agreed treaty that ended WWI included many punitive measures against Germany. It was intended to be both a punishment against Germany and a deterrent to any future would-be aggressors.

A common view among historians is that these objectives were, at best, misguided. Others suggest that they were simply vindictive and spiteful.

The follow on argument is that these conditions created a significant degree of deprivation among German citizens, leading to resentment among the populace, and creating the environment ripe for the rise of populist, nationalist, and “angry” political movements.

I think we all know what that resulted in.

Among the same historians and political scientists the corollary to this is that the best antidote to extremist elements in any society is an environment of freedom and opportunity for the general populace.

I’m reminder of the speaker at a Remembrance day ceremony many years ago observing that peace is not merely the absence of war, rather it is the presence of mutual understanding, respect, and friendship.

The Treaty of Versailles was not about any of those things…