Preview

Treaty Of Versailles Too Harsh On Germany Research Paper

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1048 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Treaty Of Versailles Too Harsh On Germany Research Paper
| |
|Essay: Was the Treaty of Versailles too Harsh on Germany? |
|Ms. McLean, IGCSE History |
| |
|Elizabeth Kitange, Yr 10D |
|11/14/2011 |

|This essay
…show more content…
|

ESSAY: WHETHER THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES WAS TOO HARSH ON GERMANY.

The terms of the Treaty of Versailles were harsh on Germany. The Germans had a difficult time managing and coming with the defeat. They were surprised and upset to see their army that they had been so proud of and strong, being defeated. The Germans talked about the ‘stab in the back’ and the politicians who signed the armistice were called the ‘November criminals’ for their ‘betrayal’ of the country. The Germans who felt that that their country had been betrayed were shocked at the terms of the Treaty. They felt that it was wrong to put the entire blame on their country and hated the Treaty’s term about the payment of reparations. The Germans were simply given the treaty and forced to sign it or else the war would re-start. This privation of discussion and consultation angered the Germans who called it a ‘diktat’, a dictated or commanded

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Ironically the League of nation’s answer for world peace was the main cause of World War II. Germany loss World War I and was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles, saying that there would not be anymore wars ever. The Treaty of Versailles was created at the end of World War I in hopes to keep world peace; both the Allied Powers and the Central Powers signed the treaty and agreed to keep the peace with one another. The Treaty of Versailles was a great idea on paper, but unfortunately it helped cause World War II. The Treaty of Versailles helped cause World War II by taking land away from Germany, limiting the size of Germany’s military, pushing war reparations on Germany, and using the War Guilt Clause against the Germans.…

    • 749 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The treaty of Versailles is believed by historians to have angered the Germans but also left the big three unsatisfied at the outcome of the pact. Germany felt exceedingly cheated by the treaty. The Germans in the treaty had been blamed entirely for the war and had to pay compensation in the sum of 6, 600million pounds as well as limit there army to no more then 100,000 men to name a few . Through the treaty Germany had to lose much of its territory to its neighboring countries - as well as the demilitarization of the Rhineland to protect France.…

    • 893 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Anti-Semitism In Ww2

    • 603 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In Article 231 the government agreed and signed the document accepting all the blame for World War 1 while many Germans disagreed with this idea. “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 imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies.” (Article 231, Treaty of Versaille) While the treaty was made to create peace it only backlashed and was one of the biggest reasons for World War 2. German’s felt unfairly blamed since the war was not all their fault.…

    • 603 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In retaliation, on the part of the Allies, the Treaty of Versailles was heavily skewed against the Germans. It placed upon them unrealistic reparation demands which were impossible for Germany to fulfill, being seen as unfair and unreasonable. This also stirred up political tension and controversy, thus contributing largely to the post-war political and economic hardships that Germany faced. The TOV was seen by Germans as a ‘diktat’ or dictated peace in which they were forced to reduce their army, lose all their colonies and pay back reparations for WWI. From this came the ‘dolchstosslegende’, or “stab in the back legend” which claimed that socialists, pacifists and Jews had betrayed the German army whilst they were supposedly winning the war. This became the way that Germans would have to accept defeat and caused much disappointment when the Weimar Government endorsed the TOV. Consequently, many Germans lost faith in the government and loathed them for taking on such an unreasonable ‘dictated’ peace agreement.…

    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Primarily due to the harsh conditions of The Treaty of Versailles the German economy was reaching failure. The treaty reduced Germany’s territory by 14 percent and its population by 6.5 million citizens. It created for Germany large minorities outside its new borders and for the time being an unlimited reparations liability (Schwabe, 864). Germany entered a period of severe economic depression and widespread unemployment. After the loss of World War I, Germany was emotionally a battered and broken country. After the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, the German people could not help but feel betrayed and angry at the Treaty’s conditions. It was overall a difficult time for the people of Germany. The Germans’ most painful part of the treaty to accept was the fact that they were ultimately being blamed for the war and the responsibility of causing damage on the others involved. In other words, Germany had to take full responsibility for beginning World War I. The Germans resented the fact that the entire blame of the war was placed on their country. The treaty left many Germans angry, looking for someone to blame for the loss of the war and someone to lead…

    • 1568 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    treaty of versailles

    • 362 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The treaty of Versailles implied that the Germans were guilty of causing the war and were not able to say anything against it. The treaty forced Germany to disarm, make substantial territorial concessions, and pay reparations to certain countries that had formed the Allied powers. “In 1921 the total cost of these reparations was assessed at 6,600 million Mark”. Assuming such crisis left the country in so much remorse and shame to its people.…

    • 362 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Then on November 11, 1918 an armistice based on United States’ President Woodrow Wilson’s “Fourteen Points” was agreed to by Germany, but The Treaty of Versailles was totally different and President Woodrow Wilson expected and different from is 14 points he wanted.What made The Treaty of Versailles so difficult to accept, wasn’t simply the terms themselves or the lack of enforcement,but the political environment has to find a place in playing an important role in the inability of the Allies to forge the peace everyone was looking for.…

    • 88 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Treaty of Brest-Livosk cannot measurably be compared to the Treaty of Versailles. It is more akin to the Treaty of Ghent. Remember, that as a strategic political move, giving up the Baltic countries, which were small and geographically closer to Germany than to the Soviet Union,didn't appreciably decrease the Russian landscape. In 1939, as part of the infamous Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Germany, controlled by the Nazis, returned the favor and secretly agreed that the Baltic countries would be part of the Soviet sphere of influence. Stalin's Red Army quickly occupied all three. However, Nazi Germany in 1941 invaded the Soviet Union and overran and occupied the Baltic states, pact not in consideration to the Nazi war machine.…

    • 416 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    On the 28th June 1919, Germany resentfully signed the most famous treaty ever, Versailles. Although years of readjusting the treaty followed, this essay will focus mainly on the strengths and weaknesses of the 440 articles in 1919. The Treaty followed a massive war, with huge human sacrifice. It was supposed to be the Treaty to end all wars and give security to the countries involved. The overwhelming task that laid ahead for Woodrow Wilson (America), Lloyd George (Great Britain), Clemenceau (France) and Orlando (Italy) was on a bigger scale than any previous delegates had had to deal with.…

    • 1815 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The treaty was seen by Germans as the loss of Germany’s image of a great nation with a powerful military. As a result the WR was often called the ‘November Criminals’ and accused them of the idea of the ‘Dolchstoss(stab in the back)”. Most of this was due to the fact that the allies forced Germany to pay the harsh terms of the war reparations amounting to 60 billion dollars. The WR’s obvious economic problems and the public’s view on them made it look like it was inevitably going to collapse. Hitler used the idea of ‘November Criminals’ and the Treaty of Versailles as propaganda to show the shame that the WR brought on Germany. In one video it is shows Hitler ripping the Treaty of Versailles in front of the crowd causing a frenzy of high German…

    • 690 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    On July 28th 1914, World War I was declared in Europe. The central powers were;…

    • 923 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Treaty of Versailles was written shortly after World War I ended, on June 28th, 1919. The Treaty of Versailles ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. Basically written to get revenge on Germany for their role in World War I, the Treaty was an extremely controversial document (Roberts). Countries against Germany, which included Britain, France, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India, the Soviet Union, China and the United States of America believed that Germany was responsible for the entirety of the war (Biesinger). Even though Germany caused a lot of damage to many countries, the Germans believed that they should not be completely blamed for World War I. The Germans were treated exceedingly harsh by all of the Allied…

    • 1133 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In this treaty it states that Germany must take full responsibility for the war, pay back all debts caused by the war, and give land back that was taken from France by them. The Treaty of Versailles had a large role on the world entering “The Second Great War” because it angered Hitler causing him to perform the act of sending his troops into Rhineland. This action violated the Treaty of Versailles because in it stated Germany was not allowed to place any troops in the Rhineland, the strip of land, 50 miles wide, next to France. (http://www.johndclare.net/peace_treaties4.htm) Germany claimed the treaty was hostile to them and Hitler used this as an excuse to send German troops into the Rhineland, it was a gamble on his part and his generals were nervous about taking this action. This was one of the leading causes to the war because this treaty was created to specifically to stop Germany from doing exactly what Hitler did. This angered the other countries that were involved with the treaty because he violated rules set by…

    • 1090 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Treaty of Versailles was considered a “Troubled Treaty”, because it had initially caused more trouble than it was intended to prevent. The purpose of the Treaty of Versailles was to end the long, four year conflict between the Allies and Central Powers, a devastating event known as World War One. Though the Treaty had managed to temporarily keep the peace between nations, it wasn’t signed by all the participants from the war, and had thrown Germany into economic chaos. First, Germany alone was to blame for the First World War. This enormous responsibility left Germany in a crippling debt of three million dollars. The overwhelming reparation fees caused Germany to revert to desperate measures, leading to hyperinflation in the mid twenties. In fact, they were so desperate, the German government started printing money. Unfortunately, this made the value of their currency drop to the point that money was a children’s toy, it was of so little value. Secondly, Germany’s crushed national pride had it’s people looking for a sense of leadership and stability. Their desperation lead the German people to allow leaders like Hitler and Mussolini to take advantage of them, resulting in the creation of Hitler’s National-Socialist Party, otherwise known as the Nazis. This party would later be responsible for the genocide of the Jewish population throughout Germany. Lastly, when Germany was declared accountable for the war, it was written in the Treaty of Versailles that they would have a quota for machinery they could produce, and had their majority of weapons and ammunition confiscated and/or destroyed. Though this was thought to be a good idea, because it would later keep Germany’s military under control, it actually caused them to upgrade their weaponry, and reform their forces, making them more of a threat. Overall, the Treaty of Versailles had earned the name, “a Troubled Treaty” despite its intentions to keep the peace between nations. It instead resulted in a crippling…

    • 374 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Treaty of Versailles' hateful terms and unreasonable damages to the German society resulted in undesired economic circumstances. When the Germans heard about the Treaty of Versailles, they felt it was unfair. They had not been allowed to take part in any of the talks and they had just…

    • 2101 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays