Asses the Significance of the Treaty of Versailles
“Asses the significance of the Treaty of Versailles”
The Treaty of Versailles did not dismantle Germany from its ability to wage war; it neither made the people grateful towards the allies. As the Italian political philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli of the 1500’s stated “___________”. The Treaty imposed many demands of the war weary country, these demands did not have an immediate effect on the country, and it instead gave a long-term legacy of bitterness and humiliation.
The defeat of the German military was a shock to most Germans, as they were made to believe that they would be the victors in the “Great War”. The Treaty came as an equal shock, as it gave the government no chance to negotiate the terms. The terms included military provisions to be changed, territories to be given away and reparations to be paid. The military of Germany was to be reduced to 100,000 and Germany was not allowed to produce any guns, poisonous gas or tanks. These terms affected many Germans especially wealthy industrialists who made large profits from the business. Those thousands employed into factories to build weapons also lost their jobs. The German military was at a time four million strong before the war with the reduced military this put thousands of trained men onto the streets without employment, these men would prove later to be enemies of the new republic. The German General Staff was dismantled, therefore putting influential generals such as Ludendorff and Hindenburg unemployed but most importantly there loyalty was to nobody since the Kaiser abdicated. This allowed ambitious politicians to take advantage of the famed generals as they persuaded them to join their political parties. An example of this is Hitler having Ludendorff join him in his 1924 failed Munich Beerhall Putsch, he was used as a symbolic figure supporting Hitler’s regime. The powerful navy that German had, was to be reduced to a mere few ships, and the U-boats were strictly forbidden. This had the same
The Treaty of Versailles did not dismantle Germany from its ability to wage war; it neither made the people grateful towards the allies. As the Italian political philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli of the 1500’s stated “___________”. The Treaty imposed many demands of the war weary country, these demands did not have an immediate effect on the country, and it instead gave a long-term legacy of bitterness and humiliation.
The defeat of the German military was a shock to most Germans, as they were made to believe that they would be the victors in the “Great War”. The Treaty came as an equal shock, as it gave the government no chance to negotiate the terms. The terms included military provisions to be changed, territories to be given away and reparations to be paid. The military of Germany was to be reduced to 100,000 and Germany was not allowed to produce any guns, poisonous gas or tanks. These terms affected many Germans especially wealthy industrialists who made large profits from the business. Those thousands employed into factories to build weapons also lost their jobs. The German military was at a time four million strong before the war with the reduced military this put thousands of trained men onto the streets without employment, these men would prove later to be enemies of the new republic. The German General Staff was dismantled, therefore putting influential generals such as Ludendorff and Hindenburg unemployed but most importantly there loyalty was to nobody since the Kaiser abdicated. This allowed ambitious politicians to take advantage of the famed generals as they persuaded them to join their political parties. An example of this is Hitler having Ludendorff join him in his 1924 failed Munich Beerhall Putsch, he was used as a symbolic figure supporting Hitler’s regime. The powerful navy that German had, was to be reduced to a mere few ships, and the U-boats were strictly forbidden. This had the same