Preview

Did the Treaty of Versailles Accomplish Peace?

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1697 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Did the Treaty of Versailles Accomplish Peace?
Aim

Did the Treaty of Versailles Accomplish in Providing Peace?

The main goal of the Treaty of Versailles was to keep peace. Georges Clemenceau from France was part of the Big 3 and he utterly despised Germany. He believed that if Germany was weakened and broken down into little pieces they could never start another war or threaten France again. He mainly wanted Germany to be severely punished and they were. A large section of the Treaty dealt with the punishment of Germany because many others believed in the thinking of Clemenceau. Another part of the Treaty dealt with the League of Nations. The League was set to enforce the Treaty along with improving the world. The League had achieved many of its goals, but by the 1930 's it wasn 't doing its original job. It is questionable that the Treaty of Versailles kept and provided real peace with the harsh punishments of Germany and the problems of the League of Nations.

One of the main clauses of the Treaty was clause 231, this clause states, "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."1 This clause blamed Germany for all the actions and consequences, they had to be responsible. If Germany really had caused the war and was responsible for all damages, the Treaty would then be fair, but it wasn 't them that had caused all these disturbances. One of the main causes of the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian terrorist. This dispute was between Austria-Hungary and Serbia, Germany only offered to help when needed. Besides this, Germany was not the first country to mobilize or attack. They were blamed for the actions of other countries and for any country these verdicts are disgraceful and unfair.



Bibliography: Clare, John D "Germany and the Treaty" Greenfield History Site. 2002 Online. Available: http://www.johndclare.net/peace_treaties5.htm Dec. 24 2005 Clare, John D "Verdicts on the Treaty" Greenfield History Site. 2002 Online. Available: http://www.johndclare.net/peace_treaties6.htm Dec. 24 2005 Clare, John D "Was the League Successful in the 1920s?" Greenfield History Site. 2002 Online. Available: http://www.johndclare.net/league_of_nations4.htm Dec. 24 2005 Clare, John D " Why the League Failed" Greenfield History Site. 2002 Online. Available: http://www.johndclare.net/league_of_nations8.htm Dec. 24 2005 Duffy, Michael "Primary Documents: Treaty of Versailles: Articles 231-247 and Annexes" First World War.com The War to End All Wars. Oct. 28 2001 Online. Available: http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/versailles231-247.htm Dec. 24 2005

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    In June 1919, the treaty signed in this day had ended the war between defeated Germany and the victorious Allies. A one and a half year negotiation on armistice settled till the Treaty of Versailles produced, which becomes the most controversial treaty in the twentieth century. The most contentious part of this peace accord was the Article 231 had imputed full blame for World War I on Germany. However, if we take a careful analysis on the long and the short-term causes, it leads to a just conclusion that the Article 231 was injustice, biased, and inaccurate,…

    • 2778 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Treaty of Versailles is the peace treaty that directly affects and ended the war between Germany and the Allied Powers.…

    • 563 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Treaty of Versailles took important land away from Germany, Reduced Germany’s military significantly, made Germany pay all the war reparations alone, and the treaty put all the blame of the war on Germany. Germany was being punished harshly and severely, and as Hitler came into power he turned the German people against the Treaty of Versailles and they eventually fought back. The Treaty of Versailles helped cause World War II by punishing Germany to the severity that they…

    • 749 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Treaty Of Versailles Dbq

    • 1292 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The end of World War I was finalized by the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919. It was signed by Great Britain, France, Italy, and Japan but not the United States, as the U.S. drafted its own treaty with Germany in 1921. Many historians argue that the Treaty of Versailles was the major cause of World War II which occurred twenty years later. On the Treaty's most superficial level, the extreme punishment and fines that were levied by the Allied Powers on the Germans were causes enough for war. Historians argue that this and the international fallout that resulted most notably with the United States were simply too powerful to avoid war at all. The ramification of the Treaty sent the German economy into a severe depression…

    • 1292 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Castle Project

    • 1122 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Hopefully now, you will have completed the work about the failure of the League of Nations in the 1930s. This is the end of this particular module, so the first thing I would like you to do is to do a practice exam question.…

    • 1122 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Treaty Of Versailles Dbq

    • 1081 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Like how they made a new article in the Treaty of Versailles, “Article 160 that limited the number of troops Germany can have and how many of each division they can have”(Doc E). Also that the army must be devoted exclusively to the maintenance of order within the territory. So they pretty much told they what they had to do and they couldn’t do it any other way except that way. They also blame Germany because they stepped up during the war and sank ships and Germany lose their freedom of navigation upon the seas. Then in (Doc F) it says that they made another article in the Treaty of Versailles, article 231 which blamed Germany for starting the war. Like how they said Germany and Austria-Hungary deliberately worked to defeat all the may conciliatory proposals made by the Entente Powers. They also said that “Germany and her allies caused all the loss and been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies”(Doc F). They blamed Germany for everything even though it was not only their fault. The Germans were forced to sign that treaty that would make their lives miserable like how Germany was “demanded by the victors to pay the bill and plan to punish us as the guilty party”(Doc I). This quote is pretty much showing that the treaty is making Germany pay for all the damage even though they weren’t the only country…

    • 1081 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    League Of Nations Dbq

    • 464 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Treaty of Versailles brought World War I to an end. It was signed on 28 June 1919 in Versailles. The main structure in the treaty was for Germany and her allies to accept the responsibility for causing all the “loss and damage" during the war. The clause of the treaty stated Germany as the antagonist in the war and therefore made Germany responsible for making amends to the Allied nations in payment for the losses and damage they had sustained in the war. The Treaty called for the formation of a League of Nations in which the promise of mutual security would avoid another major world war…

    • 464 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Even though the Treaty of Versailles was meant to end future conflict, all it did was Influence a World War.Some of the reasons why include Germany wanting their land back, wanting a full army, having to pay billions of dollars to all the allied nations, and how the treaty made Germany feel as a whole.…

    • 690 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles in which they admitted to be responsible for the war. This was article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles. This is in preparation for article 232 of the Treaty of Versailles, in which the Treaty of Versailles stated that Germany should pay reparations or compensation for the damage done to the allies.…

    • 484 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Treaty of Versailles was designed to put an end to the German menace. Although is was designed to create some sort of peace, the treaty was unsuccessful. It ended up setting the stage for WWII. Four major points that came up with, and in, the treaty that lent themselves to its failure were Article 231, reparations, the exclusion of Wilson’s 14 points, and the weakness of the League of Nations.…

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    (2020, July 10). World War II. https://www.drishtiias.com/to-the-points/paper1/world-war-ii#::text=Causes%20of%20War,%20the%20League%20of%20Nations. Foner, E. (2016). The 'Standard'.…

    • 1264 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In November 1918, Germany had clearly been defeated by their allies; Britain, France and the U.S.A. The allies offered Germany a peace offering, but under very strict conditions. The armistice that the allies wanted Germany to sign was called Article 231 and it consisted of the Kaiser taking the entire blame for World War 1. The Kaisers confidence had already been crushed because of their defeat so he refused to sign the armistice.…

    • 421 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The league of nations was made to enforce peace. Wilson made a peace program known as the fourteen points and it’s main objective was to make peace. With the fourteen point program Wilson was able to end the war after various negotiations. The treaty of Versailles was made by the allies that won world war one. It was made to have Germany pay for causing the war.…

    • 200 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Treaty of Versailles was not a justified treaty which created German feelings of revenge and dislike towards the victorious countries. This feeling of revenge felt by Germany, in addition with the social atmosphere of Europe, led to a second World War in the September of 1939, just 11 years after the first World War. People at the time published reports on the unfairness of the treaty. America never ratified the treaty but Britain and France still enforced it. Germany had no choice but to sign the unfair ‘diktat '1 and there was only a matter of time before things turned for the worse. We must examine the background, clauses, and effects of the Treaty of Versailles on Germany and Europe to understand how it helped cause WWII. Then, when you look at the situation the treaty created for Europe, we can see how WWII came about.<br><br>The war had left Europe in shambles. WWI ended on November 11, 1918, leaving millions of European soldiers dead and injured. Large areas of Belgium and France had been devastated and two of Europe 's most powerful countries, Germany and Austria-Hungary, were defeated and exhausted. All the European countries were now bankrupt from the cost of waging a war for four years. Germany had not been defeated, but knew that if it continued to fight war against the strong American army, defeat in Berlin would result. Because Germany had surrendered, her only option was to either sign the treaty, or else go back to war again, which would inevitably result in defeat. The Treaty was unexpectedly harsh, though, despite the fact Germany hadn 't been defeated, she had merely surrendered. <br><br>The leaders of the victorious countries met in Paris in 1919 to try to settle the war issues, with intentions of preventing another war. Everyone agreed that a new system was needed, as the old system of alliances had failed. There were different views from the leaders on what to include in the treaty. David Lloyd George, the British Prime Minister, did not…

    • 2037 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Treaty Of Versailles

    • 1533 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Some of the most important clauses of the treaty was that Germany had to give up certain parts of her European territories and colonies, and limit the size and power of her army and navy (Articles 159-213). Articles 45-50 states that the Saar Basin, an important coal area, was to be owned and controlled by France because of the destruction of the coalmines north of France. Also, Articles 100-108 states that the city of Danzig was to be made a free city. This weakened Germany territorially, militarily, and economically. Moreover, a League of Nations (Articles 1-26) was created in order to maintain peace. Article 231, the famous "war guilt clause", was an important part of the Treaty of Versailles. It stated that Germany and her allies were responsible for the war and had to pay reparations for the damages done. Some argue that the treaty created peace, others argue that it created disputes that later led to World War II. I believe that to a small extent, the Treaty of Versailles did achieve the goal of creating the conditions that led to a peaceful world; in spite of its failures, the treaty was the first attempt at creating world…

    • 1533 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays