The Treaty of Versailles - Research Paper Example

? Treaty of Versailles 20-02-12 Treaty of Versailles Introduction: The Four long years into the Great War had left the world stranded in a of disarray. It was no surprise that news of a ceasefire between the Allies and the Central Powers came like a delightful echo and spread all over the world. War stir people celebrated in the streets with all their emotions. The black clouds of war were finally starting to disperse proclaiming a new era of peace. But a lot more was to be done to ensure the progression of current state of tranquility. Many delegates from over 36 nations gathered in Paris in January 1919 merely two months after the cease fire to canvas a plan for post war negotiations. Top four delegates of the Paris Peace Conference- David George Lloyd of Great Britain, Woodrow Wilson of United States, Georges Clemenceau of France and Vittorio Orlando of Italy had a huge task ahead of them. Mission was to lay down terms regarding some of the most sensitive issues of territory, finance and redistribution of map in front of the Germans and their allies. Big four, as they were called, had an additional work of negotiating and signing treaties with many nations including Berlin’s wartime allies and Turkey. But their most important settlement and by far the most famous treaty of Versailles was signed with the Germans.1 The twentieth century historiography was enduringly marked by the peace treaty of 1919 known as the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty of Versailles was a failure not only due to the fact that it had numerous inherent weaknesses but also because it paved way for renewed hostilities. The vindictiveness of British and French peace terms were not only silly but also imposed a humiliating punitive peace on Germany after World War I.2 The treaty for constructed for the purpose of ensuring peace but, ironically, the Treaty of Versailles sowed the seeds of World War II by exerting a negative impact on Germany, ruining it politically and economically and imposing a “dictated peace”. The harsh punitive peace exerted by the treaty supported the rise of the Nazis and resulted in the Third Reich, which inevitably led to the volcanic eruption in the form of World War II. Bloody yet Fruitful Wars: Each of the three great wars fought in the last century concluded with renewed hopes of transcending ancient rivalries of states and transforming them into cordial ties ensuring mutual benefits. World War I culminated in the formation of fourteen points and the League of Nations while World War II introduced the world to the United Nations and the principles of the Atlantic Charter. The end of Cold War in 1989 resulted in the breaching of the Berlin War and crumbled the communist bloc. The aroma of a heady promise of liberation engulfed the world soon after the end of the Cold War. It is quite fascinating to recall and ponder over the cumulative reasons which forced the rivals to fight for their rights. This paper highlights various aspects involved in the construction of The Treaty of Versailles, its impact on Germany, inherent weaknesses and their contribution in renewing hostilities.3 The failure: The treaty of Versailles failed to smother conflicts and brought neither peace nor resolution. Despite great expectations, the peace terms were not able to ensure and maintain a lasting peace. The treaty defied the principles of democracy, self determination and collective security and was a perfect example of French and British cruelty disguised in the name of peace terms. The failure of The Treaty forced Germany to seek economic revisionism. The Unjust Victorious Powers: The delegates of victorious powers met in 1919 in Paris to formulate a peace treaty in an effort to minimize the changes of future hostilities. As expected, the defeated powers were not allowed to have a say in construction of the treaties and their role was only limited to obliging by the clauses of the peace terms and signing them once they were ready. The Paris Peace Conference was dominated by three prominent figures: US President Wilson, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, and French premier Georges Clemenceau. The three prominent figures of the Paris Peace Conference ignored the Italians and the delegates of smaller European nations. The victorious powers also ignored the Japanese proposal which demanded racial equality rights by stating that all races deserved to be treated equally. Furthermore, the victorious powers dominating the Paris Peace Conference rejected and ignored the pleas of the Pan-African Congress and merely concentrated on formulating unjust peace terms. The three powerful, ignorant men also ignored the ten thousand of other delegates from across the world including, the Arab leader Faisal, the Zionist Chaim Weizmann, and a number of Armenian delegates. The dominancy of the victorious powers was one of the many reasons which ensured the failure of the Treaty of Versailles and ultimately sowed the seeds for World War II. 4 Three Major Players responsible for the renewal of Hostilities: Being a high minded idealistic, Wilson wanted to ensure that the construction of peace terms were in accordance with the principles of self determination. Therefore, Wilson wanted to create nations on the basis of ethnic and linguistic principles. The League of Nations was proposed by Wilson, the organization was then constructed in an effort to safeguard peace and foster International cooperation. The strong idealistic personality of Wilson was inevitably perceived as being too unfair which clashed with the personalities of hardheaded and self serving Europeans. The personality clash between Wilson and the Europeans was another reason which proved to be a catalyst in the genesis of new hostilities. 5 Another factor contributing to the genesis of hostilities was the insistence of Lloyd George to force Germany to pay a heavy indemnity. To add fuel to fire, Clemenceau wanted Germany to return the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine to France, it is important to note that these two provinces had been part of France before 1871. 6 Impact on Germany: The German delegates reluctantly signed the treaty on 28th June, 1919. The Treaty of Versailles, drawn up by the victorious powers, unjustly deprived Germany of its colonies. Moreover, the Treaty took away 13% of Germany's land and 10% of its population. In accordance with the clauses of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was not allowed to have an air force. Moreover, Germany was forbidden to have a large army and was only allowed to have a token of army and navy. The Treaty involved the reconstitution of Poland; therefore, Germany was deprived of a large portion of its eastern territory. To humiliate Germany, the clauses of the treaty forced the country to reparations to the Allies in an effort of compensating the losses faced by the victors during the tenure of the Great War. To add fuel to fire, the time duration for the reparations to be paid was not specified in the Treaty's clauses. 7 Resentful Territorial Dismemberment: Germany felt betrayed by the stringent territorial, economic, and military obligations placed on it by The Treaty of Versailles. Germany had expected the treaty to be based on the President Woodrow Wilson’s lenient fourteen points and felt betrayed by the fact that the treaty was not even a faint reflection of the points. The Treaty consisted of 440 articles and placed significant territorial demands on Germany. In accordance with the territorial dismemberment clauses of the treaty, Germany was forced to lose a sizable tract of land in the Upper Silesia and Prussia to Poland. In addition to the return of Alsace Larraine to France, Germany was also demanded to lose Eupen and Malmedy to Belgium. Furthermore, Germany lost Saar for fifteen years and had to suffer the Allied occupation of Rhineland. 8 Unjust Military Clauses of the Treaty: The disintegrating Germany had to face numerous military restrictions at the name of peace terms. The military demands of the treaty were no less resolute than the treaty’s economic and territorial clauses. The Military, Naval, and Aeronautical Control Commissions were established by the Allied forces and were entrusted with the task of supervising the enforcement of military, naval and aeronautical demands of The Treaty of Versailles. The Inter-Allied Military Control Commission oversaw the surrender and destruction of Germany’s Military assets and its excess fortifications. Moreover, the Commission was also entrusted with the responsibility of supervising the reduction in Germany’s armed forces. 9 The Response to the Treaty of Versailles: The Technical Advisor to the British Prime Minister, John Maynard Keynes expressed quite prescient views on the Treaty of Versailles and Resigned from his position in an effort of expressing his resentment towards the unjust peace terms. John Maynard Keynes expressed his views on the treaty by writing the following words to the British Prime Minister George Lloyd: “I ought to tell you that on Saturday I am slipping away from this scene of nightmare. I can do no more good here. I’ve gone on hoping even though these last dreadful weeks that you’d find some way to make the treaty a just and expedient document. But now it’s apparently too late.”1958 John Maynard Keynes was also reported of stating in 1959 that “the peace is outrageous and impossible and can bring nothing but misfortune behind it”. 10 EBrit expressed resentment towards the treaty and forecasted the impending dome in the following words: “Keynes described reparations as morally detestable, politically foolish, and economical nonsensical. Winston Churchill called them ‘a sad story of complicated idiocy”... “The inequitable discrimination that had been imposed on the defeated states by the peace treaties can bring nothing except misfortune”. 11 The Treaty of Versailles was what forced Adolf Hitler to organize Nazis in an attempt to regain some of the former glory. In 1933, Adolf Hitler said, “I will make Germany great again but before that happens the Treaty of Versailles must be destroyed”. He considered that the Treaty of Versailles “stabbed Germany in the back”. 12 Seizure of Rhineland: World War I ended in the Treaty of Versailles and imposed ridiculously strict demands on Germany and placed all blame of the war on Germany and Austria. The strict and humiliating demands of the Treaty of Versailles evoked Adolf Hitler to rebuild the German military soon after the Nazis gained power. The world witnessed Hitler’s aggression in 1936, when German soldiers entered a French controlled territory called Rhineland. French and British military authorities refused to fight the German soldiers and allowed them to take control of Rhineland. The seizure of Rhineland was one of the many events which reflected German resentment over the strict, humiliating clauses of the Treaty of Versailles.13 The Rise of Hitler and Nazis: The events of 1919 and the unjust peace treaty forced Hitler to enter politics. Hitler wanted to rebuild Germany’s army and in order to achieve the goal he started to organize the Nazis party. Hitler wanted to be the sole commander of transforming the fringe group of Nazis into a mass movement. Hitler’s exceptional organizational skills and talents as a mesmerizing speaker helped shaped the foundation of the future party bureaucracy and proved to be valuable assets in the establishment of improved propaganda techniques. In an effort of instilling enthusiasm and loyalty, Hitler practiced the technique of holding mass meetings with the existing members and reminding them about the unjust post war treatment of Germany by the unjust victorious powers. 14 Hitler’s Charisma coupled with the constant reminder of the unjust post war treatment of Germany by the Victorious powers in the form of numerous clauses of the Treaty of Versailles were enough to establish a strong foundation of Nazis. In the years following the events of 1919, the “Hitler Movement” gained immense power and influence in Germany. As time passed, Hitler’s influence and control increased over future political and ideological direction of Germany which ultimately paved way for World War II. Soon after, the world started to witness Hitler’s triumph over the clauses of the Treaty of Versailles, which was ultimately destroyed by the supreme rise of Nazis in Germany. The Third Reich: The Treaty of Versailles had prompted and fueled the rise of Hitler and resulted in the organization the Nazi party. Millions of Germans voted for the Nazi party and transformed into a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by Adolf Hitler. The Third Reich or Nazi Germany idolized Hitler and considered them their leader. Since the very beginning, Hitler and the Nazi party tried to “re-educate” German masses in order to reunite them against the Victorious powers and to rebuild the German military. During the Third Reich, Hitler tried hard to regain Germany’s pre war glory by destroying the Treaty of Versailles.15 Conclusion: The world was plunged again into a new nightmare only twenty years after the “war to end war”. The collective security efforts of 1920, the League of Nations, the disarmament efforts and the Treaty of Versailles had proved to be meaningless in ensuring and maintaining lasting peace. The infamous Treaty of Versailles had resulted in nothing except renewing hostilities, fueling the organization of Nazi Party and laid the foundation of Third Reich. The futile peace attempts were not able to smother the organization of Nazi Party and the Rise of Japan. The Diplomatic Revolution which soon followed the events of 1919 virtually scrapped the Treaty of Versailles.16 Hitler posed as a man of peace and portrayed that Germany only desired the peaceful revision of the unfair provisions of the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler stated numerous times in his mass meetings and public speeches that the organization of Nazi party only for the purpose of achieving a rightful place for Germany among the European States. In 1935, Hitler established a new air force and expanded Germany’s army to a total of 550,000 troops. The unilateral repudiation of the Treaty of Versailles was heavily condemned by France, Britain and Italy but they did not perform any concrete steps to rectify Hitler’s steps. The seizure of Rhineland was another major achievement which strengthened the foundation of Nazi party in Germany. As time passed, Hitler gained new allies and his power increased over Germany. Hitler and Nazi Germany achieved a “diplomatic revolution” in Europe in 1936. The Treaty of Versailles had been virtually scrapped and had immaculately played its role as fueling the fire for the renewal of hostilities. By crippling Germany’s economy, ruining its military power and completely ruining it politically, the Treaty of Versailles had ironically sowed the seeds of World War II by laying the foundation for the organization of Nazis and Germany’s transformation into The Third Reich. 17 References: Boemeke, Manfred F., Gerald D. Feldman, and Elisabeth Gla?ser. 1998. 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