Word Count: 1807 Date: 15/09/2010

Li Chun Ho (Alvin) IB History HL

Essay Question: How justified were the terms of the Treaty of Versailles in punishing Germany? __________________________________________________________________________________ For I now realize, more than ever before, that once established, the League can arbitrate and correct mistakes which are in the treaty. Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States of America. The Treaty of Versailles, signed on the 28th of June, 1919 was seen as to a larger extent as an unjustified peace agreement which carried severe consequences for the years to come. As the Germans surrendered to America at the end of World War One, it was given an armistice that was based on the 14 points, which did not mention reparations or war guilt that Germany needed to sustain. Furthermore, no German delegations were allowed to be involved in the negotiation process in the Paris peace conference, and they were only given a limited time to sign. In addition, the heavy amount of reparations imposed had not been reasonable provided that important industrial land, such as the Saar and parts of Upper Silesia were key economic zones vital to the German economy were taken away, it was unrealistic to expect such a high degree of indemnity to be paid, as German citizens in general were innocent. However, we need to take into account the differences between the demands of the Big Three influenced by public opinion as well as the overestimation of the power of the League of Nations. During the Paris Peace conference, all the lost nations, including Germany were barred from attending the peace making process. They only had 22 days to acknowledge and sign a treaty with up to 440 clauses and were not consulted beforehand. ; otherwise the Allies would invade Germany. Several clauses that contributed to the out roar included clause 231, where Germany recognized war guilt, and thus acted as a basis for reparations and compensation. Clause 160 reduced the German army significantly; down to a limit of 100,000 men with no conscription of the army, no tanks, submarines and airforce allowed, only 6 battleships permitted. However if we look back into the German army before the start of World War One, the German army used to consist of 4.5 million soldiers, supported by a navy of 281 ships. The sudden decrease in numbers removed the German pride; hence extreme nationalists strongly condemned the Treaty. Because of this huge dissimilarity, by decreasing her army to a size smaller than that of Belgiums, while its land size was nearly 10 times bigger than the latters, this erupted enormous oppression from Germans. These points had extreme contradictions with the 14 points the American President, Woodrow Wilson, had put forward during the Germans acceptance of the armistice. In the 14 points, the president suggested National Self-Determination, which referred to the privilege of people having the right to have their own freedom and form their own governments. This was again not applied to Germany. For example, several of these points referred to National Self-Determination, such as the fact the different people living in Austria-Hungary should be given their freedom (point 10) and the Italian borders of Italy should be adjusted to bring as much Italian speakers as possible into Italy (point 9). She believed the Treaty of Versailles was also based on the 14 points. However, this showed to the completely contrasting, as a huge piece of land with more than 3 million German speakers was given to Czechoslovakia, also known as the Sudetenland. Because of this contradiction, it created great resentment, prompting the German public to call the treaty a dictat, known as a dictated peace. The 14 points did not mention methods to make Germany pay for reparations and how to deal with Germany in terms of penalties after the war. Therefore, the grave

Word Count: 1807 Date: 15/09/2010

Li Chun Ho (Alvin) IB History HL

Essay Question: How justified were the terms of the Treaty of Versailles in punishing Germany? __________________________________________________________________________________ inconsistencies implied it was unjust and unfair to Germany as she was not aware of these new sanctions imposed. The reparations amount, which finally materialised to a cost of 6,600 million pounds by the Reparations Committee in 1921, was by most the contributing factor to the injustice of the Treaty of Versailles. In acknowledgement to the fact Germany lost around 13% of its territory, included key economic regions such as the Saar and parts of Upper Silesia. These regions provided essential coal mining facilities, important for the German heavy industry. Because of the lost of these areas, it was of major difficulty of Germany to repay the huge sum of reparations. Furthermore, the loss of conscription of the army caused the unemployment rate to increase at an unprecedented rate. (Loss of conscription means that all of the soldiers were volunteers who did not receive wages.) Furthermore, this cause the new Government, the Weimar Republic, frantically produced many banknotes, thus causing extremely high inflation. After the war, prices everywhere increased fivefold compared to pre-war economic situations. (Because of the gloomy economic situation, this later caused Radial Nazi Extremism to spread, as people had lost confidence in the government.) Therefore it seems acceptable to state the Treaty of Versailles was responsible for causing high unemployment, the incapability of Germany to pay the reparations due to lack of facilities, thus causing high inflation which every ordinary German citizen was forced to suffer. This sense of outrage often symbolizes the unfairness of the Treaty of Versailles. In parallel to the exclusion of Germany being offered National Self-determination, disarmament was only imposed on Germany. Other countries were free to modify the sizes of their armies at their own wishes, which was again contradicting Wilsons 14 points, which one of them (point 4) suggests the level of armaments should be reduced in each country. However this turned out to only be applied to Germany. This contributed to the sense Germans had that they were treated unfairly. On the other hand, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was often used by politicians to justify the degree of severity imposed on Germany. After Lenins seizure of power from the provisional government, his first action was to remove Russians from the Great War. Because of this surrender, Russia was forced to sign a peace treaty, mainly composed by Germany. The treaty, for better or worse, was seen as a very severe cost for peace. Major land losses materialized to 1 million square miles, which included the surrendering of Poland, Baltic States, Latvia and Estonia. The area lost had an approximate population of 55 million citizens. These areas, similar to the Saar and Upper Silesia, were key coal mining, oil and heavy industry regions. Because of this fact, western delegations used the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk to suggest Germany should accept the treaty, as it also imposed harsh clauses onto Russia. Furthermore, it was not seen as a justified treaty because it failed to follow up on the Treaty of London that was signed in 1915. The Treaty of London was signed so that Italy would fight on the sides of the Allies. By doing so, they were promised a just share of regions of the Ottoman Empire, which included a port city of Vlore, which belonged to Albania. Therefore the Treaty of Versailles did not acknowledge the fact the Allies had made a secret treaty in order to seduce Italy to join their side. Furthermore, the secret treaty did not cherish the values of National Self-Determination 2

Word Count: 1807 Date: 15/09/2010

Li Chun Ho (Alvin) IB History HL

Essay Question: How justified were the terms of the Treaty of Versailles in punishing Germany? __________________________________________________________________________________ mentioned in Wilsons 14 points; hence it was less likely Italy would have those promises honored. We can say that it was unfair Italy was not acknowledged as a leading factor which led to the victory of the Allies, not the Germans. However, it appears that some world leaders, especially Woodrow Wilson, were too optimistic of the founding successes of the League of Nations. Although there were many flaws in the treaty itself, such as the level of reparations, the uncertainty of whether France will be secured by an alliance and that future aggression can be resolved through the council of the League, the American president believed these problems could be addressed fairly using the League. Therefore, he believed many of the unjust clauses can be righted through his planned organization. This gives a valid justification that the Treaty of Versailles can be seen as reasonable in punishing Germany. Furthermore, many contentious clauses such as the general disarmament of Germanys army and the removal of the Saar for 15 years and parts of Upper Silesia give evidence of putting excessive burden on the already weak Germany, it is vital to relate the different demands and wants of the Big Three. Emotions among the general public in France, as well as Britain, have long demanded a severe punishment to Germany. In the eyes of the French, the country where 52,000 factories, 4,800 kilometers of roads with more than 2 million citizens who became refugees in their own homeland, it is truly understandable considering the stakes that France treat Germany very harshly, as a medium for the French government to channel their state of resentment and anger. Therefore to some extent, this argument offers insightful into moral reasoning of the ordinary French citizen. In conclusion, there seems to be adequate evidence to point the Treaty of Versailles was by far an unjustified treaty that did not address the overall problem in the long term. Yes, offering reparations at such an incompetent height ensures French economic stability, but they have failed to encompass the major framework of the economy. Furthermore, the incompatibilities of the Armistice Germany surrendered to contrast with the peace treaty are incomparable; their differences are too big to be accepted by the Germans. This can be a cause for the rise of Hitler, as he had promised to destroy the hated Treaty of Versailles. Furthermore, the German rage was further fuelled by the fact she was not offered National Self-Determination, in the sense the treaty stated Germany was prohibited to annex with Austria as a single speaking German state. However, although provided that too much hope was placed in the successes of the League of Nations in settling the problems generated by the Treaty of Versailles, it can be said that at such a state of tension, over expectations should not have happened. Furthermore, the short term resentment in France can be seen as a motivating factor in order to make Germany suffer. These post-traumatic stress factors are reasonable grounds for justifying the short-term aims of the treaty.

Word Count: 1807 Date: 15/09/2010

Li Chun Ho (Alvin) IB History HL

Essay Question: How justified were the terms of the Treaty of Versailles in punishing Germany? __________________________________________________________________________________

Bibliography
McAleavy, T. Twentieth Century History International Relations since 1919 IGCSE. Cambridge University Press. Todd, A. Democracies and Dictatorships Europe and the World 1919-1989. Cambridge University Press. Williamson. In Ambition and Reality: War Aims and the Peace Settlements of 1919-20 (pp. 28-35). Anne Leland & Mari-Jana "M-J" Oboroceanu. (2010). American War and Military Operations. Washington D.C: Congressional Research Service. Gauci, J. IB History - Route 2 Standard and Higher Level: Peacemaking, Peacekeeping, International Relations 1918-36 (OSC IB Revision Guides for the International Baccalaureate Diploma). Laver, R. W. Years of Change European History 1890-1990 . Williamson, D. War & Peace: International Relations, 1919-39 .