1. Define what the Treaty of Versailles was.
2. Describe what the Treaty specifically did.
3. Do you think the Treaty of Versailles helped lead to World War II? Explain.
The Treaty of Versailles ended WWI. WWI was supposed to be the end of all wars. It was signed June 28, 1919 which was 5 years after the death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. This treaty required Germany to accept all responsibility of the war and ultimately pay a total of 33 billion dollars to multiple different countries. 33 billion dollars in this time is equivalent to 400 billion dollars today.
Woodrow Wilson came up with 14 points to the treaty that he wanted acted upon. He was trying to get everything back to normal but most of his points were rejected and ultimately made Germany pay.
The treaty was negotiated mostly by the “big four” known as France, GB, US, and Italy. After the war there would be a lot of Germany’s land given back to their rightful owners. I believe that this treaty was a big part of WWII. Many countries were under the impression that Germany was down and this would be the time to take out their legs. Although Hitler was another character that didn’t quite help the situation by creating his race. The last point was kind of outrageous because Serbia started the war. This would later become a major bite in the butt because Hitler basically used it as blackmail against us.
The treaty took place at the Versailles palace. This treaty hit Germany pretty hard. Many blame it for the inflation in Germany.
The fourteen components or points that Wilson proposed were as follows.
1. end to secret treaties.
2. Freedom of the seas.
3. Free trade for all countries.
4. Disarmament.
5. End to colonial claims.
6. Self-determination for all countries.
7. Restoration of Belgium.
8. Restoration of France.
9. Readjustment of Italy's boundaries.
10. Austria-Hungary would be given opportunity for autonomous development.
11. Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro should be evacuated and restored.
12. Turkey should be sovereign.
13. Poland would be given their independence.
14. The "League of Nations" would be developed.
This treaty basically stripped Germany of their pride. It made them render land back to France Belgium and Denmark. It also made them reduce their troops to 100,000 and no tanks navy or forces from the air.
I think that Germany was widely disrespected. Although Germany was mostly good until Hitler got in then stuff started hitting the fan. He basically brainwashed everyone into believing that the treaty was so bad and used that as a headline to get him his authority. It went a little too crazy when Jews started getting killed so Hitler could have a dominating race.
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