On November 11, 1918, World War I had come to an end. Soldiers celebrated, happy to return to their families and people in the streets jumped for joy. However, the war was not officially over until a peace treaty was drawn up in 1919. The treaty was called the Treaty of Versailles. Many people were included in the making of the treaty, but it was Woodrow Wilson, president of the United States, David Lloyd George, prime minister of England, Georges Clemenceau, prime minister of France, and Vittorio Emanuele Orland, prime minister of Italy, who made all the big decisions. While the treaty was made to establish world peace, it ironically led to another world war.
For years, tensions built up between European nations. In 1914, the assination of Austria's archduke ignited a so-called powder keg that sparked World War I. You may be wondering how one conflict between two nations can turn into a worldwide issue? Well, when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, their allies came to the rescue to defend them in war. Within the matter of days Austria-Hungary and Germany were ready to face Serbia, Russia, Great Britain, Belgium, and France. Nobody knew how bad world war I was going to end up being. When soldiers left over the summer of 1914, they thought they would be home by Christmas and the war would only last a few months at the most. Little did they know, many of them would not ever be coming home, and the ones who did wouldn’t be back for a long time. Within the four years World War I lasted for, war technology and weaponry evolved tremendously. During the start of the war, soldiers were going off to battle on horseback with shotguns and by the end of the war, most nations were using machine guns, grenades, poison gas, fighter jets, and even submarines. Countries suffered astronomical war casualties. Overall, there were about 40 million war casualties with approximately 20 million deaths and 20 million wounded. In addition to the soldiers, many civilians also suffered war casualties. The United States managed to stay out of the war until 1917. When German submarines blew up the American ship, the Lustiana, President Woodrow Wilson had had enough and proposed to congress that the United States should declare war on Germany and join the Allies in the fight. Joining the war way Wilson’s idea of “making the world safe for democracy”. Wilson then spent the next year creating fourteen points that created an outline for how the Allies could establish a lasting world peace after World War I, and open many parts of the world up to democracy. He thought the best way to establish a lasting world peace was to create a League of Nations and redraw borders for many European countries. Wilson’s fourteen points served as a major influence for the Treaty of Versailles. After the United States entered the war, the Allies had an advantage and war quickly came to an end. On November 11, 1918, Germany signed an armistice agreement with the Allies ending the war. Now that the fighting had stopped, the Allies needed to draw up an official treaty ending the war and establishing a plan to create a lasting world peace.
In 1919, the nations got together at the Palace of Versailles to create a treaty that would end world war I, and create a plan to keep lasting peace between nations. Several representatives from countries all over the world were invited to help make the treaty; however, the big four, Woodrow Wilson, David Lloyd George, Georges Clemenceau, and least importantly, Vittorio Emanuele Orland, had final say over everything. Germany was the only nation not included in the making of the treaty. Each country came into the meeting with a different perspective on how the treaty should be written. Britain thought that there should be stability, and Italy did not have as much say as the other three countries. The main debate was between the United States, and France. Wilson believed in the idea of self-determination. He thought that people should be able to establish their own government. Clemenceau however wanted nothing except revenge. Around fifty years prior to World War I, France suffered a humiliating loss to Germany in the Franco-Purssian war. The war united Germany together and resulted in a strong, powerful nation. Clemenceau wanted to destroy Germany’s economy and leave them powerless. Wilson disagreed with Clemenceau’s idea however, the most important thing to Wilson was creating a League of Nations. Wilson agreed to Clemenceau’s terms under the condition that the League of Nations would be included in the treaty. In the end, the treaty blamed Germany entirely for the war, forced them to pay heavy war reparations, and took away much of their military strength. It took away Germany’s air force and limited their army to only 100,000 men. The treaty also established a League of Nations, which would later fail, and drew new borders throughout Europe. On June 28, 1919, Germany reluctantly signed the treaty.
The Treaty of Versailles left Germany devastated. Their nation was deeply hurt, and upset by the way World War I ended. While the treaty was meant to bring world peace, it ended up fueling hatred and resentment throughout Germany. Many Germans were hungry for revenge, specifically Adolf Hitler. Many wonder why people allowed Hitler to go as far as he did, but they do not realize that Hitler did not gain his power overnight. He took baby steps doing things slowly, one by one, until it was too late for anyone to stop him. During the 1920s and 1930s, the National Socialist Party (the Nazis) were able to gain support because they promised to restore Germany back to the powerful nation it once was. German citizens had no idea Hitler’s true intentions or what he was capable of. The treaty also established a League of Nations that was supposed to work together to keep world peace and stop future conflicts. While it seemed like a good idea, it ended up failing. When Wilson returned home from Europe, congress denied his wish to join the league of nations because they did not want to get involved in any more European problems. Without the United States, the league was practically powerless. After more than a decade, Hitler had gained the trust of his citizens and an extreme amount of power. In 1933, Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany and in 1934 he became Germany’s leader. Hitler had no intention of listening to the treaty of Versaillies or the League of Nations. In 1933, he withdrew Germany from the League of Nations, and in 1935, he started to build up Germany’s military strength again. The following year, Hitler was eager to put his plan of gaining lebensraum, or living space, into motion. First, German troops seized Rhineland. The other nations verbally protested. They did not want to risk getting involved in another war, so they did not make much effort to stop him. Hitler did not just want to restore Germany to what it was, he wanted to make it bigger and better. As stated by Hitler himself, “Today Germany, tomorrow the world”. Hitler had intentions of taking over the entire world. In 1938, Hitler sent his troops to take over Austria. Still, the other nations did nothing. Later that same year, Hitler threatened to annex Czechoslovakia. The other countries saw that Hitler was getting out of control, but did not want anymore war. Instead, they decided to establish a Policy of Appeasement. The policy stated that Hitler could have the German speaking parts of Czechoslovakia as long as he promised to stop after that. Hitler signed the policy, but he had no intentions of keeping peace. In 1939, Hitler took over the rest of Czechoslovakia. France and Britain were too afraid to intervene, they did not want another war. Later that year, Hitler attacked Poland. Finally, the nations had had enough. On September 3, 1939, Britain and France declared war on Germany and World War II had begun.
Had the Treaty of Versailles been written differently, it is likely that World War II would have never occurred. Placing the blame for World War I entirely on Germany, and leaving Germany’s nation in pieces was not a good idea. The treaty only fueled hatred, resentment, and the desire for revenge in many Germans. Besides giving Hitler motivation to “take over the world”, it also provided him with a perfect opportunity to do so. The treaty destroyed Germany’s ego, and crumbled their nation making it easy to win over many Germans. When Hitler gained his power, there was no force to stop him, everyone feared him. The treaty established a League of Nations to keep peace and prevent conflicts however, when the U.S was unable to join, the league was left powerless. This is why Hitler was able to get away with so much, there was nothing preventing him from doing whatever he wanted and he faced no consequences for his actions. It is important to keep in mind that the Treaty of Versailles only made World War II possible, it did not make it unavoidable. There were definitely other steps that could have been taken after the treaty was made to stop Hitler from going as far as he did.
Work Cited:
Dye, Mr. “Primary Source: The Allied Response to the German Objections to the Treaty of Versailles.” Primary Source: The Allied Response to the German Objections to the Treaty of Versailles, 1 Jan. 1970, https://socraticworld.blogspot.com/2011/05/primary-source-allied-response-to.html.
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Inscription on the Liberty Memorial Tower in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri. “The Fourteen Points.” National WWI Museum and Memorial, 5 June 2019, https://www.theworldwar.org/learn/peace/fourteen-points.
National Geographic Society. “Treaty of Versailles.” National Geographic Society, 25 Oct. 2013, https://www.nationalgeographic.org/thisday/jun28/treaty-versailles-ends-wwi/.
Pruitt, Sarah. “How the Treaty of Versailles and German Guilt Led to World War II.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 29 June 2018, https://www.history.com/news/treaty-of-versailles-world-war-ii-german-guilt-effects.
Treaty of Peace with Germany (Treaty of Versailles). https://www.census.gov/history/pdf/treaty_of_versailles-112018.pdf.