The Failure Of The Treaty Of Versailles

Though the treaty of versailles created peace and harmony in many nations after the first world war it left Germany to be humiliated and dishonored and to be worthless as a result Germany revolted, plunging the world into a second world war.

The treaty of the Versailles was an agreement between France, England and the United states. Its intentions were to prevent a second world war however, it was a total fail. An obvious reason for not being effective could be because not everyone was included in the conference such as Russia, and Central Powers. Instead, Prime minister George Clemenceau had thought he would speak for all of europe and wanted to be the strongest of europe. Clemenceau seeked revenge towards Germany, in fact he desired most dismantle the best of Germany 's military and their nationalist pride. As for the United States, Wilson implemented the fourteen points which focused on self determination of people. Only few of his points were included in the treaty but these points had been the reason for conflicts happening in europe. Participation from everyone is important and not allowing everyone 's input could lead to negative outcomes such as, The league of nations which most likely failed because the United States wasn’t allowed to participate.

Thesis: The peace treaty that resulted from World War 1 was not too harsh of a punishment for the offenses committed.

After the fighting of World War I stopped, the nations of the Allied powers gathered in Paris, France to negotiate and write the treaty that would end the war. What would become known as the Treaty of Versailles was signed by Germany and most of the Allied powers. However, the United States did not do so. Both liberal and conservative opposition as well as the behavior and actions of President Wilson significantly contributed to the defeat of the Treaty of Versailles in the United States. Liberal groups saw components of the treaty as being insufficient and failing to ensure the interests of the United States and this belief spread to many. Conservative groups viewed aspects of the treaty as being unnecessary and too harsh on Germany and many came to agree. In addition, President Wilson’s refusal to compromise on ratification of the treaty made it very difficult to allow it to receive the support it needed.

The Great War, or World War I, was the first modern warfare and the first total war in which almost everyone participated in it, both directly or indirectly. After the war, President Woodrow Wilson hoped that the Great War will be a war to “end all wars”; unfortunately, almost twenty years later, World War II erupted in Europe and the world plunged into an even deadlier war. With the end of World War I, the Treaty of Versailles was drafted to secure peace throughout Europe, but the cruel and unreasonable terms made World War II almost inevitable.

The United States, sought a peace treaty that would address how World War I began. The United States also wanted a treaty that would not punish Germany for fear of instigating resentment with the German people, for example, resentment was one of the factors in the rise of the Nazi regime. The final version of the treaty did not sit well with President Wilson, even more, only eight of his Fourteen Points were actually merged into the Treaty. Some of Wilson’s points were not respected by either side, for instance, point five urged countries to work towards disarmament and reduction of munitions. President Wilson, initially regarded the Treaty as a means of a temporary fix to an unbalanced world. This regard was based on the fact that the President knew very little about Europe. Furthermore, President Wilson became extremely embittered as the corrections to the Treaty became more punitive towards Germany. Even though the United States successfully avoided a high casualty and damage rate from the war, likewise, President Wilson and the American people shared the same disappointment that he felt towards the Treaty of Versailles. Therefore, the treaty was greeted with disappointment in the United States and due to the ‘fourteenth point- The League of Nations, Congress refused to ratify it.

Some might argue that President Wilson’s actions and mindset was moderately to blame for the failure of the Treaty of Versailles to persuade the Senate. After all, President Woodrow Wilson refused to take any Republican Senators with him to the Paris Peace Conference. Additionally, President Wilson held strong unwillingness to compromise during his whirlwind tour throughout the nation to gain support for the treaty, until when he suffered a stroke and collapsed from the public view. However, these mistakes of Wilson seem very miniscule when compared to the immense impact the opposition of the public and the Senate had on the defeat of the Treaty of Versailles.

War is atrocious, and World War I was a horrific event that involved the majority of Europe, and had spread like a contagious disease throughout a wide area of the globe. The United States, at first, was a self-proclaimed “neutral” force. The United States although claimed neutrality, was involved with the war, and eventually dropped its neutral standpoint and joined the Allied powers. Factors that affected the United States’ decision to abandon their neutral title included, but were not limited to; The sinking of the Lusitania, issues with foreign trade, the Zimmerman Note, the declaration of Unrestricted Submarine Warfare by Germany, and Woodrow Wilson’s overwhelming urge to make the entire globe democratic. Though they did claim to be neutral,

The Treaty of Versailles was created with the intent of preventing another war. The Allied powers met at Versailles to discuss the treaty without inviting the Central Powers. Although the opposition forces, both liberal and conservative reduced the possibilities of the treaty being passed, The Treaty of Versailles’ defeat was mainly because of Wilson’s quickly changed opinion on reparations, disapproval of senators, and his intransigence towards the treaty.

The Treaty of Versailles included the creation of the League of Nations where countries and nations would come together to solve international issues through peaceful means. Many politicians wanted to stay out of international affairs and focus on the US’s own issues which would ensure “the country it's freedom of action” (Foner 765). Do to health reasons, Wilson could not effectively defend his position and the Senate ultimately rejected the Treaty of Versailles on March 1920 (Foner 766). As Foner states in the textbook, Wilson’s plan to ensure a safe place for democracy failed (766). While it did encourage several groups of people to stand up against their foreign leaders, President Wilson’s failure to implement his views reflected badly amongst others. For example, anti-Western nationalism rose in the Middle East and Asia and other nations began to support other forms of politics such as Communism, especially among the Asian countries (Foner 765). Consequences of the Treaty of Versailles include future conflict between Germany and other European countries as well as conflicting political views as each try to be superior to the

The Main Focus of the Treaty of Versailles was to establish peace within Europe; this aim was completely flawed due to several political factors. There was discontent in the US senate’s foreign relations committee during the conferences surrounding the treaty. The senates foreign committee was excluded from the Versailles treaty as Woodrow Wilson intentionally left the committee out, as he wanted his fourteen points plan to be instigated. To Wilsons discontent his fourteen-point plan was not included in the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty is loosely based on Wilsons Fourteen point plan but ultimately is not what Wilson intended (Pyne & Sesso 1995). Wilson had created a void in the U.S congress as he had left them in the dark when the conferences

In December of 1918, The Allies of Europe met in Versailles to Sign possibly one of the most changing documents in history. The document they signed nearly turned Europe upside down, broke down and put up many new social barriers, and definitely made history. The Document that the allied forces all gathered to sign was known as the Treaty of Versailles. Initially, the treaty intended to keep peace between the nations, however, forcing Germany to sign the treaty ended up as one of the worst decisions anybody could have made. The forced signing created tensions between Germany and other countries, let Germany rise back up to Power, Created an optimal situation for Germany to wage war, and ultimately caused World War II, resulting in one of

Immediately after the end of World War I Woodrow Wilson took an aggressive stance on foreign policy and thus he met with the leaders of the allied powers and wrote the Treaty of Versailles. Wilson discovered that there were “conflicting claims” which ultimately led to the United States refusing to ratify the treaty. This failure in Wilson’s foreign policy allowed for the country to focus on the home front where problems like the Red Scare were quickly becoming a problem.

The Successes and Failures of the Treaty of Versailles in Addressing the Causes of Conflict and Restoring Peace and Normality

The Versailles succeeded in accomplishing some of Wilson’s goals. In fact, it established the League of Nations, the body critical to his vision of a new international order (Foner 761). In addition to this, it applied the principle of self-determination to eastern Europe and reconstructed the map of that region. Starting with the ruins of the Astro-Hungarian empire as well as parts of Germany and czarist Russia, new European nations formed as a result of the War-Finland, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Yugoslavia (Foner 761). Moreover, in spite of Wilson’s oath of peace without territorial gains or retribution, the Versailles Treaty was a jarring document that all but promised future conflict in Europe.