The Treaty of Versaille

A detailed Summary of The Treaty of Versaille


"It was neither a vindictive, harsh peace nor a lenient one, desdigned to reconcile." How far does this description of the Treaty of Versailles explain why it contained the seeds of the Second World War?

In 1919, the major world powers met at the Paris peace conference to determine the fate of Europe at the end of World War 1. Europe was in turmoil. Five empires had disappeared, millions of people were dead, both military and civilians, and revolution fuelled by the forces of nationalism and socialism seemed ready to destroy the hopes of a future and lasting peace. The major world leaders were hoping to accomplish a miracle at Versailles, peace. Nevertheless, the conditions that they were faced with made that hope only more difficult not only in the writing of the treaty but also in reaching its objectives. The dream of a Settlement to satisfy both winners and losers was both impossible and contradictory. For Germany the outcome in years to come was the exact objective that the Treaty had tried all along to impede - domination of Europe.

What went wrong? Why? These questions have plagued historians for years. If only the players had acted in a different fashion would the future outcomes have been different. Or was the situa


A few weeks after the writing of the Treaty and before its completion President Wilson had to return to the United States for a time and Prime Minister Lloyd George had to return to London. The original Supreme Council composed of five countries became the Council of Four. Many disagreements went on internally before and after President Wilson's departure. France and England wanted Germany to pay for the cost of war, but President Wilson felt that these terms were too harsh. France wanted to annex the Saar region but the Americans and the British opposed this move. The Polish claims, the Japanese pretensions in Shantung and the Italian claims in Dalmatia also caused friction to the point that Italy left the conference for a period of two weeks. Finally, the Treaty was presented to the Germans for signature. The German's felt that the Treaty was not in keeping of the conditions by which they had laid down their arms and that many of the clauses were almost impossible to fulfill. But they were given no option but to sign.



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Approximate Word count = 1361
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History

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