World War II
When World War I came to a close in mid-November of 1918, many ideas were circulating in Europe as to what the peace settlement should entail. In Britain, leaders were thinking about how to increase British colonial power. In France, many wanted to permanently punish the Germans, partly in revenge for Germany's aggression in World War I, but also, perhaps subliminally, for the Franco-Prussian war in 1871. In Germany, citizens were worried about how radical changes after the war could affect their daily lives. Finally, in the United States, President Wilson was already concocting a system of permanently preserving European peace. All these biases, worries, plans, and ideas came together in Paris in 1919, with the Treaty of Versailles, establishing the post-war peace in Europe. Yet just twenty years later, war would once again break out in Europe. So why were the peace settlements of World War I unable to prevent the outbreak of war twenty years later in World War II? To underst!and this, one must first have a detailed understanding of the World War I peace settlement at Versailles. The first and most significant treaty signed after World War I was the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty, signed on the 28th of June 1919, was mainly o
o way they could pay the reparations if their industrial territories, such as the Saar Basin, and their colonies were taken away. Unfortunately, the Allies did not see this. With the counter-proposals denied, Germany's only other option was to resort to printing more money. This would cause massive inflation, further devastating the German economy. In 1918, there were seven German Marks to the United States Dollar. In 1923, 4,210,500,000,000 Marks equaled the dollar! (8) Germany's last economic resort had been disastrous. The Treaty of Versailles also charged Germany with the task of paying heavy reparations. The treaty set up a reparations committee that would meet sometime in 1921 to determine reparations for Germany to pay. Until then, Germany would pay $5,000,000,000 due May 1, 1921. The Germans would have to wait to see what reparations they would really pay. Until then, though, they started on the $5,000,000,000, already a very daunting task for the nation. d the Treaty of Versailles into existence. David Lloyd George of Britain would live to see the horrific fighting and casualties in World War II. Georges Clemenceau died in 1929 without a single regret for the Treaty of Versailles. 8- Stroebel, Jeffrey T. World War II. Part I: Between the Wars. The Sycamore School, 1995. Revised 1998. Page 7. 7- Schiff, Victor. Germans at Versailles, 1919. William & Norgate: London, 1930. Pages 110-111. nother British delegate General Henry Wilson referred to President Wilson as a, "vain, ignorant, weak ass." (11) The League of Nations was created, but perhaps because most of Wilson's other points were ignored, the United States did not join. Whether or not Woodrow Wilson's peace would have fared better than the Treaty of Versailles is really immaterial; no one will ever know. But the fact that Wilson was simply ignored, mocked, and insulted, reinforces the idea that Britain and France only cared about punishing Germany, not seeking peace. 2- Ibid. "Versailles Treaty Contents." The economic strain put on Germany was probably the single most important factor in increasing hostility of the Germans towards Britain and France. The Germans by 1921 had paid off almost half of the $5,000,000,000 charged by Versailles. Then the reparations committee finally met and determined that Germany should pay another $25,000,000,000, plus other costs, bringing the total up to $32,500,000,000 to be paid by 1963! (3) This demand, however, was ridiculous. Germany had hardly enough money to pay the entire original fee. In 1918, the German Reichsbank had only $577,089,500 dollars. (4) This demand would crush the German economy, and many experts predicted it could even cause the starvation of the German people. Leading economist of the time John Maynard Keynes said of this, "The policy of reducing Germany to servitude for a generation, of degrading the lives of millions of human beings, and of depriving a whole nation of happiness should be abhorrent and detestable . . . . !
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2663
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)
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