How Did the Versailles Treaty Help Cause World War Ii?

How Did the Versailles Treaty Help Cause World War II?

War, a state of armed conflict between different nations or states or different groups within a nation or state. During the years of 1914 and 1918, a war that was thought only to last months, not years, occurred throughout Europe and killed over seventeen million people. This war became known as World War I (WWI). In result of the war, the Treaty of Versailles was written in hopes to classify WWI as the “War to End All Wars”. Constructed by the leaders of the Allied nations, Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau of France, Prime Minister David Lloyd George of England, and Woodrow Wilson of the United States, the treaty was made to avoid more conflict in the future. Unfortunately, less than twenty years later, World War II (WWII) began, a war that was more destructive and disastrous. While the treaty itself did not begin WWII all on its own, many of the requirements placed too much blame and responsibility for WWI onto Germany. It contained harsh terms that Germany were unable to meet and caused a lot anger in Germany. The Treaty of Versailles helped to cause WWII when penalizing Germany too severely in four large ways: the loss of German territories, a forced stipulation restricting the military, the amount of atonements that were to be made, and the sense of guilt carried upon Germany’s shoulders.

One key way that the Treaty of Versailles helped lead to WWII was by greatly weakening Germany both geographically and politically with the loss of territory. While disciplining Germany was understandable, the treaty and its punishment of territorial loss was too extreme. Germany had to give up the territories of Polish Corridor, Lorraine Alsace, and a part of Denmark (Document A, map). With the loss of the Polish Corridor, Germany lost the city of Danzig, an important port city, which overall hurt the economy. The losses were difficult to bear because most territories were valuable for resources and industry. The territorial losses were also difficult for the German citizens as they were forced into new nations. They were resentful and often kept their loyalty to Germany. Many Germans were angry and displeased with the territory losses required by the treaty, as illustrated in Hitler’s Mein Kampf, “It should scarcely seem questionable to anyone that the restoration of the frontiers of 1914 could be achieved only by blood. No nation can remove this hand from its throat except by sword”. This passage suggests that Germans should respond to the territorial losses in a violent manner, such as another war. Perhaps, if the treaty wasn’t so awful when taking land from Germany, there would be one less reason for conflict.

Another noticeable connection between the Treaty of Versailles and WWII were the forced restrictions put upon Germany’s military. The treaty established rules that prevented Germany’s military from becoming too large or out of hand. The rules were drastic, restraining the military itself to one hundred thousand men, seven divisions of infantry, and three divisions of cavalry (Document B, Article 160). The treaty defined the role of the German army to only use forces for peace within the country, self-defense and to not attack other nations, as said in Document B, Article 160, “The Army shall be devoted exclusively to the maintenance of order within the territory and to the control of the frontiers”. Germany itself was also surrounded by larger, more powerful nations with stronger military forces. As illustrated in the German political cartoon in Document B, Germany was surrounded by the larger military forces of France, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Belgium. Being surrounded on all sides brought upon the feeling of insecurity towards the German army. This feeling led to another, a desire for more power.

A third factor connecting the Treaty of Versailles to WWII was that it brought instability to the German economy. The treaty gave Germany the chance to make an amends through paying a large amount of money. As stated by the chart in Document C, set on May 1st, 1921, Germany was required to pay one hundred thirty-two gold marks which equals to three hundred sixty-seven billion 2010 United States dollars. The deadline to pay this off was set for thirty years later, May 1st, 1951. Paying off this debt was difficult to complete because the loss of the city Danzig hurt the economy and the treaty took coal-producing areas from Germany, reducing coal production by forty percent, also hurting the economy (Document A, map). Because of anger and humiliation, Germany paid very little in the 1920s, only paying two billion gold marks between the years of 1929 through 1932, and