Treaty of Versailles Some Commentators Have Stated

Treaty of Versailles

Some commentators have stated the Versailles Treaty set the stage for World War II. Briefly detail the key points of the Versailles Treaty. Comment if they were a major factor in the outbreak of WWII within twenty years. Use examples to support your opinion.

Several distinctive factors about the Treaty of Versailles support the contention that the Treaty contributed to the rise of the Nazi party in Germany and the outbreak of the Second World War. First and foremost, Germany was forced to admit total responsibility for the First World War, despite the fact that ethnic rivalries, secret treaties, and wrangling for power was characteristic of almost all of the major powers involved in World War I. Secondly, Germany was forced to pay crushing war debt that nearly bankrupted the country.

Germany's territory was greatly reduced. The Alsace-Lorraine was given to France and "Germany had to return to Russia land taken in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Some of this land was made into new states: Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. An enlarged Poland also received some of this land" (Treaty of Versailles, 2011, History Learning Site). These were some of the territories Hitler vowed to re-acquire when he came to power, to avenge Germany's honor. Eupen and Malmedy were also given to Belgium; Northern Schleswig was given to Denmark; Hultschin was given to Czechoslovakia and West Prussia, Posen and Upper Silesia was given to Poland (Treaty of Versailles, 2011, History Learning Site). Germany was also forbidden to unite with Austria (which it did, of course, in the period immediately preceding World War II). The list of the recipient nations of former German territories parallels the path taken by the invading German army in World War II. Germany was stripped of its colonies, to further neuter its power. The loss of territories was also crushing economic blow to Germany, given that it was dependent upon coal from the Saar and Upper Silesia.

A rallying cry of later German militarism was the fact that Germany was deprived of the right to have an effective military force. "Germany's army was reduced to 100,000 men; the army was not allowed tanks. She was not allowed an air force .She was allowed only 6 capital naval ships and no submarines" (Treaty of Versailles, 2011, History Learning Site). This was supposed to reduce Germany's army to a purely defensive capacity. The Rhineland was also entirely demilitarized as a buffer zone.

However, it is worth pointing out that after the end of World War II, Japan was likewise deprived of a strong standing army, and it did not lapse into militarism again, as did Germany after World War I. The most critical historical influence propelling Germany into a spiral of hate against the rest of the world was the crushing effect of war reparations upon its economy. "The figure was not set at Versailles - it was to be determined later. The Germans were told to write a blank cheque which the Allies would cash when it suited them. The figure was eventually put at £6,600 million - a huge sum of money well beyond Germany's ability to pay" (Treaty of Versailles, 2011, History Learning Site). Furthermore, not only was Germany was suffering economically -- all of Europe was falling into a downward economic spiral, because of the effects of the war. This made it even more difficult for the German economy to recover and pay debts. Only America, who had not had to fight the war on its own territory, was spared the effects of the postwar economic downward spiral.