Treaty of Versailles and post-World War I European instability

Treaty of Versailles: Instability in Post-World War I Europe

The Treaty of Versailles, 1919

How did the terms of the Treaty of Versailles with Germany in 1919 help to set the stage for instability in post-World War I Europe?

The terms of the Treaty of Versailles were dictated on the basis of a diplomatic concept of a balance of power, in which the strength of one power was measured against its alliance with other powers (xxx, 960). Due to these power struggles, it would be impossible to maintain peace because every party wanted to act in their best interests based on the effects the Great War had had on their countries. This, together with all the reparations Germany had to pay its allies, brought about conflicts particularly because the country's economy was in bad shape.

What were the aims of the victors, Britain, France, and the United States, in this treaty?

The victors went to Versailles with different expectations and demands. France had lost more than 1.3 million Frenchmen in the Great War and its citizens had been greatly traumatized. A large part of the country lay in ruins and its strategic railways and factories had been destroyed. France wanted Germany's military to be reduced significantly and they also wanted French troops to occupy Rhineland until Germany settled its debts to the Allies (xxx, 960). It was interested in the creation of a state in Rhineland, which would be independent and would serve as protection from further aggression by the Germans.

Britain had also lost many lives and it had incurred many financial costs. However, Britain was more intent on restoring Germany's economic strength because it feared that increase in French power would be detrimental to Europe and it would upset the balance of power (xxx, 960). The United States was more interested in pushing for democracy and it held that boundaries were to be determined by each country's ethnicity. The U.S. President also wanted a League of Nations to be created, which would be used in future to settle international disputes (xxx, 961). Due to the power imbalance that arose from the treaty, the U.S. also wanted to take up an international role and to combine efforts with Japan, France, Italy and Great Britain as permanent members of the League of Nation's Council.

3) How did the terms of the treaty affect post-war Germany:

a) In terms of territory?

The Treaty of Versailles saw Germany return the parts of Lorraine and France Alsace that it had acquired during the Franco- Prussian War. It also lost the western part of the Rhine River and a strip of land along its bank to French troops (xxx, 963). Germany's rich iron and coal mines in the Saar border region would also be taken over by the French for 15 years after which residents would choose for themselves the country they wanted to be a part of. It lost its colonies and pieces of its frontier territories went to Belgium.

c) In terms of her economic development and potential?

Germany had to pay huge sums in terms of war reparations. The estimated total cost of war was placed at 132 billion gold marks, which it had to pay the victorious allies (xxx, 965). The Weimar Republic had to give up its rail railroad stock, as well as its fishing and merchant fleet to the allies. The German shipyards would also build ships for the allies free of charge and Germany would give the allies yearly compensations of a quarter of all the coal it extracted.

Due to all these debts, the German economy suffered immensely. For instance, the gold payments paid as compensation increased the rate of inflation (xxx, 965). Moreover, the tax revenues were minimal because of the weak economy, and German industrialists refused to pay new taxes on business and capital. The country faced a decline in exports, the government expenditure exceeded its revenue, and the prices for products started increasing at a higher rate than other countries, which greatly destabilized the new government (xxx, 965).