Assignment: Your assignment is to reflect on the consequences of conflicting national interests at the Paris Peace Conference. You'll need to first summarize the conference and treaty before giving your opinion of whether the conditions of the treaty were sustainable in their efforts to end war. You will be marked out of 10. 2 marks for the summary of the conference and treaty and 8 marks for the analysis and how sophisticated your response is.
Summarizing
the Paris Peace Conference and the Treaty of Versailles:
The Paris
Peace Conference was the meeting of the Allied victors following the end of
World War I to set the peace terms for the losers (defeated countries). It took
place in Paris in 1919 and involved diplomats from many countries. These
diplomats met, discussed various options and developed a series of treaties for
the after WWI world. One of these treaties was The Treaty of Versailles which
was created by the Allied victors. The Treaty of Versailles was signed in the
Hall of Mirrors at Versailles on June 28, 1919. This treaty was forced upon the
Germany by the Allied powers after the end of World War I which demanded
reparations from the Germans. Furthermore, German's military power was also
suppressed and some of their land was given to other countries such as France.
This Treaty, The Treaty of Versailles, consisted of the following:
- Creation of a League of Nations
- Demilitarization of the Rhine; Germany forbidden to maintain, or construct anything on the Rhine
- Germany has to acknowledge and respect the independence of Austria
- Germany is adhered to recognize the independence of Poland
- Germany renounces all her rights and titles over her overseas possessions.
- Construction or acquisition of any submarine is forbidden in Germany.
- Armed forces of Germany must not include any military or naval air forces
- Germany was to adhere to the Annex.
- War Guilt Clause; Germany and her allies must accept the responsibility of causing all the loss and damage, especially Germany.
- Germany must compensate for all damage done to the civilian population of the Allied and Associated Powers and to their property.
- The German army must not exceed more than 100,000 men. The army is devoted to only maintaining the order within German territory and to the control of the frontiers.
My
Response:
In
my opinion, the conditions of the treaty were NOT sustainable in their efforts
to end war. The conditions of the treaty were very harsh towards the Germans,
conditions such as blaming Germans for the war and reducing their military
size. Also, they were forced to sign the treaty. Due to all these harsh
conditions the people of Germans were very angry and when Hitler showed up they
were willing to embrace him. Basically, we can see that the conditions
of The Treaty of Versailles were the root behind the WWII, this treaty in a way united the people because all the people fell hatred towards those who created the treaty and imposed it on them. I believe that the ’fourteen
points' plan should have been followed and not changed at all.