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Was Treaty of Versailles harsh?
Many of the terms in Treaty of Versailles were rather harsh, such as a large sum of money in reparations cover war damages and other Allied losses. Sir Eric Geddes, Minister of Munitions in Britain, Controller of the Navy and First Lord of the Admiralty at different points during WWI, said “The Germans, if this government is elected, are going to pay every penny; they are going to be squeezed, as a lemon is squeezed, until the pips squeak.” Many Germans thought the financial penalties that the treaty imposed upon their country and her people to be immoral and unjust. They felt that they were now being punished for the mistakes of the Kaiser and German government of August 1914 who had started the war as well as the government of 1919 that had signed the treaty that brought peace and called the treaty and treaty negotiations ‘Diktat’. Furthermore, Germany was to have her colonies taken away from her. These colonies were to become mandates run by the Allies on behalf of the League of Nations. An Allied Army was to occupy the Rhineland for a period of fifteen years. No German troops were to be allowed into the occupation zone. The allies insisted that the most important aim of the treaties was to make sure that the war never broke out on such a scale again. However, this hopeful aim was overshadowed by less idealistic aims, such as revenge. Clemenceau wanted France to be safe from attack from Germany in the future, suggesting many harsh terms after suffering so much physically. By limiting their arm forces, it bares Germany off its self-defence totally and Germany cannot defend itself lest it gets attacked by other countries. Taking away Rhineland, which is one of the prime German industrial areas that contain many commercial minerals, deprives Germany of a way to pay the reparations. Hence, many terms of Treaty of Versailles are rather harsh and unrealistic.
Terms of Treaty of Versailles were rather reasonable. The Germans deserved the terms stated in the treaty as they had caused the war and a great deal of turmoil and therefore deserved to be punished. WWI saw the destruction of land, cities, factories, and mines. It also resulted in a high level of deaths and injuries. Therefore in the terms of Treaty, some of the German territories and colonies had to be taken away. The loss of land amounted to about 13% of its total area and some lands such as Baltic states of Latvia were returned to Russia, and Alsace and Lorraine were returned back to France. The treaty also forbade Germany to join together with its former ally Austria. The cost of war was also charged to Germany, as they had to pay reparations of 6600 million pounds. These were considered justifiable as many of the countries involved in WWI suffered losses and their economies and industries were in a bad state. Their army and naval forces were also reduced to the minimum so as to never start a war of such scale again. The terms of Treaty of Versailles were to ensure peace in the world, hence TOV was not that harsh.
‘Among France, Britain and USA, France achieved their aims in Treaty of Versailles.’ How far do you agree? Explain your answer.
France, under Clemenceau, aimed not only to seek revenge, but they also wanted to weaken Germany so that it would never be able to attack France again. Whatever the treaty did, it had to cripple Germany as a military power. Germany’s army and navy were restricted to a small number and they were not allowed to buy materials to make weapons or equipment. It had to accept the blame for the war under the war guilt clause. Germany’s colonies were to be run by various Allies under mandates. Clemenceau was mainly concerned with making Germany pay heavily, making them pay large sum of reparations to repair for war damage. In 1921, it was set at 6600 million pounds. Also, he stressed how unfair the Germans had been to the new Soviet Union after the Russian Revolution. The Bolsheviks had been forced to hand over some of Russia’s best industrial land to Germany at the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. He was concerned that the treaty was not harsh enough and pressed Germany to lose more land and the Rhineland to be permanently demilitarized. He suggested numerous harsh terms so as to achieve peace to the greatest extent and make sure the peace is continued throughout the years.
Woodrow Wilson on the other hand aimed at building a better and more peaceful world after the World War. Wilson agreed that Germany should be punished but if Germany was severely treated, it would want revenge when it recovers. He also believed that nations should cooperate to achieve world peace and promote self-determination. However, France and Britain did not agree with the aims expounded by USA especially the ‘Fourteen Points’ which they felt was impractical. Clemenceau resented Wilson’s more generous attitude towards Germany. In the end, Wilson had to give way to Clemenceau on issues on what to do with Germany’s Rhineland and the coalfields at Saar. Hence, USA had to accommodate to the demands of the other powers, thereby unable to achieve its full aims.
Lloyd George’s aims were often in the middle range between Clemenceau and Wilson. He wanted Germany to be justly punished but not too harshly. Similarly with USA, he did not want Germany to seek revenge in the future when it recovers but was keen for Britain and Germany to begin trading with each other again. Lloyd George especially wanted Germany to lose its navy and its colonies as they were considered a threat to the British Empire. Therefore, he was rather unhappy to allow Germany to keep its navy and colonies. Lloyd George also clashed with Wilson over Wilson’s point of allowing all nations access to the seas. Hence, Britain also did not achieve all its aim in the Treaty of Versailles.
None of the Big Three were happy nor achieved all of their aims in the eventual Treaty of Versailles, but France achieved most of it. Both Britain and France had to face with public pressures at home for a harsh treaty but all three had to compromise on some of their aims if not there would never have been a treaty.
