The treaty of Versailles greatly humiliated Germany forcing it to accept soul responsibility for the war. Another fault in this treaty was that it did not work as intended. The idea that Germany could ever afford to pay the reparations to full amount was ludicrous as it was already suffering from the defeat of war. These reparations caused runaway inflation throughout Germany. But perhaps the biggest problem of all was that those who created it themselves did not enforce
Germany was not happy about losing all this land as it made them smaller, it damaged the economy and they lost colonies to make them look stronger and to help them if another war broke out. Another reason Germany was unhappy was because they were force to take war guilt. Germany had to take all of the blame for the war. This made Germany angry as they did not actually start the war and there were other people involved. Germany also had to pay reparation.
He wanted to punish Germany and weaken them for what they have caused to European countries and wanted them to pay for the reparations so that France can rebuild itself. Meanwhile, Woodrow Wilson wanted to make a fair treat to end the war. He didn’t want a harsh peace and was more sensible than Clemenceau and David George. Woodrow wanted justice to be paid. He issued Fourteen points which talks about what he wanted and his views that could avoid another start of
The military clause was the harshest and most damaging clause, and was greatly disapproved of by Germany. The size and power of the German army was one of her greatest assets. The Treaty wanted to make Germany a lesser threat by cutting its army down to 100,000 men, making them
Not only did the people of Germany feel betrayed by a man of their own country but consequently, had no faith in the new democratic system. The ‘November Criminals’ including Matthias Erzberger, Phillipp Scheidemann and Friedrich Ebert were regarded as unnationalistic. The reaction of the German people was further intensified by the signing of the Versailles Treaty in June 1919. Historian Richard Hunt argues that ‘it was the shame of weakness that seized Germany’s national psychology and served as a solvent of the Weimar democracy’. Whether compliant with this view or not, the fact was that the German population was not backing the leaders of this new constitution, which was damaging to its effectiveness.
The Tsar made many failures as Commander in chief of the army especially at the battle of Tannenburg where the majority of the Russian second army was destroyed which forced the Russian army to retreat. This coupled with other military defeats led to mass desertions towards cities. It also led to many soldiers knowing of the Tsars failures which would have supported the claim for a revolution. The war effort also caused the Zemstva and the Congress of Representatives of Industry and Trade to grow which were used to help stimulate production and provide medical facilities. The government failed to efficiently incorporate these into the war effort which resulted in them becoming a symbol for the shortcomings in the war effort.
In turn this would destroy Britain commercially and their industrial economy allowing Napoleon to take over Britain however did not work and left Napoleon worse off then he was before. His next mistake was the Peninsular war and as a result weakened his empire even more by the Spanish guerrillas, Germans, and Italians turning against him. Lastly his third mistake lost him most of his soldiers and the tactic used to defeat him was the scorched-earth policy, by the Russians. These mistakes greatly weakened Napoleons Empire. The empire was then declared war on by Britain, Russia, Prussia, Sweden, and Austria.
Although the conditions of the agreement seemed extremely severe, the allied countries had no sympathy for the Germans. They were forced to pay excessive amounts of money as reparation fees to make up for all the damage and destruction that was caused during the war. 13% of German territory was given away and many important industrial areas were controlled by western allies. This caused a major impact on the economy and had many affects to not only the government, but German citizens as well. Many people became unemployed and were no longer able to support their families.
As well, the only way that the Wilson plan would have survived the political intrigue of the Europeans was either through a league that had real teeth, or a super power willing to intervene as a worldwide police officer. Neither of which existed in 1918. Clemenceau’s views represented the average sentiment of the European Allies after the war. In the closing days of the war, a war weary European population must have tried to make sense of the carnage, of the loss. Clemenceau casts a pale light on the German population, blaming the war on the aims of “the intolerable German Aristocracy.” (Clemenceau, p. 73) The entire argument for the French and nay, European view, was the perceived threat that Europeans felt of German arrogance.
Ruhr Crisis Essay What were the causes and the consequences of the Ruhr Crisis in Germany? The reparations to be made by Germany, Hyperinflation, what the actual Ruhr Crisis was, the French departure, Dawes Plan and the Locarno treaties and the League of Nations. After WW1 and The Treaty Of Versailles the Germans were forced to pay a total of £6.6 Billion in reparations. This caused a lot of trouble for Germany, as they did not have that kind of money available to pay out after spending so much on military expenses during WW1. Subsequently this caused the Ruhr Crisis, as the Germans were unable to pay the reparations on time so the French decided to invade Ruhr, as it was a major coal-mine of Germany providing a lot of their economy at the time.