Britain refused to accept freedom of the seas, and neither Britain, France nor Belgium would allow self-determination to the colonies in their empires. Self-determination was not allowed elsewhere – Wilson had wanted Anschluss between Austria and Germany, but this was denied; in 1919 the Czechs took over Teschen by force; and in 1920 Poland attacked and took land inhabited in Russia and Lithuania. All this Wilson had to accept. Finally, when he went home, the Senate refused either to accept the Treaty or to join the League. Wilson tired himself out trying to persuade
There were other factors that Germany thought that were very unfair such as their tiny army and the amount of land that was taken from them. Their army had to be reduced to 100,000 men and also they could not have any military aircraft, submarines or armored cars. This made them very vulnerable to other countries and other countries took valuable resources from Germany making their future seem even worse. All the countries who had been involved in the war had different aims in the treaty these included France who at the time president was Clemenceau who was seen as the harshest of the big three. France in the war had suffered the most so it was only right that they wanted Germany to be crippled and Clemenceau with the support of France had the aim of crushing them.
As President, Wilson had campaigned against corruption in politics and business. He concentrated on keeping the USA out of the war. Once the USA had joined the war, he drew up his Fourteen Point Plan as the basis for ending the war fairly, so that future wars could be avoided. Wilson wanted a 'fair and lasting peace', and he wanted the armed forces of all nations reduced, not just the losers, and a League of Nations created to ensure peace. His plan affected the Treaty of Versailles as some of the terms in that treaty came from Wilson’s Fourteen Points, including German troops leaving Russia and free trade between all countries.
Most of its resources were invested in mighty battleships and heavy cruisers, which were a serious headache to the large Royal Navy, but not anywhere near the threat posed by the German submarines. The German surface Navy could not achieve its goal, only die trying, and Admiral Roeder, head of the German Navy, said so himself. Doenitz, head of the German submarine force, pleaded repeatedly for producing more submarines, but his arguments were irresponsibly dismissed by Roeder, who said that Royal Navy claims that it solved the submarine problem with
Moreover, as Britain was one of the major power of the WWI, the effects on both of their men and arms were not recovered from the WWI. This also led Chamberlain hesitant to take part for a large war at this time. Thus, making an appeasement with the Germans was the best solution for them to be recovered and prepared later in the future because rather than fighting a big war against advanced army with unprepared-no men army, they would fight a war with recovered army even if the opponents might grow more. ! Back again to 1919, the Treaty of Versailles made conclusions to the German’s territorial, armed forces, colonies, preparations and indemnity, and the war guilt issues.
Also, Germany were restricted to an army only 100,000 strong, which lead to mass unemployment, making the lives of many Germans very difficult. Lastly, they weren’t allowed an air force and had a small navy which made them vulnerable also, when airplanes were beginning to be used commercially, the Germans weren’t able to have this luxury. On the other hand, I disagree with the statement as the Germans were one of the main reasons for the first war and although they weren’t completely to blame, they still were a big reason for the war. The German forces caused a huge amount of damage to France and Belgium and it would be unfair for these countries to have to pay for the repairs completely themselves through their population’s taxes. Also, if Germany were still allowed a full army force the Germans could restart another war or attack a country, which is what they want to prevent.
The reason why the League of Nations was idealistic was because Britain and France would be forced to accept Germany’s induction. Britain and France would be the last countries to come to Germany’s aid after the war and now Wilson was asking them, in a way, to simply forgive and forget. Actions such as these have caused historians to debate whether the TOV was killed because Wilson was a man too ahead of his time, and his Fourteen Points were to idealistic for the other World Powers to accept, or it was Wilson himself that prevented the Treaty from being truly effective in preventing future wars because of his unwillingness to yield to even a single compromise. Wilson was indeed a visionary idealist, made evident by his assumption that nations had the ability to simply get along after the war. He saw the best in men, mostly due to his inexperience with foreign affairs and the fact that he was a progressive.
They put restrictions on the German military, to make Germany weak and a second-rate power. Germany had huge financial losses, which brought the rise of the ultra-nationalist Nazis. They had to take acceptance of responsibility for the damage in the war even though they weren’t the only ones in the war. Germany had absolutely no say in the requirements and matters of the treaty. The Treaty of Versailles would prove to be one of the most disastrous mistakes in history.
They expected to have open discussions with everyone involved to produce a treaty and that there would not be any secret treaties. They hoped to be treated equally amongst other allies and managed fairly especially with negotiations. They did not expect the treatment they were given, and most of the fourteen points did not apply to Germany when she lost the war. Germany was not allowed to be part of the League of Nations, which meant she wasn’t involved in key decision making, the Germans felt this was hugely unexpected and unfair as she lost much of her strength and power. It resulted in diplomatic isolation, as she couldn’t defend lost Germans in other countries, and there were huge military restrictions where she was only allowed an army of 100,000 soldiers and very little weaponry.
France protested because they thought that having German influence on both sides would be too much if conflict would have occured. William the King of Prussia withdrew Leopold but the French still did not let this situation rest at hand. The French influence group led by Empress Eugénie wanted war with Prussia. So they sent a French ambassador to seek William I and ask him to sign papers