Some may argue that no one wanted war. Winston Churchill stated that the Great Powers slid over the brink into a war nobody wanted. (Doc I). Russia and France were forced into war because Germany declared war on Russia 1 August 1914 and war on France 3 August 1914. Therefore, it may be true that countries that did not want war were forced into it, however, “nobody” is inaccurate due to the fact that Germany wanted war.
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.
When Keynes rejected the scale of reparations placed on Germany and resigned from his post at the Treasury, he lead the way for what many leading politicians were to understand later on. Keynes supported the approach of Lloyd George that for economic and political reasons, Europe needed a successful Germany, which would be seriously difficult to achieve whilst the excessive reparations were placed on them. Furthermore, his book The Economic Consequences of the Peace (1919), was successful in influencing the view of Britain that a weak Germany would only make the recovery of Europe after the war, a lot more difficult. On the other hand, from taking this view, politicians were criticised for being 'too lenient' towards Germany. Even Lloyd George, who took a much tougher political approach towards the reparations, received criticism.
Churchill believed that in order to guarantee the security of Czechoslovakia, Europe should have held Germany back and Britain and France should have worked together as an alliance. George F. Kennan, an American Secretary of State during the cold war also disagreed with the Munich Agreement. Kennan thought that Chamberlain and Daladier only agreed with Germany’s proposal only because they didn’t want to participate in war. Chamberlain and Daladier wanted to maintain the peace in Europe. (Document 6) As written in The Origins of the Second World War, by A.J.P.
If any of the triple alliance attacks either Russia or France, the other will send aid. Russia and France made this treaty because the triple alliance was too powerful to take them on individually. The whole thing went downhill when Russia not France began mobilizing their troops. When Russia began mobilizing, the Germans Callics of the Austro-Hungarian empire decided to declare war on both Russia and its ally France. Even after the Germans declared war, France did not wish to engage in war.
Germany responded only with the destruction of the steamer Sussex in March. At this point, Wilson threatened to end all diplomatic relations with Germany, an act that would surely bring the United States into war against Germany. To prevent this–the German Emperor knew he could not defeat the combined strength of the Entente powers and the United States–Germany agreed to respect certain shipping lines. War had been averted, but only for a
This did not happen. New thinking was required, enter Keynes! 2. What did Keynes argue in his book The Economic Consequences of the Peace? He argued that reparations forced on Germany by the Allies after WW1 were far too severe and would cripple the German economy to such an extent and would lead to socio-political problems in the future which would not be in the interest of the Allies.
He also did not want them crippled because Germany had been Britain’s leading trading partner before the war and he wanted this trade resumed so that Britain’s economy could grow again. In what ways did the Treaty of Versailles weaken Germany’s armed forces? 4 marks Germany’s armed forces were considerable weakened by the Treaty of Versailles. They had to reduce the army to 100,000 men, with no conscription. They were not allowed to have an airforce or any armoured vehicles live tanks.
The leaders of Britain, France and US agreed to bring peace to Europe and created a list of terms that ended WW1. These terms were known as the treaty of Versailles. The terms of the treaty mostly only applied to Germany and were really harsh on them. The treaty deprived 13% of Germany's land and demilitarized Germany's mainland, Rhineland. It also required Germany to pay 6,600 million Euros to countries that faced damages due to the war.
The loss of these lands was particularly daunting for Russia since they were of great economic importance. Thus, in comparison with the harsh terms of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, the Germans were in no position or right to complain about the consequences they had to face. The Treaty of Versailles was actually issued quite lenient punishments for the Germans when considering the damage wrought by the war. However, to charge Germany as being fully responsible for the Great War was also unfair and faulty. The assassination of the Archduke of Austria had prompted Austria-Hungary to retaliate by declaring war on Serbia, with the support of Germany.