It also severely restricted Germany’s military power. The treaty, to Germany, was something that was not only unfair, but also humiliating. This caused Germany to bear resentment against the winning powers and caused some to thirst for revenge. America’s policy of isolationism also played a major part in starting World War II. Their refusal to join the League of Nations severely weakened it, and effectively destroyed the League of Nation’s ability to follow through with its threats and stop wars.
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. By restricting her to an army of only 100,000 volunteers, the Treaty left her defenceless and vulnerable. For such a large country, an army of 100,000 men was just big enough to keep order within Germany, but was not large enough to defend Germany from other invading powers. The army was a symbol of German pride and an important political source of nationalism.
What was the War Guilt Clause? The War Guilt Clause was a main term of the Treaty of Versailles. It was clause number 231 and it blamed only Germany for the outbreak of war. This was one of the main terms that Germany was very unhappy about, as imperialism from many other countries had contributed to war. Germany had to accept this clause and couldn’t discuss it, as it was not invited to this conference.
Firstly, they were, under a ‘War Guilt’ clause, expected to accept all of the blame for the war. The Allies maintained that this was because they had, rather than fight Russia, on whom they had declared war, followed the Schlieffen Plan and opted to invade France first. To do this they marched through Belgium, which was a neutral country and not a part of any major alliances, leading to the British, Belgian and French declarations of war on Germany. The Germans felt that this was unfair because Britain could have kept out of the war as it was not being threatened – they felt that they were expected to accept the blame because they had lost, rather than because it was their fault. Secondly, all of Germany’s colonies were taken away, and Germany itself had its borders redefined.
His self-belief persuaded people to believe in him. However, I do not think it was solely the brilliance of Hitler's leadership which brought the Nazis to Power. The Treaty of Versailles, which was a peace settlement in which the Germans had no choice and were forced to sign after WW1, was an important reason why the Nazis came to power. The German general public were so angry over the Treaty and found it hard to accept the terms of it because it became a symbol of Germany's humiliation and defeat. This made the new Weimar government, who signed the Treaty, extremely unpopular and there was a lot of opposition to the government.
The justness of the treaty of Versailles is widely disputed. Some say that the victorious allies were perfectly at liberty to throw the harsh terms of the treaty upon Germany however, there are also those who say that they went too far. One very controversial term of the treaty was the War Guilt. This said that Germany was to accept full blame for the war and had to pay reparations for the costs. People argue that this was just because in the armistice, it was clearly set out that Germany would have to accept war guilt and the German leaders signed this at their own free will.
Morale is an important part of any war and Verdun’s impact on morale was huge but was it worth losing so many soldiers? I personally don’t believe any aspect of the “Great war” was worth losing human life. The Great War was not fought in pursuit of noble cause and therefore should not have been fought at all. Regardless I believe diminishing German morale was a key aspect to winning the war. With in reference to Somme’s many historians critique General Haig for his ruthlessness in War World I but it is easily argued that the Germans would not have fallen without such a blow to their numbers.
Source W suggests that Bethmann was a ‘sensitive, passive and Fatalistic man’ these claims further support the idea that Germany was dragged in to these political time bombs because of some in capabilities. Source W is clearly seen to be Intentionalist source where it’s referring Bethmann-Holwegg and his weaknesses. It’s evident that Germany was sort of dragged into these conflicts because of their commitments. The foreign policy they were following certainly did not help when it came to conflicts. Source W also tells us ‘German actions going back to the 1890s had done so much to create international tension’ further blaming German foreign policy for being the cause of the war.
Hitler even being allowed to come into power is a scary thought itself. The situations that facilitated Hitler's rise to power were the Germans' unhappiness with the Treaty of Versailles, the rise of Totalitarian leadership, and the inaction of the League of Nations. The Treaty of Versailles, which was a peace settlement in which the Germans had no choice and were forced to sign after WWI, was an important reason why the Nazis came to power. The German general public were so angry over the Treaty and found it hard to accept the terms of it because it became a symbol of Germany's humiliation and defeat. This made the new Weimar government, who signed the treaty, extremely unpopular and there was a lot of opposition to the government.
Britain also felt that they retained dominance over the seas by reducing the German naval fleet. The British public wanted George to “make them pay” he felt they did just that. J.M. Keynes high ranking British economist described the treaty as being much too harsh “the treaty includes no provisions for the economic rehabilitation of Europe, nothing to make the defeated central powers nations into good neighbours”. Woodrow Wilson leaves the treaty with mixed feelings.