Although the costs and strain that World War I placed on the
countries involved in it were unimaginable, the peace treaty Germany was
forced to sign was neither fair nor just. Millions upon millions of men
lost their lives or were wounded and women and children suffered from not
having and positive male influence and being forced into manual labor on
the homefront. The cost alone to the United States was $27,729,000,000 and
the Americans killed nurabered 53,407. Illness and other causes brought the
total nuraber of deaths to about 126,000. There were 204,002 wounded which
were not fatal. When Allied leaders decided that it was time to end
everything, they made the right decision. After rapid troop deployment by
the United States and the successful Allied counterattack, Germany was on
the run. Eventually, they surrendered and were forced into a peace
agreement. The leaders of the major allied powers, Clemenceau of France,
Geroge of Great Britain, Orlando of Italy, and Wilson of the United States,
were supposed to draw up a document for long lasting peace based on
Wilson's Fourteen Points, but the other leaders were vengeful. They wanted
Germany to pay in a big way for their losses and costs incurred. Instead
of choosing to aim for long lasting peace by basing their treaty on the
Fourteen Points, Clemenceau, George, and Orlando drew up a treaty that
would cause Germany to go into a nation-wide depression and suffer for a
whole generation. This treaty became known as the Treaty of Versailles.
In looking at the treaty, one would think that the writers were
completely biased against Germany... and they would be right. Because
France, Great Britain, and Italy were the three main countries involved in
the creation of the Traety of Versailles, they used every minute detail of
the treaty to work to their advantage. The only positive detail of the
treaty was the League of Nations. The League was planned to reduce the
chances of another war. This Covenant of the League of Nations was made the
first part of the Treaty of Versailles. Further on in the treaty Germany
was forbidden to create any new or maintain any old fortifications on the
left and right banks of the Rhineland and Germany was forced to renounce
the government of the Saar in favor of the League of Nations as trustee.
France went so far as to take German coal mines in the Saar Basin as
compensation for destroyed French mines during battle. France also got
back the territories of Alsace and Lorraine and they had any territories
ceeded to Germany returned. Germany was forced to go against their views
and acknowledge the complete independence of Austria, the Czecho-Slovak
State, and Poland. Any overseas possession belonging to Germany was
renounced and the German military force was demobilized. In addition to
losing much of their land and gooRAB, it was decided on April 27, 1921 that
Germany would be forced to pay in excess of 31.5 million dollars to the
Allies. In 1922 Germany fell behind in its reparations deliveries of coal.
In January 1923 France and Belgium occupied the Ruhr coal and iron district
on the right bank of the Rhine. They did this to enforce payment of
reparations by Germany. Germany immediately stopped all reparations
payments. In the economic panic that followed German money became worthless,
and many Germans were financially ruined.
Through all this, the Germans hoped that President Wilson's
Fourteen Points would be ratified and the Treaty of Versailles would be
nullified, but to no avail. The treaty was given to the German delegation
to sign at Versailles on May 7, 1919. The German delegates strongly
objected to its severe terms. and they stated that the terms were not
consistent with President Wilson's Fourteen Points. Although the Allies
made only small concessions, the German delegates signed on June 28, 1919.
When Wilson was notified that his Fourteen Points had been shot down by the
other power players at the peace conference, he was outraged. China, along
with the United States were not at first included among those nations
making peace with Germany. China objected to the cession to Japan of rights
in the province of Shantung. On Noveraber 19, 1919 and again on March 19,
1920, the United States Senate rejected the act ratifying the Treaty of
Versailles. They reccommended strongly that that United States not enter
the League of Nations. Even in the Presidential Campaign of 1920, the
League was a major issue. Because President Wilson was unable to setup a
long-lasting peace treaty and the United States was not in accord with the
Treaty of Versailles, Republican candidate Warren G. Harding was elected
president with an overwhelming Republican majority in Congress. The
citizens of the U.S. were disgusted with Democrats and their way of
politics. Not until July 2, 1921 did the Untied States officially end the
state of war between themselves, Germany, and Austria-Hungary. The United
States finally made treaties with Austria and Germany which were signed
August 24 at Vienna and August 25 at Berlin.
In conclusion, Germany was not dealt a fair hand in the peace
process. Although it was their fault, not all blame should have been
placed on them. They too had allies in Austria-Hungary and Russia
originally. The Treaty of Versailles specifically states in Article 231,
"The Allied and Associate Governments affirm that Germany accepts the
responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and
damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals
have been subjected as a consequence of the war." In plain English, Artice
231 states that Germany has to take the fall for not only its own actions,
but for those of its allies. Even though Germany was the major cause of
World War I, they should not have had to agree to such a harsh peace treaty.
The Treaty of Versailles only proves the old saying 'In war, the loser
always pays."

Bibliography:

1) Bennett, Geoffrey, Naval Battles of the First World War (1969)

2) Clark, Alan, Aces High: the War in the Air over the Western Front
(1973)

3) Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia (1992)

4) Gray, Edwyn, The Killing Time: the U-Boat War, 1914-1918 (1972)

5) Hayes, G. P., World War I: A Compact History (1972)

6) Lederer, Ivo John, ed., The Versailles Settlement (1960)

7) Marshall, S. L., World War I (1985).

8) Rimell, Raymond L., World War I in the Air (1988)

9) Wren, Jack, The Great Battles of World War I (1971).

10) Zeman, Z. A. B., The Gentleman Negotiators: A Diplomatic History of
the First World War (1971)





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