The Treaty Of Versailles History Essay Sample

During the Paris Peace Conference on June 28th 1919, the Allied Powers and delegates from Germany agreed on a set of punishments in which Germany would have to face for the damage that they caused in World War I, called the Treaty of Versailles. The major players in the conference were Woodrow Wilson from the U.S; Lloyd George from Britain, and Georges Clemenceau from France. The Treaty of Versailles was made to rightfully punish Germany for their Gruesome acts and damage caused to the people of Europe during the years of World War I. In this treaty it was agreed upon to take away the Polish corridor and all non-European colonies from Germany. Having these territories taken away angered many Germans because it slowed down Germany’s coal production and it isolated Germans living in East Prussia from mainland Germany. The treaty also forced large reparations and sanctions on Germany. Germany was forced to concede billions upon billions of gold marks for their damages. While many believe the signing of the Treaty of Versailles was meant to bring peace and amity to the European community, it actually did the complete opposite, The Treaty of Versailles angered and helped create an authoritarian regime rise to power in Germany due to forcing harsh reparations on the German economy and also forcefully taking away some of Germany’s land mass in order to slow down coal production.

The loss of the Polish Corridor and other small parts of Germany angered Hitler and many of his followers; the loss of territory also led to a major loss of coal production. The treaty took away 40% of Germany’s coal production, which equaled 60,800,000 tons of coal (Content Notes 1). Furthermore, the loss of coal production made not only Hitler but the majority of Germany’s population furious at the Allied Powers.  Hitler and his followers were also furious at the idea that someone could take their land without having the opportunity to defend or fight for it. For instance, in an excerpt from Mein Kampf, Hitler writes, “No Nation can remove this hand from its throat except by the sword” (Doc A). In this excerpt, Hitler threatens to start a war with anyone who tries to take land away from Germany. Throughout the novel, Hitler persuades the German people that they shouldn't feel humiliated about Germany’s defeat but that they should take pride in their country even though they were going through a rough time. He and the NAZI party began to gain popularity after Mein Kampf was published.  Hitler took advantage of the struggling German people and manipulated them into eventually electing him and his authoritarian regime to power.

The extreme reparations that Germany had to face for their brutality caused in World I created a legacy of bitterness and hatred directed towards the Allied powers. The reparations were set into place on May 1, 1921 and were supposed to be fully fulfilled within a thirty year period (Artical 232, Treaty of Versailles). When Hitler’s authoritarian regime was elected into power, twelve years after the payments began, He stopped all reparation payments (Doc C).  Hitler believed that Germany was not obligated to pay reparations for a war in which they didn’t even start. Hitler began to gain more and more followers for his narcissistic beliefs about Germany and its people. The hatred that Hitler had for the Allied powers turned into a sense of nationalism which brought the German people together to elect Hitler and his authoritarian regime to power which would stop reparations.

Although the Treaty of Versailles was meant to prevent any further global conflicts from developing, the treaty provoked an authoritarian regime rising to power in Germany setting the stage for World War II. The absence of Germany during the Paris Peace Conference established an isolated barrier between Germany and the rest of the world. The allied powers put into place extreme reparations against Germany for their damage caused to the people of Europe during World War I. The allied powers also took away some of Germany’s land mass to slow down coal production. These two retributions alone caused Hitler and his authoritarian regime to gain the German people’s approval ,due to the rise in nationalism, and come to power in Germany. The creation of the Treaty of Versailles was an easy solution to a complex problem, blaming Germany for a conflict in which they didn’t even start, created more problems than it did solutions.