Treaty Of Versailles

WAS THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES FAIR?
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. The Treaty of Versailles was signed on 28 June 1919 by the following leaders, Georges Clemenceau of France, David Lloyd George of Great Britain and Woodrow Wilson of the United States, at the Palace of felt apunishment could cause Germany to seek revenge. However to have a Treaty, each had to compromise. It resulted that Germany had to accept the blame for starting the war “War Guilt”. Germany had to pay for all the reparations of the damages done during the war Versailles in France. Each leader had different aims. Clemenceau wanted a harsh treaty against Germany, Lloyd George wanted a fairpunishment but not too harsh and Wilson, all their overseas empires were taken away and the size of the German army had to be decreased. They were also not invited to join the League of Nations because they had a reputation of not being a peace-loving country.
The Treaty of Versailles can be perceived as fair because the Germans were said to have double standards. This was referring to the Treaty ofBrest-Litovsk signed March 1918. It became public how harshly the Germans treated the Russians. In this Treaty, Russia lost fertile land, industries and 34% of its population. Russia also had to pay a fine of 300 million gold roubles. This gave proof to the evil ambitions of the German regime and the allies also felt that Germany would do the same if the Germans had won, so they ask for thetreaty of Versailles to be merciful but they weren’t with the treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
The Germans were also the ones who launched the first attack. This is referring to the Schlieffen Plan where the Germans would attack France and then turn their forces against Russia. However it did not work as planned. Belgium put a resistance force and it took the Germans longer than six weeks to get intoFrance. This in turn gave the Russians more time and to move more quickly than expected.
The Treaty could have been much harsher. Clemenceau was a tough uncompromising politician that had his country attacked by the Germans twice. Over two-thirds of the men who served in the French army had already been killed or injured. France had felt threatened by Germany`s increasing power. He also had toshow he agreed with his country`s opinion of Germany. They also wanted to make Germany broken up into smaller states to avoid further attacks on France.
Wilson was an idealist who wanted peace after the War. He did agree that Germany should be punished but not too harshly because one day it may want revenge. He made a list of Fourteen Points to end the war fairly. He wanted to strengthendemocracy in the defeated nation so it`s leaders would not cause another war. However he did not know a great deal about eastern and central Europe.
The third leader to sign the Treaty was Lloyd George who believed Germany should be justly punished but not too harshly. A realist who knew there would have to be a compromise. Great Britain would have liked Germany to lose its navy and colonies. Butdid not want revenge from Germany because the trade between them were very important for Britain`s economy.
Germany was considered as a defeated country because after The Hundred Days they were in full retreat. Germany had run out of time and resources. On 11 November 1918 the Armistice came into effect. The War was over and the Allies had won.
On the other hand, the Treaty of Versailles canbe said to be unfair because before the war there was lots of unrest between the neighbouring countries. Britain was concerned about Germany`s growing navy. The British then started to make warships, Germany then followed. Both spent great amounts building these warships. The industrial countries of Europe were very competitive. Germany and Austria-Hungary wanted to increase the size of...