“A Peace to end All Peace”: The Treaty of Versailles Essay

Recently, historian David Fromkin wrote a book around the accordance of Versailles, arguing that it was A Peace to hold back All Peace, hence its title. This is so tout ensemble the Treaty authentically offered was only an amicable, short-term, settlement between the warring powers that placed Germany in a disadvantageous position. Eventually, this resulted to a belief of retribution among the Germans, which backed the rise of Hitler and the start of another World War. How was the Treaty of Versailles flawed? Below ar several aspects for discussion. First are the military aspects of the treaty. Germanys army was reduced to 100,000 men the army was not allowed tanks. She was not allowed an vent force. She was allowed only 6 capital naval ships (Trueman, n.d.). However, this happened only in paper a Germany side-stepped the rule and signed her soldiers only for a short contract of service (ibid.). Once the contract is done, she effect the soldiers in reserve, successfully carr ying out the term of having no more than 100,000 soldiers at any one time, bit still having a substantial amount of reserve troops that helped Hitler rise later (ibid.). Also, although Germany was not allowed an air force, she trained potential pilots, as well as submariners, abroad (ibid.). This did not break the treaty as there were no provisions regarding it in the first place. Second are the financial and territorial aspects of the treaty. Germany was demanded to quit all of its colonies, to pay financial penalties linked to war destruction, and to not unite with Austria all at the same(p) time (Trueman, n.d.). The Treaty also provided for the delivery of capital goods and raw materials to the Allies (Sage, 2006). To the Germans, these terms offered them severe stinting restrictions with possibly no chance of rehabilitation. Nonetheless, Germany was still the strongest power in Europe economically, so that the unwise liaison about Versailles was that it annoyed the Germans ye t did not render them too weak to retaliate (Lowe, 1982).Third and approximately importantly are the political aspects of the treaty. Germany was not even included, much more consulted, in its drafting. She was left all alone, with even the membership to the League of Nations banned against her. Most importantly, she was even made to admit full office for starting the war a term explicitly written in Clause 231 of the treaty, the War immorality Clause (Trueman, n.d.). With her admitting full responsibility, she had to pay for reparations, which are well beyond her ability to pay. The Allies literally pushed Germany to the foothold when they made her sign a blank cheque for the reparations, which the Allies would cash when it suited them (ibid.).Again and again, Germanys opinion was never asked nor even heard of while the treaty was drafted until it was carried out. The most the Allies did was to convince her that she depart be consulted after the Armistice in November 1918 (ib id.). The Germans did not like the treaty forced on them. hardly as the war had rendered them incapable of starting another war, they had no choice but to sign it, lest they be invaded by the Allies. At the end, Germany was the victim. The supposed victims, i.e. the Allies, emerged as victors as the terms of the Treaty worked greatly to their advantage, leaving Germany bruised and batter more than ever.However, some scholars would argue that the treaty was not that bad after all. For instance, Jaron Sandy (1999) believed that it was the best compromise possible, though it was certainly not the best one could hope for. He agrees that it was comprehensively harsh on Germany, but it did not fail as a solution for peace, because there was a period of relation stability in Europe from 1924 to 1931. But considering the discussions above, the Treaty of Versailles was proven to be a Peace to end all Peace. Some scholars would even say it was no peace treaty at all, but effective an indi ctment of Germany (Sage, 2006). All it left was a mood of anger throughout Germany as it was felt that as a nation Germany had been unfairly treated(Trueman, n.d.).REFERENCESLowe, N. (1982). Mastering Modern World History (excerpt). Retrieved July 14, 2008 from http//www.johndclare.net/peace_treaties1_Answer.htmSage, HJ. (2006). Versailles 1919. Retrieved July 14, 2008 from http//www.sagehistory.net/worldwar1/topics/versailles.htmSandy, J. (1999). Personal Conclusions about the Treaty of Versailles and Its Effects (excerpt). Retrieved July 14, 2008 from http//www.johndclare.net/peace_treaties1_Answer.htmTrueman, C. (n.d.). The Treaty of Versailles. Retrieved July 14, 2008 from http//www.historylearningsite.co.uk/treaty_of_versailles.htm