Dbq Essay On The Treaty Of Versailles

The treaty of Versailles is believed by historians to have angered the Germans but also left the big three unsatisfied at the outcome of the pact. Germany felt exceedingly cheated by the treaty. The Germans in the treaty had been blamed entirely for the war and had to pay compensation in the sum of 6, 600million pounds as well as limit there army to no more then 100,000 men to name a few . Through the treaty Germany had to lose much of its territory to its neighboring countries - as well as the demilitarization of the Rhineland to protect France.

The Germans objected as seen in source D a newspaper article stating that it was a “ disgraceful treaty being signed. ” Source D allows for real insight in to the German populations hatred of the
peace treaty. The Germans felt the peace treaty was as stated by Norman Lowe a “ dictated peace”(Lowe, Modern World History 1 and left them feeling they were forced to sign the treaty. According to historian Norman Lowe many historians believed that ”the Germans could scarcely have expected any better treatment after the harsh way they had dealt with the Russians at the treaty of Brest-Litosvk.” (Lowe, Modern World History1 – . The treaty of Brest-Litosvk removed much of Russian land from them and was also a dictated peace similar to that of the treaty of Versailles. Lowe’s statement agues that all though it was harsh it was not that dissimilar to there treatment of Russia after the war so the Germans should not have referring back to source D the news paper article feel “ vengenceful”.

Lowe states there should be no sympathy for the Germans and they deserved the treatment.
Colonel E.M House an advisor to president Woodrow Wilson in source B on of the allies states his dissatisfaction with the Treaty of Versailles. House states “to those who are saying that the treaty is bad and should never have been made and that it will involve Europe in infinite difficulties in its enforcement, I feel admitting it.” This is seen throughout many of the main players at Versailles the feeling at dissatisfaction at the treaty. GOOD. House’s statement is very telling and also states his fear for the impending conflicts that build up and cause the outbreak of World War two less then 20 years after the signing of the treaty. Showing clearly that even the people that created the treaty believed that It would cause infinite difficulties rather then solving them Due to the strong personalities - involved in writing the treaties compromise was involved countries felt that they hadn’t got what they wanted out of the treaty. Source C a cartoon from punch magazine also hints that the treaty has flaws with David Lloyd-? saying, “ I don’t say it’s a perfect egg; but parts of it, as the saying is, are excellent” This caption reinforces the idea that each nation wasn’t happy at the overall Treaty but there were party that they were happy with. The Egg in the cartoon is also symbolic of the fragileness of the treaty and its flaws as an egg can easily be broken. Though some believed that
allow the treaty was harsh the Germans had very little room to complain contrasting the ideas of some of the sources provided. Not all Historians and politicians at the time believe it was too harsh. Historian Steiner in source B states that even with “the loss of Saar coal and Lorraine iron ore, Germany remained Europe’s ‘industrial power house’, able, in a short time, to dominate the trade of the central and eastern European states.” This implying that although Germany had to pay and lost a significant amount in the treaty of Versailles, this didn’t stop them from being Europe’s great industrial power and had little affect on them. According to Lowe he believes the Germans had some valid reasons to complain but states, “ if Clemenceau had had his way, the Rhineland would have become an independent state, and France would have annexed the Saar.” (Lowe, Modern World History 1 . Lowe carries on to echo the same ideas as Steiner by saying that the treaty of Versailles “Germany was still the strongest power in Europe economically, so that the unwise thing about the settlement was that it annoyed the Germans, but it did not leave them to weak to retaliate.”(Lowe Modern World 1 The statement by Lowe hints at Hitler’s retaliation in world war two to the Versailles treaty.

To conclude is the statement that the treaty much toO “harsh” a valid point. It is valid on the point that it angered the Germans feeding them to retaliate. It would have been better to allow the Germans say into the treaty rather then the allies enforcement of terms they we going to be unhappy. Although historians such as Lowe and Steiner believe that there is no grounds for the “vengeance” of the treaty as the Germans had treated Russia as harsh. They go on to say could the Germans have expected any better. The statement is valid but it did not reduce Germany as an economic power in Europe. The treaty of Versailles and the Germans hatred of the treaty did not give global peace but it gave rise to Nazism and world war two.