How Did The Treaty Of Versailles Cause Ww2

“Viewing Germany as the chief instigator of the conflict, the European Allied Powers decided to impose particularly stringent treaty obligations upon the defeated Germany.” ("Treaty of Versailles, 1919." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, n.d. Web. 18 Jan. 2017). This treaty is known as the Treaty of Versailles and was a huge contributor to World War II. After World War I ended, there was a need for peace and that was what they intended with the Treaty of Versailles. However, it led to more tension between the two sides (the allies and the central powers) as it belittled Germany and caused their resentment towards the Allies. The treaty took away many of Germanys territory, making them smaller
Germany lost the Polish Corridor, Alsace, and Lorrain. This led to Germany not being as powerful and causing them to feel as the only way to gain their land back was through force. Adolf Hitler was a strong believer in this, “It should scarcely seem questionable to anyone… the restoration of the frontiers of 1914 could be achieved only by blood” (Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, 1924). Hitler described his intention of gaining the land back by war. Once he was in command there was nothing stopping him. He had a goal of gaining back the land The Treaty of Versailles had taken away, which had contributed to his reason for war. The Treaty of Versailles was what had caused Germanys territory lost, causing a motive to begin World War
This caused Germany to struggle economically as they weren’t prepared for such a high reparation. However, the allies felt as it was Germanys duty, “The Allies… require, and Germany undertakes, that she will make compensation for all damage done to the civilian population of the Allied and Associated Powers and to their property during the period of the belligerency….” (Article 232, Treaty of Versailles,1919). This shows that Germany would have to commence all the damage that was caused. This angered Germany and soon they would call to action. As shown in the Chart that was mixed with both John Maynard Keynes, The Economic Consequences of the Peace, 1920, and Charles Mee, The End of Order: Versailles, 1919, once Hitler comes to order, all the reparation payments stop. This shows how the debt they had to pay angered them and had caused another reason to enter this war. The debt was massive and Hitler demanded an end to this which had brought hope to Germany. This was a huge impact on Germany and was a reason behind World War