Strengths And Weaknesses Of Treaty Of Versailles History Essay
On the 28th June 1919, Germany resentfully signed the most famous treaty ever, Versailles. Although years of readjusting the treaty followed, this essay will focus mainly on the strengths and weaknesses of the 440 articles in 1919. The Treaty followed a massive war, with huge human sacrifice. It was supposed to be the Treaty to end all wars and give security to the countries involved. The overwhelming task that laid ahead for Woodrow Wilson (America), Lloyd George (Great Britain), Clemenceau (France) and Orlando (Italy) was on a bigger scale than any previous delegates had had to deal with.
One of the biggest interpreted weaknesses was the economics and reparations. Firstly, it highlighted the weaknesses of the delegates forming the Treaty, as they had to listen to public demand which had been exaggerated due to the scale and length of the war. An example was Lloyd George who was pressured from conservatives for harsh reparations, Geddes, a conservative politician hailed the words ‘we shall squeeze the German lemon until the pips squeak.’ [1] Packer declared Lloyd George did not believe in harsh reparations [2] , but George added extras to the original reparations such as war pensions to please the conservatives because the original amount based on war damage gave Britain a very little. Kitchen showed and I agree that there was little Lloyd George could do about the situation as ‘no politician would have survived if he had suggested that Germany should be forgiven.’ [3] However, Lentin disagreed, thinking that public opinion created pressure but had no impact on the Treaty. He later contradicted himself by proclaiming that the one of the causes of the delay in announcing reparations because the delegates believed that the public would never be satisfied with the guaranteed amount. [4] Therefore, public opinion had to be acknowledged and satisfied to a certain extent. This meant the Treaty did not always accomplish what was needed such as lower reparations.
One of the biggest interpreted weaknesses was the economics and reparations. Firstly, it highlighted the weaknesses of the delegates forming the Treaty, as they had to listen to public demand which had been exaggerated due to the scale and length of the war. An example was Lloyd George who was pressured from conservatives for harsh reparations, Geddes, a conservative politician hailed the words ‘we shall squeeze the German lemon until the pips squeak.’ [1] Packer declared Lloyd George did not believe in harsh reparations [2] , but George added extras to the original reparations such as war pensions to please the conservatives because the original amount based on war damage gave Britain a very little. Kitchen showed and I agree that there was little Lloyd George could do about the situation as ‘no politician would have survived if he had suggested that Germany should be forgiven.’ [3] However, Lentin disagreed, thinking that public opinion created pressure but had no impact on the Treaty. He later contradicted himself by proclaiming that the one of the causes of the delay in announcing reparations because the delegates believed that the public would never be satisfied with the guaranteed amount. [4] Therefore, public opinion had to be acknowledged and satisfied to a certain extent. This meant the Treaty did not always accomplish what was needed such as lower reparations.