Treaty Of Versailles

The First World War, one of the most devastating wars to ever take place in the history of mankind, had finally ended in 1918. However, after the defeat of Germany a dilemma arose over how the world should end this massive war so that it will prevent any other wars from ever taking place and under what terms and punishment Germany will now face. The "Big Four" (Lloyd George of Britain, Orlando of Italy, Clemenceau of France, and Woodrow Wilson of the U.S.), leaders of the four strongest nation during the era, met on June 28 1919 in Paris, where they came to an agreements on terms under one document known as The Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles, ratified in 1919, was created with intentions to end a war that will end all wars (First
However, this mind set was one of the greatest downfalls of The Treaty of Versailles. By trying to keep Germany oppressed so that they will never rise up and take control, unavoidably led to harsh terms that Germany was strictly enforced to follow. "ARTICLE 231.The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies.(Document D)" As stated in Article 231 of The Treaty of Versailles Germany's government had no choice but to take responsibility for the war itself and all the damages that was caused by the war; even if it meant replacing government official until the treaty was signed. However, in truth, the war was really caused by the Serbian nationalist secret society (Black Hand) and with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and yet Germany was force to take full responsibility without any clemency. For instance, In Document G Count von Brockdorff-Rantzau states that "We were firmly resolved to do everything in our power with a view of fulfilling the grave
Additionally despite the treaty's agreement for strict enforcement of each term, the French were obligated to force Germany with reparation because of the debts French had accumulated during the war. In addition to reparation, Germany was faced with other unreasonable demands such as demilitarization and the loss of large prosperous land (seen in Document I). Besides giving great amount of money to France, under The Treaty of Versailles, Germany was compelled to give the Rhineland to