Politics: Treaty of Versailles

After the World War I ended in 1918, a treaty was signed at the Versailles Palace near Paris. The participants in these events where The Allies; conformed by: Great Britain, France, Italy, U.S.A; and Germany.  The presidents of each of this countries were present, the most important in there were David Lloyd George, president of Great Britain; Georges Clemenceau, president of France and Woodrow Wilson, president of the United States.

This Treaty was made in order to restore order in Europe. World War I had left many dead people and a great bitterness in people. Great Britain lost 750,000 soldiers and had 1, 500,000 soldiers wounded; France lost 1,400,000 soldiers and had 2,500,000 wounded; Belgium lost 50,000 soldiers; Italy had 600,000 soldiers killed. Russia lost 1,700,000 soldiers; U.S.A had 116,000 soldiers killed; Germany lost 2,000,000 soldiers; Austria-Hungary lost 1,200,000 soldiers; Turkey had 325,000 soldiers killed and Bulgaria lost 100,000 soldiers. The total number of death people of all nations who fought this war is about an 8.5 million people and 21 million people were wounded. Many cities and houses were destroyed and people were devastated at the end of the war.

The treaty was signed on June 28^th, 1919. It consisted of different sections, esc hoe containing points of what should be done. These were: territorial, military, financial and general. The territorial section was about the territories Germany had to return or territories that Germany should give to the League of Nations. Germany had to give: Alsace- Lorraine to France; Eupen and Malmedy to Belgium; Northern Schleswig to Denmark; Hultschin to Czechoslovakia; West Prussia, Posen and Upper Silesia to Poland; The Saar Danzig and Memel were given to the league, who would also have Germany’s over sea colonies. The military section was an strategic section for reducing Germany’s army in order to prepare themselves for future wars with more people than Germany. Germany’s army was reduced to 100,000 men and the army was not allowed to use tanks, have an air force, have more than 6 capital naval ships and have submarines. The financial section was about what Germany had to pay to the other countries. It was combined to their territorial looses so it would be difficult for Germany to rebuild their economy. Germany was also forbidden to unite with Austria, to keep Germany’s economical potential at a minimum. In the General section there are three main clauses. The first one is that Germany had to admit the full responsibility for starting the war; the second one is that because Germany was guilty, it is responsible of all the damages, so Germany would have to pay the reparations, and the last one is that the League of Nations was set up to keep world peace.

Besides these terms, in which every person that belonged to the Alliance believed in; each of the presidents have different ways of thinking of what to do to Germany. David Lloyd George, wanted Germany to be punished, but not to extent that it left her destitute. Georges Clemenceau, wanted Germany should be led to never start a war again and Woodrow Wilson, wanted Germany to be punished, and thought Europe should be lead to reconciliation and not opposition. That’s why he created the 14 points.

This treaty was in a way good, but at the same no, it created resentment in the Germans and it was what at the end led to a second world war.