German horror at the terms of the Treaty of Versailles was the result of unrealistic expectations. Explain why you agree or disagree with this view.

However, while Germans were horrified at the Treaty of Versailles, it could be argued that they deserved what they got after the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk 1918. The German’s had ruthlessly punished Russia, they had broken up the western part of the Russian Empire and seized lots of territory. The German war aims of 1914 again included the annexation of enemy territory to expand Germany’s colonial empire and a very severe reparations bill for the defeated allies. If Germany had won the war, the would have imposed worse terms on the allies so it could be argued that Germany definitely had unrealistic expectations as it seems as though they wanted to win either way. They were not able to accept defeat which is ironic due to their high expectations. The treaty was nowhere near as severe as Clemenceau had wanted it; he proposed to extend the French border to the Rhine or annexed the Saar coalfields and created an independent Rhine land which again suggests that Germany got off lightly and did not suffer as much as it could have. The French also wanted the reparations bill to be higher, creating another continuous friction between Germany and the allies. Wilsons Points and the armistice agreement had made it clear that Alsace-Lorraine would be returned to France, the new state of Poland would be created, Germany would be expected to hand over its assets and that disarmament would be expected. The expectations were clearly stated in the Fourteen Points.

To conclude, I agree with this view as I think that German horror at the terms of the Treaty of Versailles was the result of unrealistic expectations. Germany war aims of 1914 prove that they wanted to annihilate other countries and take over their territory and cripple the defeated allies yet the terms caused an uproar in Germany mainly due to the high reparations cost. £6.6 billion was a lot of money for Germany to pay and it was unfair on German citizens as they had to suffer however, the Germans were ruthless to Russia in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1918 so it could be argued that Germany actually deserved what they got. The complaining of the severity of the Treaty of Versailles essentially reminded Germany of the harshness of Brest-Litovsk