Was the Treaty of Versailles fair?

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Was the Treaty of Versailles fair?

The Treaty of Versailles was the peace settlement signed by Germany after the First World War. The terms of this Treaty was that land had to be taken away from Germany, their army reduced to 100,00 men, no tanks or submarines allowed in the army, only allowed 6 naval ships, an air force was forbidden, they had to admit full responsibility for starting the war, pay lots of many for compensation, forbidden to unite with Austria and Germany was banned from being in the League of Nations. In this essay the terms of the Treaty of Versailles will be analyzed and I will decide whether I think it was fair or not.

        Some may argue that the terms of the Treaty of Versailles was completely fair as it was what Germany deserved. They had started the war; therefore they should be humiliated by taking full responsibility.  If their army was reduced to 100,00 men, no tanks or submarines were allowed, an air force was forbidden and only being allowed 6 naval ships then this would have reduced the chance of Germany trying to start another war, you cannot fight with a sufficient number of men or without the right equipment or forces. Lots of land was taken off Germany and given to other countries. For example Northern Schleswig was given to Denmark and Alsace and Lorraine had been given to Germany. The countries that received land must have thought it was very fair, considering that Germany had destroyed some of their land so why shouldn’t they just take Germany’s land as an act or revenge? Lots of money was given to countries involved in the war that Germany had destroyed as compensation. Germany was even forbidden to unit with Austria to form a super state, in an attempt to keep their economic potential to a minimum. This was thought to be completely fair because Germany had destroyed so much so they should pay for it and if they were bankrupt lots of problems would be caused for them. Finally, Germany was banned from being in the League of Nations. This is another term of the Treaty of Versailles that humiliated Germany and made them loose their dignity.

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        On the other hand, although they thought that Germany deserved to be punished, they thought the terms of the Treaty of Versailles was unfair. This was because the three most important politicians present at the signing were David Lloyd George, Georges Clemenceau and Woodrow Wilson (the ‘Big Three’). They all had different views on how Germany should be treated. David Lloyd George was all for his public image. If he came across as being soft on Germany then he would have been quickly voted out of office. So his terms had to be harsh, however unfair they were. Georges Clemenceau ...

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