Germany entered the war willingly nobody had forced them into it; therefore they have to accept the consequences of losing a war. This is fair as the Germans knew the consequences and it was their mistake for entering war.
Germany had caused a lot of damage that was done to countries like Belgium so she should pay for the damage she caused. This resulted to £6600 million as reparations. Yes Germany should pay for the damage she caused but the amount that she was to pay was too high. The world’s leading economist John Maynard Keynes had said the reparations was too high and that Germany should pay £2000 million. The amount for the reparations was not fair as it was too high, plus none of the Allies were paying Germany for the damage done to her.
Germany could not pay off their debts as 16% of her coalfields and half of her iron and steel industry was taken away so there was no way Germany could pay off the reparations. This was unfair since this affected Germany’s economy and she cannot pay off her debts. If the only thing that can help Germany pay the reparations is taken away from her.
Germany’s military services were restricted. Germany was to have 100,000 men for an army, conscription was banned, the Navy could only have six battleships, the Rhineland became a demilitarised zone. Also, Germany was not allowed any armoured vehicles, submarines or aircrafts. This left Germany disarmed making her unable to defend herself from being invaded. With this there was territorial adjustment.
Germany had all her colonies taken from her. Many of the German colonies became mandates making them temporarily looked after by the League of Nations. This meant there was an expansion to the British and French empires. This was unjustified. Some of Germany’s land was given away leading to people losing their German nationality. Germany was also not to unite with Austria in case they cause trouble. This was fair as it made war less likely.
Many of the victims in Germany were innocent for example the elderly and children. They had suffered starvation. This was unfair as it was innocent people who had caused no damage had to suffer.
Germany were not to have a say in the League of Nations who want to keep peace. This meant Germany had to do what the League of Nations said. As the
Germans described the treaty was a diktat meaning a dictated piece. Germany had no choices if she did not agree she had to face invasion The League of Nations is a peace keeping force but to the Germans it seemed like it was a meeting for the Allies to gain their revenge instead of a peace conference. This was unjustified because a peace conference should let every country that is involved have a say. However, this was justified in a way as Germany did the same to Russia.
During the war Russia had surrendered. There was the treaty named Brest-Litovsk this was a treaty between Germany and Russia. Germany had forced Russia to sign the agreement of the treaty Russia also had no say in the treaty, nevertheless Russia was treated a lot harsher. Therefore this was fair if they are allowed to do the same thing to Russia other countries are surely allowed to do the same to her.
The treaty could have been a lot harsher if France had her way because the French president Georges Clemenceau and his public wanted Germany destroyed. Therefore, this is fair because Germany is lucky to get off with a lighter punishment.
The treaty of Versailles was a bad treaty and was not very successful but it could have been worse if the French got what they wanted. The treaty was justified in some conditions such as Germany knew what the consequences of war are and she willingly entered war but in some cases it is not justified for example it was many innocent people who had to suffer the consequences. On Overall the treaty was both justified and unjustified.
