Is the Treaty of Versailles justified?

19th June 1919

THE DAILY MAIL

At the beginning of this week, after months of negotiation between the ‘Big Three’, two German representatives arrived in France to sign the treaty sign the Treaty of Versailles, stating that Germany is blame for the Great War. The question is why have the Germans given in and signed the treaty and can the treaty be justified?

The Germans were in an impossible position and had to sign the treaty. They basically had no choice as they were incapable of restarting the war again. They either had to sign the treaty they would have most probably have been invaded by the Allies. The treaty was needed mainly to stop fighting between different countries, stop another war happening and to punish Germany for the causing of the war.

Everyone had different aims for the treaty, all of the ‘Big Three’ wanted to stop a war ever happening again, but they couldn’t agree on how to do this.

Every one wanted different things from the treaty. That is the reason why the treaty has taken so long to finalise. The main aims of the final treaty are:

*To stop a war happening again.

*Make Germany pay for the damage caused by the war. So that countries can rebuild their economies.

*Punish Germany for the start of the war.

The terms of the treaty can be divided into 5 parts:

War guilt- The Germans have accepted the blame for starting the war.

Germany’s armed forces- The army has been limited to 100,000 men, conscription has been banned, No aircraft, armoured vehicles or Submarines allowed, only six battleships and the Rhineland has now become a demilitarised zone.

Reparations- Germany have to pay compensation for all the damage caused by the war. The exact figure has not yet been decided.

German territories and colonies- Germanys’ overseas empire has been taken away. The treaty forbids Germany joining together with former ally Austria-Hungary (Now Austria). Germany has also been split and land has been ...

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War guilt- The Germans have accepted the blame for starting the war.

Reparations- Germany have to pay compensation for all the damage caused by the war. The exact figure has not yet been decided.

League of Nations- The League of Nations has been set up as an international ‘police fore’ and Germany has not been allowed to join.

Even though these are the final terms of the treaty many are still not satisfied with them. There has been a lot of disagreement especially between the Big Three on agreeing with the terms. But people have had to compromise some of their aims as their would be no treaty.

Yesterday we interviewed George Clemenceau, Prime minister of France, too find out why there was difficulty in agreeing the terms of the treaty and to see what his thoughts on the final treaty are. This is what he told us:

“It has been difficult in agreeing the final terms of the treaty as everyone has had different opinions and different views on the aims of the treaty. Wilson is an idealist and he believes that we are wrong in punishing Germany harshly. I on the other hand think that Germany deserve to pay for all of the suffering and damage they have caused. They are to blame for the war so it is only right that they accept all the punishment. Some Germans are saying that they only signed the treaty because they thought it was Wilson’s ‘14 points’. What do these points have too do with anything, they are Wilson’s points not anyone else’s. Wilson’s problem is that he talks a lot about eastern and Central Europe, yet he knows very little about the area.

I only want a peace that will be just, but it should be stern because the occasion demands it. All I want is too protect the future against another war like this. Although if I had my way though the treaty would be much harsher. I my opinion the Germans are getting off very lightly.”

Clemenceau may think that the treaty is not harsh enough, but there are probably very few if any Germans who agree with him. The news of the treaty has been greeted by horror and outrage throughout the whole of Germany. It has caused a major blow to Germany’s economy and pride. The Germans feel that they are being treated very unfairly and they certainly do not feel that they started the war or even lost it. What most Germans don’t understand however is how bad Germany’s military situation was at the end of the war. They still believe that the German government just ordered a ceasefire. Today we talked to Mr Josef Zuckmayer a citizen a Germany to hear his views on the treaty.

“It’s disgusting!!! I can’t believe that they are actually allowed to do this. This is not Justice at all this is defiantly unjust.

The ‘war guilt clause’ is a load of rubbish. We are not to blame for the war, if anything the blame should be shared. However as we have been forced to take the blame for the war we have to accept the punishment. We are also expected to pay for all the damage caused by the war, the German economy is already in Tatters. The reparations payments are going to cripple us. Which is no doubt what the French want as they are threatened by our power compared to their own.

Limiting our army to just 100,000 men is ridiculous and the ‘Big Three’ know that it is. 100,000 men is way too small for a country the size of ours. We may not be able to attack other countries but we can’t defend our own country from invasion either.

Taking our colonies and territory away from us is simply taking it a step too far, and it is very unfair. There is no need for this term, the British and the French simply want more power.

We haven’t even been invited to join the League of Nations! We have been told that we can’t join until we have shown that we are a peace-loving country. Our complaints about the treaty are ignored.

We are being treated like a defeated state and I don’t really think that we lost! I’m furious that our government was not even represented at the talks and that we are being forced to accept a harsh treaty without any choice or even a comment.”

So can the treaty of Versailles be justified? Well I would say that yes it can. Germany started the war so it is only fair that they should accept the punishment. The Germans believe that they should be treated fair, but just look at the way they treated the Russians in the treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Germany is not the only country that has been effected by the war other countries too have been destroyed and lost their economy also. On the other hand did the Germans really need to be treated so harshly?

The terms of the treaty have been done with hatred and revenge for the Germans. I think that perhaps the best solution for the problem of would have been to wait a while before deciding how to treat the Germans. They allies may have got revenge and punished the Germans. But have they pushed the Germans too far? Will the Germans possibly want revenge in the future? We will just have to wait and see for the answer to that question.

Reported by Natalie watkin