World War one saw one of the largest war mobilisations in history, in the years between 1914 and 1918 over 60 million European soldiers from different sides were mobilised. Of this amount, fifteen million soldiers were badly injured, eight million were killed and seven million were disabled, five million civilians also died.
Germany had an alliance with Austria – Hungary when the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated; Austria declared war against Serbia and so brought Germany into the war as well. The enemy was France, USA, England and Russia. Germany attacked France and Belgium in August 1914. On the Eastern front in September 1914 Germany was victorious against Russia. At the same time German forces neared Paris however the French combined with the Bristish to fight back.
By 1916 the German army had failed several times to overtake the Western front in France so decided to attack Verdun where they killed many soldiers but did not gain much land.
In November 1917, Russia’s own revolution brought about a peace treaty with the Germans however Germany eventually ignored their own treaty and began fighting for land in the Ukraine.
In 1918 the French, British and American troops proved so strong fro the German army that on August 8 the entire German army was pushed back from the Western front and suffered extreme casualties. So on October 3 Germany proposed an armistice which led to the Treaty of Versailles.
One of the crucial factors stated in the Treaty of Versailles that made the treaty too harsh was the sufficient weakening, or destroying of Germany’s powerful army.
Prior to the enforcement of the treaty, Germany’s infantry was the most powerful and substantial in the world. It contained over two million infantry, the second largest navy and the second largest population to rebuild these armies. Germany was no longer to produce heavy guns, poisonous gas, tanks or any form of air force or navy. This completely demilitarised Germany and they were virtually left defenceless in case of another attack. By demilitarising Germany, it went against point number five of President Woodrow Wilson’s fourteen points. Point 5 stated that,
“A free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims, based upon a strict observance of the principle that in determining all such questions of sovereignty the interests of the populations concerned must have equal weight with the equitable claims of the government whose title is to be determined.” (Woodrow Wilson: 1918)
It is clear that by demilitarising Germany and ignoring one of President Wilson’s 14 points, even though America was the key to deciding the war, that the Treaty of Versailles was a harsh peace.
Another crucial factor of the Treaty of Versailles that caused it to be a harsh peace was article 231, “The War Guilt Clause”. The article of the Treaty caused Germany to get very poor economically and they had to live with the moral guilt that it was officially, entirely their fault.
Article 231 states:
“The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies.” (Article 231, Treaty of Versailles, June 1919)
The article caused distress amongst Germans and also many other countries because they believe that it wasn’t their fault and there is evidence to suggest that it wasn’t. They claim that they were just helping out an ally in Austria-Hungary which caused a chain reaction of different allies and that led to the First World War.
The War Guilt Clause also was devastating financially for the Germans as well. In the end they were forced to pay back a total of €6.6 billion in reparations and this was worth a lot more back in 1921 than it is today. Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles had devastating effects on Germany which were unfair and this contributed to the harsh peace of the treaty.
One of the final reasons why the treaty of Versailles was a harsh peace was because it was a ‘Diktat’ or a ‘dictated peace’. Throughout the creating of the Treaty of Versailles, the Germans were not allowed a say in the peace no matter what they tried, they just had to hope for the best. The German delegates were infuriated by this and when they were presented the peace terms they were even more annoyed. The Treaty followed virtually none of President Wilson’s Fourteen Points and this was even more frustrating for the Germans. The German people saw the Weimar Government after signing the treaty as weak and traitorous and this caused political distress.
It is evident that because the Germans were presented without a consulted peace, that the terms, conditions and presentation of the Treaty of Versailles led to a harsh peace.
The Treaty of Versailles was intended to be a ‘peaceful’ conclusion to the First World War. The countries that created the treaty eventually were subject to greed. The Germans on the other end of the spectrum were subject to a harsh peace. By destroying Germany’s army they were left weak and powerless, Article 231of the Treaty left Germany morally scarred and in enormous debt and finally the Germans had absolutely no involvement in the creating of the peace ‘agreement’ and actually had it forced upon them. It is for these reasons that I believe that the Treaty of Versailles was a harsh peace.