Ramon Valdivia

4/28/15
Its been refuted by historians over and over again, The Treaty of Versailles caused World War
II. But how? The Treaty of Versailles will have to be inspected over to give a clear view of how the treaty
caused WWII. First, the large territorial losses are good evidence, as well as troop loss, economic
damaged caused by reparations, and the War Guilt Clause within the Treaty of Versailles .
Something to look at to start with is the territorial loss of Germany dictated by the treaty. Among
the territories lost, there was Alsace and Lorraine, Danzig, parts of Denmark, the Polish Corridor, and
parts of East Prussia, as ordered by the Treaty of Versailles (1919, Doc. A). These territories would be
passed out unfairly by the League of Nations. East Prussia would be separated from the German
mainland, and have the trouble of going through the Polish Corridor to get back to their homeland.
Another exhibit of evidence is Document B, the loss of a sizable army force in German territory.
The Versailles document states that the army be reduced to a miniscule amount and only be used for
domestic purposes such as peacekeeping or self-defense. Due to the size of the army, itd be impossible
to keep peace within Germanys borders with such a small force. Belgium, which is much smaller than
Germany, had a larger army than Germany at the time. With a reduced army that had enough problems
on its own as is, Germans were humiliated.
A third example is the damage of Germanys economy through the hefty war reparations
forcefully given to Germany by the Allies in the Treaty of Versailles. The money that was required to be
paid was over $350,000,000,000 dollars, in todays money (1919, Art. 232 & 233). This debt angered
Germans further, refusing to pay larger amounts to the Allies due to the cost being so ridiculous. The most
that would be paid to the Allies would only amount to only 2 billion dollars.
The most important example of evidence is the War Guilt Clause. This section of the Treaty of
Versailles meant, if signed, the country of Germany had to take all the blame of starting the war and
turning it into a larger conflict (1919, Art. 231). The German Foreign Minister, Ulrich von BrockdorffRantzau, was quoted, saying (1919) We know the full brunt of hate that confronts us here. You demand
from us to confess we were the only guilty party of war; such a confession in my mouth would be a
lie."(Quote from conference) This outraged Germans, as they were seen as the hated party and began to
hate the other countries that surrounded it just as much.
As a final point, this evidence is supposed to support that Germany was pushed to become the
opposing force of World War II by the Versailles Treaty after World War I. With Germans left in a
depression of their own, they became desperate, and when Adolf Hitler started to come to power, he was
supported in every way due to the punishments on Germany the Versailles Treaty had given the German
populace in the first place.