why did the treaty settlements concluded at paris in 1919 fail to provide lasting peace?

Answer 1

There are a variety of reasons, but one of the main ones were the excessive damages that Germany/Prussia was forced to pay, as well as setting up a bad government. The Treaty of Versailles took everything away from the Germans, leaving them only a weak, badly functioning government. The Weimar Republic was a dismal failure in every sense of the word. In addition, the Germans are (and always have been) a very proud, natinalistic people. The restrictions of the treaty did everything they could to undermine that, and there was a huge backlash. Also, Germany was in the worst possible financial position when the Depression hit. The money was already grossly devalued, and restrictions on technology development put even more people out of work. By the early 1930s, they were ripe for the picking by anyone offering (and delivering on) a promise of better conditions, and if that person came up with a good-sounding (and traditionally acceptable) scapegoat, all the better.

Yes, the Germans certainly got themselves into the situation in the first place, but it was the Treaty of Versailles and its effects that made a fertile breeding ground for an extremist... When you're left with absolutely nothing, anything sounds good, and starving people have an amazing capacity for being willfully obtuse if there's food to put in their stomachs...

Answer 2

Germany was brought to its knees by the Treaty of Versailles by requiring they not build armed forces AND that they pay huge reparations to other nations because of their involvement in WWI. That gave Hitler a chance to rise to power promising the German people that he would restore Germany to her rightful place as a world power. He also refused to pay the reparations. This all led to WWII after Hitler began invading other countries as well.

Chow!!