Very confusing world war 1 question?

Question

I am so confused by this question, I dont even know where to begin: any help would be great

"A german once said that war is oly diplomacy pursued by other means. Many claimed after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles that diplomacy was really only war pursued by other means. Many claimed that the treaty was a major --some saying THE major--cause of world war two. What was there about the treaty that provoked such conflict?

Thanks for any help!

Answer 1

Answer
The Versailles Treaty forced Germany to accept many terms that Germans found difficult to bear economically and shameful to accept psychologically.
Germany had to accept that they were mainly at fault for WWI. Germany had to pay back Allies for their war costs in forms of territory, coal, steel, money, agricultural products etc.
German economy couldn't handle it. The results were starvation, hyper inflation (1000 % per year) and political chaos. So when Hitler came onto the scene, his main promise was to restore German dignity and cancel Versailles Treaty. Hitler appealed to German sense of nationalism.
Hence the name of his party: National Socialists ( Nazi). Common Germans were inspired by Hitler's promises and elected him the Chancellor of Germany in 1933.
Soon thereafter that Hitler declared himself Fuehrer ( Leader) of Germany and began his aggressive policies towards other European nations that resulted in WWII.
It is doubtful that Germans would've elected a radical like Hitler if Allies did not impose such damaging conditions on Germany as the Versailles Treaty.

Answer 2

BOTH sides were on the verge of giving up at the end of The Great War.

Russia had been knocked out due to the Revolution.
France has been bled white and the British Empire was running out of trained troops to send to the front.

When the Germans offered an Armistace, the Allies took full advantage and the terms of the Treaty Of Versaille were extremely harsh.
Instead of the Armistace being used for both sides to offer temrs and come to an agreement to end hostilities, Germany was treated like a defeated enemy, even though no enemy soldier had set foot on German soil.

The Treaty led to hyperinflation in Germany, with money becoming worthless.
The German people were utterly crushed by the terms of the Treaty and this led directly to the rise of various Nationalist groups emerging into power, the most infamous of these being the Nazis.

Answer 3

The *contents* of the treaty did more to promote the ideology that created WW 2 than the treaty as a whole.

It called for Germany to pay reparations well beyond what it was capable of doing throwing Germany into an economic nightmare....recession-depression (along with the world depression in 1929), whatever you want to call it. The Wiemar government provided very little if any leadership, and anytime you have a vacuum such as this, people will look to ANYONE who shows any leadership whatsoever. Enter the National Socialist Party--Nazis and Uncle Adolf.

Being a good nationalists he strongly disliked the allied efforts and, of course, greatly disliked the provisions of Versailles, and all he had to do was convince the German people that he could save them, which he did to an extent. The problem is, the fame and glory went to his head and voila, a dictatorship and want for world domination that led to WW2.

Answer 4

The German who said that "war is an extension of politics by other means" is Karl von Clausewitz - a military theorist & the phrase is found in his book "On War".

The Treaty of Versailles was more a punishment than a treaty to right the unstable conditions following the end of WW1.

For example, parts of Germany was ceded to other countries (East Prussia to Poland & Alsace-Lorraine to France). Also monetary reparation & limit on the size of the German armed forces was imposed.

The resulting hardship gave Hitler an opportunity to convince the Germans that he can lead them out of hardship into national glory.

Answer 5

The problem with the treaty was that it was that it was both too harsh and not harsh enough. It was too harsh to allow for a reconciliation between Germany and the Allied powers, but it was not harsh enough to keep the Germans divided and down.

In one respect we can say the treaty was a "cause" of World War Two. This was because the existence of the treaty reflected German defeat. The Germans went to war in 1939 with one objective clearly in mind: to reverse the results of the first war.

From this we can glean the true "cause" of World War Two because it is the same as the "cause" of World War One: German dissatisfaction with the place of Germany in the world order and their resolve to reorder the world by force of arms.

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Those who are critical of "the treaty" should keep in mind that it imposed nothing on Germany that the Germans hadn't imposed on France in 1871, and less than the Germans imposed on the Russians in 1918.

Answer 6

The Treaty of Versailles was exceptionally humiliating for the Germans as they lost much land and was blamed for the war. This led to hatred toward the government who signed the treaty and the rise of nationalism, which led to the support of Hitler, leading to the Second World War.

Answer 7

When the Germans were down they were kicked in the family jewels by the victorious allies and saddled with debt and restrictions and yada. Surprise, surprise!!! When they got up again they set about to avenge that which had been done to them. The treaty of versailles sowed the seeds of world war two; the Germans took great delight in having the french sign their surrender in the same train car at versailles that they had been forced to use when they signed off on world war one.

Answer 8

The treaty may not have been the only cause, but it was a big part of it. Germany was saddled by huge reparations to other countries as well as losing territory to Poland and what's now Lithuania. The huge national debt combined with the worldwide effects of the depression made the situation ripe for a jerk like Hitler to flourish.

So to answer your question, when verbal diplomacy doesn't work, one has to resort to physical actions to acheive your goal. If you don't believe that, why do you think we dropped the atomic bombs on Japan? They were unwilling to surrender peacefully, so we had to force them to surrender by wiping out huge numbers of their people. Take a look at the civil rights movement in this country or the IRA in Ireland. I don't condone violence, but sometimes you have to make a noise to get people's attention.

Answer 9

The question is asking... what about the Treaty of Versailles led to WWII? I would think about what problems the Treaty left unresolved and what the effect of the Treaty was on the losing end (Germany).

Answer 10

The first parts of the question are lead-ins. They really aren't that important.

The question is what about the treaty provoked the conflict.

The Germans were given a lot of things that caused them to resent the other nations. They were given a massive debt to pay off, they were restricted in what military units they could make or have. They lost claim to territory that they desired.