Versailles and the Second World War
How Did the Treaty of Versailles Affect the Origins of the WWII?
Aug 27, 2009
The Legacy of the Treaty of Versailles
The Legacy of the Treaty of Versailles is tangible, the idea of the 'betrayal by jews' was one of Hitler's fondest ramblings in the 'political' monologue of Mein Kampf. Hitler was allowed to inch his way into areas of Europe through reclaiming land that Versailles forbade him. Was the Treaty dooming Europe into another war, upon the signing of a treaty, one French officer was heard to remark that they had simply postponed war for twenty years. A frighteningly accurate premonition. What was it about Versailles that stung so much? The following are the major effects of the treaty:
- Land - Germany lost a lot of economically important land.
- Armed Forces - Germany was limited to an army of 100,000 men, a 1/3 of their previous navy, and no airforce whatsoever.
- Reparations - Germany was ordered to pay £4.9bn (originally £11bn, reduced 1920)
- Guilt - article 231 of the Treaty lay the 'sole responsibility of the war upon Germany' - essentially Germany had the blood of millions on their hands.
Land Lost by the Germans After WW1
Germany lost Alsace and Lorraine to France, important agricultural and coal-producing land, they lost their entire overseas empire (of little economic gain, but it was the status symbol of a 'powerful' and 'civilised' Western power). The Saarland was given to the League of Nations for fifteen years, upon which point a vote would be within the Saarland to determine its nationality (they voted German). Small areas were lost to Poland, Denmark, and other countries.
Land was of important value to Hitler, his dreams of invading Russia were based mainly on the vision of using the vast Russian steppe for his nation of pure Germans, expanding ever outwards. He needed and desired land, but much of the land lost in Versailles was regained prewar, the Rhineland, the Saarland, the Sudetenland and eventually Czechoslovakia were all within Nazi Germany's control before war was declared.
Armed Forces Allowed by Versailles
This area of the Treaty was practically a farce when it came to Hitler, whilst Weimar Germany had the decency to rearm slowly and in secret, Hitler accelerated the process as soon as he came to power, in 1935, at the Nuremberg rally, he announced the existance of the Luftwaffe, with no mention to the restrictions which denied him this. Hitler was a soldier, and saw military weakness in the same light as actual weakness. The army, however, was primarily a means to an end, although it served to bolster the nations moral and pride, it was primarily there to fight, and being denied an army is hardly inspiration to fight another war.
German Reparation Payments
Reparations crippled Germany, leading to hyperinflation and the inability to stabilise an economy, the Wall Street crash meant the Germans defaulted on all their loans from America, and chaos ensued. This was the driving force behind war, it led to the destabilisation of the Weimar government, and allowed extremist attitudes to creep into the people, it also allowed Hitler's economic plan to appear to be working (a plan based on deficit financing, an ingenious solution, however completely short term, the way Hitler structured his government meant that the fast acquisition of more and more land was necessary to keep things running), which necessitated war.
German War Guilt
Article 231 stated that the entire cause of the First World War was laid entirely at Germany's door, a harrowing idea, to be the nation that cost millions of lives, and frankly quite (though not completely) untrue. Whilst it would not be felt economically, militarily, or in any other sense, it would have a profound psychological impact upon the nation, especially when appearing within the diplomatic community, and should not be underestimated.
Whilst no one cause can be pinpointed to state 'this caused the war', the entire concept of the Treaty of Versailles can. It smacked of 19th century score-settling, and was designed purely to cripple Germany out of another war, whilst in fact, it doomed Europe into this very thing.
Sources:
M. Clemenceau and the Versailles Peace Treaty, by M. Jean Martet Journal of the Royal Institute of International Affairs © 1930
