UNIV 3539 Blog

Following the Armistice, the victorious Allies, United States (Woodrow Wilson), Italy (Vittorio Emanuele Orlando), Great Britian, (Lloyd George), and France (Georges Clemenceau) the ?Big Four? met to draw up the agreement. Germany the defeated power was not asked to join in the agreement process. This factor may have been one the reason that the Treaty did not with stand time. Of course, the secret treaties that were engaged between the victorious countries during the war were deemed as harsh by President Wilson and did not withstand reticule either.

Short-term treaties were placed on Germany with the Treaty of Versailles, Austria with the Treaty of Saint-German, Bulgaria with the Treaty of Neuilly, Hungary with the Treaty of Trianon, and Ottman Empire with the Treaty of Sevres. The League of Nations was formed to meet medium to long-term goals for the countries involved. In reality it solved very little of the problems that actually caused the first war. It did cripple the losing countries economically which aided in the cause for WWII.

The terms and sanctions placed on Germany may have actually opened the door for the rise of National Socialism or the Nazi movement. Germany and its uprising leader Hitler basically recused Germany from the Treaty and League of Nations and began to build an army. The people of Germany were bitter because of sanctions placed on Germany and were looking for leadership that would stand up and fight for a better Germany. The leadership that stood up unfortunately was Hitler.

The Treaty of Versailles required Germany to financially repair the countries that they invaded which could have been with money, ships, trains, livestock and other valuable natural resources. The army was disbanded to 10,000 and much land was taken. This lead to further distress on the country that had been torn apart from war also. This is another factor that leads to Hitler?s rise. He dead lettered most of the treaty, which gained the people loyalty. Germany alone lost approximately 13% of it European domain and an entire colonial empire.

The United States Senate would not ratify the Treaty of Versailles and therefore never joined the League of Nations even though President Wilson Fourteen Points was the center of same. The Senate believed that this would cause United States to be dragged into another World War.