Post by k***@cix.compulink.co.ukThe actual treaty was not that bad compared with the treaties that
ended the Franco-Prussian war Brest-Livoc and others. Wilson's 14 points
complicated things and resulted in the break of the AH Empire but did
not impact on Germany except as raised expectations of better terms.
A lot of people have bought into the idea that the Versailles Treaty
was unduly harsh, but I have to agree that the treaty forced on France
to end the Franco-Prussian war was quite severe, as was the Brest Livosk
Treaty that Germany forced on Russia.
Post by k***@cix.compulink.co.ukThe main problem and the IMHO reason WW2 started was that the
Versailles terms were only enforceable if either Germany cooperated or
Britain and France were prepared to take military action. Another
problem was that German propaganda about unfair terms was starting to be
effective on the international political scene by the 1930s.
I think that it can be reasonably argued that Wilson has a
disproportionately high influence on the treaty. The US had been willing
to sit out the war and let the European powers duke out until it was
finally dragged into the conflict after it had been going on three
years. It took a while to recruit, train, equip and transport troops to
Europe. While their battlefield performance was not terrific, they did
provide a great boost to morale and tipped the balance against the Germans.
Having had a great deal of input into the treaty, the US never ratified
it. When the Germans started to violate the terms of the treaty,
Britain and France were not in a position to do much about it. Both were
in financial trouble due to the cost of the war and the Great
Depression. They had lost a generation of men in the trenches of France
and Belgium. There was no will to start another major war, and with the
Americans isolationism, they knew they could count on help from the US.
They could not expect the US to help them to enforce the terms of a
treaty that they US had refused to ratify.
Post by k***@cix.compulink.co.ukEven so while German rearmament was probably inevitable, the Weimar
government had started trying to get round the military clauses in the
early 20s, war was not. The rise of someone like Hitler was not a given.
I think that we can not blame WW2 on Versailles.
It is quite possible that had it not been for those terms, it would have
been something else. We were dealing with a very arrogant nation.
Consider the events that led to WWI. Austria wanted to grab territory in
the former Ottoman Empire but was afraid of Russian intervention. They
got Germany to agree to look after Russia, and because Russia and France
had a mutual defence treaty, they ordered France not to honour it. When
France refused, Germany tried a bold move. They figured they could
invade France through neutral Belgium, defeat the French in a few weeks.
They thought they would have enough time to do that before Russia was
able to mobilize, and after France fell they could send their armies east.
We saw the same arrogance in WWII. The took a little here, a little
there, a little more. When they realized they were getting way with it,
they went for Poland, making a mutual non-aggression agreement with the
Soviets to allow them to take Poland. After pushing Allied forces out
of France they thought the Allies would sit back while they broke the
von Ribbentrop Molotov agreement and invaded Russia.
One thing that has to be taken into account is the German habit of
signing truces and treaties and honouring them only at their
convenience. The had the Brest-Livosk Treaty with the Russians and then
repudiated it, forcing Russia to cede even more territory. They signed
Versailles but then annexed Austria. They took the Sudetenland and then
the rest of Czechoslovakia. They signed the Munich Agreement and then
invaded Poland. They had the von Ribbentrop -Molotov non aggression
treaty and, when it suited them, broke that and invaded Russia.
Post by k***@cix.compulink.co.ukBy the way historically european wars had been happening at roughly
thirty year intervals. The longest gap I can remember prior to WW2 was
between the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the Prusso-Danish war.
One of the great tragedies of WWI was the attacks made on the morning of
Nov. 11, 1919. Everyone knew that a truce had been signed and would
take effect at 11 am on the 11th. The lines had been set in the treaty.
There was nothing to be gained from advancing a few hundreds or a few
miles. The Allied commanders had figured that German had to be defeated
decisively, that they should have been chased all the way back to
Germany and be forced to surrender on home turf. Otherwise Germany
nationalism would re-emerge and they would have to fight them again.