How Did The Treaty Of Versailles Dbq

Was the Treaty of Versailles the ultimate reason for the events that followed WWII? World War I was an important international conflict between many powerful countries, mostly in the Northeast hemisphere, between 1914 and 1918. After World War I, Allied world leaders came together for peace negotiations to discuss the aftermath of the war; from these discussions emerged the Treaty of Versailles. France and Britain were enraged with the losses they had suffered and demanded justice, so they chose Germany as a scapegoat. Germany struggled under the Treaty of Versailles, the effects of World War I, and the Great Depression. Many historians have argued that the Treaty of Versailles was the fundamental moment that caused World War II because of …show more content…
France and Britain needed a scapegoat to direct their anger, and Germany, along with other central powers, were struck with most of the consequences. After months of peace negotiations, the world leaders created a document called the Treaty of Versailles, which “carved new countries out of the former Austro-Hungarian empire”. However, the harshest terms of the treaty were reserved for Germany (Source 1). The Treaty of Versailles executed punishment to the central powers of Europe like the separation of countries from the US policy, but Germany had been enforced with the harsh penalization of all of them. Germany’s punishment included the “military (being) effectively disarmed and reduced to a defensive skeleton force.lost 10 percent of its territory.(and) Allied forces would occupy German territory” (Source 1). Germany would also lose their territory in the Alsace-Lorraine region along with their colonies, and the Allied forces would remain in the west of the Rhine for 15 years. …show more content…
It gives them something to unify against at a time when Germany is badly divided on what should replace the Kaiser’s regime” (Source 1). The instability in Germany led to the most ideal circumstances for the Nazi party to arise, in turn causing the devastating World War II. Additionally, historians debate the impact of the Great Depression compared to the Treaty of Versailles. The Great Depression was a global economic crash which left millions in poverty including” (t)he German people, jobless, desperate, lost faith in democracy and found refuge in fascist creeds that blamed Jewish conspirators for Germany’s problems and promised a return to greatness under a purified, Aryan state”(Source 2). The U.S. was loaning money to Germany, but the funds were retracted because of the stock market crash. It forced the German people to rely on the fascist ideology of the Nazi party, and needed a scapegoat to blame their problems onto. Germany was struggling to pay off the Treaty of Versailles reparations, and was overcome with even more financial ruin from the Great Depression. Neiburg states even if” the Great Depression doesn’t happen, and Europeans find ways well short of fascism and bolshevism and work out the rest of the 20th century.the Great Depression that unhinges all of this ”(Source 2).

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