Sunday, October 30, 2016
Germany's "Punishment" for WWI
After WWI ended the Big Four decided that Germany would suffer for the costs of the war. This was because they had lost the war and from the French and British perspective they were the cause of the war. America (Woodrow Wilson) was against the idea of punishing any country for the war as it would only cause more tension and Woodrow Wilson was aiming for this war to create a world "safe for Democracy" and a "peace without a victory". The choice to punish Germany for the war in the Treaty of Versailles at the Paris Peace Conference is still a source of resentment among the countries. France and Britain were major advocates for Germany paying reparations and claiming war guilt. Under the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was made to reduce their military force as a security insurance. This was advocated for by France as they did not want to risk being invaded by the nation as they were neighbors. Germany also lost territories as payment for the war. They lost Alsace-Lorraine to France and gave up around 13% of their European territories. Germany also lost all its colonies outside Europe. Besides shrinking in military power and territory, Germany also had to pay reparations of over $33 billion in U.S currency. On top of paying with currency, they had to take the moral weight of the war in the form of war guilt (article 231) and allow the Rhineland (Western Germany) to be occupied by allied forces. What effects of these war punishments or the Treaty of Versailles so we see today in world affairs or other aspects of our lives?
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A lot of the border changes made in the Treaty of Versailles are still present today. World War I broke up the the Ottoman Empire. Wilson's idea of self-determination was not used 100% of the time but many smaller countries came from this idea.
ReplyDeleteWell, the reparations that the Germans paid helped countries such as France pay back the money that they owed the US. However, because the US loaned money to Germany in the Dawes Plan, the Germans owed the US even more money. I don't really see how there could possibly be a "perfect" solution.
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