TREATY OF VERSAILLES AND EUROPEAN HISTORY (1919-1939)
This research paper summarizes and analyzes the impact of the Treaty of Versailles of 1919 on European history during the interwar period. The territorial, financial and security framework and arrangements created by and under the Treaty of Versailles ultimately (by the late 1930s) failed to keep the peace in Europe. The tenuous equilibrium among the principal European powers prior to 1914 broke down and was shattered by World War I and its aftermath. The terms of the Treaty of Versailles and the manner it was imposed on Germany contributed to the continuing instability of Central and Eastern Europe and to revanchist sentiment in Germany. At the same time, the incomplete, inconsistent and later pusillanimous efforts of the Western Allies to enforce the Treaty undermined its effectiveness. However, many other factors, especially political instability, economic decline and the dynamic resurgence of Germany military power under Adolf Hitler were more fundamental causes of the outbreak of World War II in Europe.
The Treaty of Versailles was executed on June 28, 1919 by the Allied Powers, the United States (an Associated Power) and Germany. It came into effect on January 10, 1920. The central decision making body of the Paris Peace Conference was the Council of Four consisting of Prime Minister Lloyd George of Great Britain, Premier Georges Clemenceau of France, American President Woodrow Wilson and Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando of Italy. The Treaty of Versailles was followed by separate treaties with what was left of the former Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires.
Treaty Terms: Motivations and Consequences
Peace Terms. Kagan and Kagan said the Treaty "deprived Germany of territory, imposed limitations on its armed forces, and subjected it to economic penalties" (141). The most important territorial provisions were the return of Alsace Lorraine to France, the strippi...