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`A Peace to End All Peace` by David Fromkin

A Peace to end All Peace : The Treaty of Versailles

Recently , historian David Fromkin wrote a book about the Treaty of Versailles , arguing that it was `A Peace to end All Peace ' hence its title . This is so all the Treaty really offered was only an amicable short-term , settlement between the warring powers that placed Germany in a disadvantageous position . Eventually , this resulted to a sentiment of retribution among the Germans , which backed the rise of Hitler and the start of another World War . How was the Treaty of Versailles flawed Below

are several aspects for discussion

First are the military aspects of the treaty . Germany 's army was reduced to 100 ,000 men the army was not allowed tanks . She was not allowed an air force . She was allowed only 6 capital naval ships (Trueman , n .d . However , this happened only in ' a Germany side-stepped ' the rule and signed her soldiers only for a short contract of service (ibid . Once the contract is done , she put the soldiers in reserve , successfully carrying out the term of having no more than 100 ,000 soldiers at any one time , while still having a substantial amount of reserve troops that helped Hitler rise later (ibid . Also , although Germany was not allowed an air force , she trained potential pilots , as well as submariners , abroad (ibid . This did not break the treaty as there were no provisions regarding it in the first place

Second are the financial and territorial aspects of the treaty . Germany was demanded to cede all of its colonies , to pay financial penalties linked to war destruction , and to not unite with Austria all at the same time (Trueman , n .d . The Treaty also provided for the delivery of capital goods and raw materials to the Allies (Sage , 2006 . To the Germans , these terms offered them severe economic restrictions with possibly no chance of rehabilitation . theless , Germany was still the strongest power in Europe economically , so that the unwise thing about Versailles was that it annoyed the Germans yet did not render them too weak to retaliate (Lowe , 1982

Third and most importantly are the political aspects of the treaty Germany was not even included , much more consulted , in its drafting . She was left all alone , with even the membership to the League of Nations banned against her . Most importantly , she was even made to admit full responsibility for starting the war ' - a term explicitly written in Clause 231 of the treaty , the War Guilt Clause (Trueman , n .d . With her admitting full responsibility , she had to pay for reparations , which are well beyond her ability to pay . The Allies literally pushed Germany to the ground when they made her sign a blank cheque for the reparations which the Allies would cash when it suited them (ibid . Again and again , Germany 's opinion was never asked nor even heard of while the treaty was drafted until it was carried out . The most the Allies did was to convince her...

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