Treaty of Versailles: A Troubled Treaty?
The Treaty of Versailles was considered a “Troubled Treaty”, because it had initially caused more trouble than it was intended to prevent. The purpose of the Treaty of Versailles was to end the long, four year conflict between the Allies and Central Powers, a devastating event known as World War One. Though the Treaty had managed to temporarily keep the peace between nations, it wasn’t signed by all the participants from the war, and had thrown Germany into economic chaos. First, Germany alone was to blame for the First World War. This enormous responsibility left Germany in a crippling debt of three million dollars. The overwhelming reparation fees caused Germany to revert to desperate measures, leading to hyperinflation in the mid twenties. In fact, they were so desperate, the German government started printing money. Unfortunately, this made the value of their currency drop to the point that money was a children’s toy, it was of so little value. Secondly, Germany’s crushed national pride had it’s people looking for a sense of leadership and stability. Their desperation lead the German people to allow leaders like Hitler and Mussolini to take advantage of them, resulting in the creation of Hitler’s National-Socialist Party, otherwise known as the Nazis. This party would later be responsible for the genocide of the Jewish population throughout Germany. Lastly, when Germany was declared accountable for the war, it was written in the Treaty of Versailles that they would have a quota for machinery they could produce, and had their majority of weapons and ammunition confiscated and/or destroyed. Though this was thought to be a good idea, because it would later keep Germany’s military under control, it actually caused them to upgrade their weaponry, and reform their forces, making them more of a threat. Overall, the Treaty of Versailles had earned the name, “a Troubled Treaty” despite its intentions to keep the peace between nations. It instead resulted in a crippling