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Germany did not follow the Sussex Pledge that was enacted with The U. S to have a faster end to the war. The U. S also decided to fight against Germany becaus e they wanted to take Samoa, and Manila from The U. S. take trading routes, dominated the sea s with militia, and invaded Belgium. It brought debt, death, and destruction. On June 28th 1 919, a peace treaty was signed by Germany and allied powers that put an end to War World l. The tre aty was created in France by President Woodrow Wilson, George Clemenceau, David Lloyd and V ittorio Emanuele Orlando, also known as ‘The Big Four”.
The treaties terms included Germany t lose land/ colonies, military, and much more. This was important because the the treaty greatly impacted Germany negatively, and later led to complications breakage of the Ottoman Empire, and World War II. Germany had already lost the war, and much more. President Woodrow Wilson did not accomplish his task of keeping Germany protected, and not str ipped of everything. The Treaty Of Versailles was too harsh on Germany. Due to the Treaty of Versailles Germany was very limited in military, and navy.
From having 500,000 men, the Treaty reduced it to a mere 100,000 men. Making Ge rmany weak, and nable to defend itself in the case of emergency or war. Not only did the Trea ty prevent the number of men, it also restricted the type of weapons, and war materials. All excess war materials were given to the Allies. Ammunition was also affected, the Treaty s pecified how many rounds were allowed. Poisonous gas, tanks, airplanes, and submarines were all objectified. Germany no longer dominated the seas, and now was considered powerless.
The Treaty of Versailles victimized Germany making it defenseless as possible, this was too extreme and harsh. In addition, the Treaty of Versailles had Germany lose all African colonies as well as and. Some of the land lost was previously taken by the Germans, and was wa nted back. Alsacel_orraine originally was owned by France, the treaty demanded it back. This was fair, as Germany took it before, after France had lost the FrancoPrussian War. Though, Germany had lost a lot of additional land, that belonged to them.
These included Posen, West Prussia, Silesia, Eupen, Malmedy, and North Schleswig. Not only did Germany lose land, but G ermany was also forbidden to unite with Austria, and the Saar Coalfields were given to France f or fifteen years. The African colonies owned by Germany were lost, and became independent. These colonies are now known as Morocco, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Liberia. As well as losing land, pr esident Woodrow Wilson did not prevent the land from being taken or punishment, t 0 his best ability in the Treaty of Versailles.
The following is from President Woodrow Wilson: No territory must change hands except for the purpose of securing those wh inhabit it a fair chance of life and liberty. No indemnities must be insisted on except those that constitute payment for manifest wrongs done. No readjust ments of power must be made except such as will tend to secure the future peace of he world and the future welfare and happiness of its peoples. Wilson did not keep his word. He did not want to punish the central powers, but that is exactly what had happened.
He tried to prevent this from happening, but not to his b est ability. Territorial adjustments, reparations, armament restrictions, and war guilt wer e all issues the Treaty had troubles settling. Those were all also the punishments that Germa ny had to face. His unrealistic ideas brought shame, disappointment, and disbelief. This was unfa ir, Germany already lost the war, it was too harsh to take additional land, territories and c olonies. Others may think the Treaty of Versailles was fair.
An opposing viewpoint wou ld be that neutral Belgium was the country impacted the most by War World l. The “Schli effen Plan” was a tactic used by Germany to attack and conquer France. By using this plan the y would attack through neutral Belgium to attack the weak, unprotected border of France. It created tension throughout Europe, as well as devastation to Belgium who wanted no part in t he war. Although, it was reckless and devastating to neutral Belgium, it was simply a war tactic. The execution of the plan led to Britain declaring war on Germany, which was fair enough.
The Treaty of Versailles was too extreme in punishment, and Germany had already been pu nished by the Triple Entente by attacking through Germany. As the Treaty of Versailles took as much as possible land, colonies, and money . It also left Germany weak, defenseless, and powerless with little military. Not on ly did President Woodrow Wilson not keep his word, but he left Germany in smithereens. Bec ause of this Germany was impacted greatly. This later led to the future event World War II. The culprit to blame is no one but the Treaty of Versailles. If only it was not so harsh on Ger many, we would not see another World War.