Treaty of Versailles and the USA

When the Treaty of Versailles was signed, ending World War One, no one seemed very happy with it. Germans considered it a national humiliation, and the United States Senate refused to ratify it. British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, who had helped write it said, "We shall have to fight another war again in 25 years time"¹

But just what were the terms of the Treaty of Versailles? Why did it cause such controversy? Let's trace the impact of the war on the treaty, examine the leaders who helped craft the treaty, look at the treaty's terms, and finally consider if Lloyd George was right with his assertion of the role of the Treaty of Versailles leading into WW2.

Treaty of Versailles Definition

The Treaty of Versailles was the treaty that formally ended hostilities between the Allied Powers and Germany at the end of World War.

Treaty of Versailles Date

The Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, exactly 5 years to the day that Austria-Hungary's archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, an important cause of World War One.

Fig 1 - Photograph of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in the Hall of Mirrors.

Impact on the Treaty of Versailles of WW1

Before the Second World War, World War One was often simply called "The Great War" or sometimes "The War to End All Wars." That is because it had caused destruction and loss of life on a scale like no war before it.

Treaty of Versailles Purpose

The main purpose of the Treaty of Versailles was to end the war and establish peace in Europe. However, another main purpose of the Treaty of Versailles was to punish Germany.

The "Big Three" and the Treaty of Versailles's Purpose

The leaders of the United States, France, and Great Britain, Woodrow Wilson, Georges Clemenceau, and David Lloyd George, were the main crafters of the Treaty of Versailles and were often referred to as "the Big Three."

Wilson arrived at the treaty negotiations in Paris as the idealist. His main goal was the creation of a League of Nations and enshrinement of a set of goals known as the 14 Points. He was concerned punishing Germany too harshly would lead to future conflict.

Clemenceau came to the Paris Peace Conference representing the Allied nation that had been most affected. France had also been defeated by Germany in an earlier war in 1871, and Clemenceau came determined to exact revenge and cripple Germany so that it could never threaten France again.

Lloyd George occupied a middle ground between Wilson and Clemenceau. British public opinion wanted to see Germany punished, but, like Wilson, he was also concerned about too harsh a punishment laying the seeds of future conflict.

Fig 3 - The peacemakers meeting.

Treaty of Versailles Terms

In the end, the Treaty of Versailles's terms was a hodgepodge of the Big Three's goals.

The most important terms of the Treaty of Versailles were blame for the war and reparations, German loss of land, German disarmament, and the creation of the League of Nations.

Main Terms of the Treaty of Versailles on Germany

The table below summarizes the Treaty of Versailles's terms that dealt with Germany:

Fig 4 - Map showing German territorial losses from the Treaty of Versailles.

Creation of the League of Nations

The League of Nations had been championed by Wilson. It was created as an international body that sought to prevent wars by solving problems through diplomacy, negotiation, and, if need be, economic sanctions or collective military action.

The League of Nations had some successes solving disputes in the 1920s, but failed to stop Japanese, Italian, and German aggression in the 1930s, leading up to World War Two.

The US Senate Rejects the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations

The US Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles, never ratifying it and requiring the signing of a separate peace treaty between the United States and Germany.

The main point of contention had to do with US entry into the League of Nations. Many Republican Senators favored a foreign policy of isolationism, and they feared joining the league would force the United States to get involved in conflicts that did not involve its own interests.

How Harsh was the Treaty of Versailles Against Germany?

It was not only in the United States that the Treaty of Versailles's terms were controversial.

The treaty was hated in Germany. Germans referred to it as a diktat, or dictated peace, and considered it a national humiliation. The reparations and military restrictions were seen as crippling the country.

Orthodox vs Revisionist Views of the Treaty of Versailles

Shortly after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, economist John Maynard Keynes published a harsh critique of it. Keynes's view defined the orthodox view of the treaty: that it was harsh and established conditions that would lead to further conflict and failed to solve the problems Europe faced. This view only became more commonly held after World War Two.

However, a revisionist view of the treaty argues its consequences were not as harsh as Germans and Keynes contended. This view points to the fact that German industrial output actually reached and then exceeded prewar levels in the 1920s as evidence that the treaty did not actually cripple it. Revisionist historians contend it was the Great Depression, Hitler's aggressive policies, and the failure of the League of Nations that should be blamed for World War Two, and that the a Second World War was not an inevitable outcome of the Treaty of Versailles.

Treaty of Versailles and WW2

Whether you agree more with the orthodox or revisionist view, it's impossible to deny that the Treaty of Versailles and WW2 are inextricably linked.

When Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933, he did so in part by rallying public opinion against the treaty, blaming it for Germany's problems. Reclaiming the land lost under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and rebuilding Germany's military were important parts of Hitler's foreign policy, and he used the perceived harshness of the treaty to justify his actions.

While it's debatable to what extent the Treaty of Versailles should be seen as a cause of World War Two, it's clear that Hitler found a receptive audience to complaints about it in the German population. He capitalized on resentment over the treaty to get public support.

1. David Lloyd George, as quoted by BBC in "Paris Peace Treaties and the League of Nations, to 1933, " Bitesize History.

2. John Maynard Keynes, The Economic Consequences of the Peace, 1919.

3. Margaret MacMillan, Paris 1919: Six Months that Changed the World, 2003.

4. Adolf Hitler, Speech to the Reichstag, May 17, 1933.

5. Brendan Hodge, "World War I Reparations Weren't as Unfair as You Think," The Federalist, July 29, 2014.