“The Treaty of Versailles meant the Second World War was inevitable.

” How far do you agree

with this statement?

The Treaty of Versailles meant another war was inevitable. On June 28, 1919, Germany signed the
Treaty under duress. The Treaty of Versailles was an armistice formed after German’s surrender in
WW1 to stop another destructive war from happening again, however, it’s intended effects reversed as
it triggered a chain of events that created the foundation for WWII.

Firstly, France demanded harsh terms for Germany to comply, causing an economic depression in
Germany, indirectly causing WWII. France by using the treaty managed to completely
de-industrialized Germany. The harsh terms of Transportation limitation, forcing Germany to repay an
unreasonably high amount of reparations and transport goods to France caused sudden financial
drainage. Without money, transportation and resources, high unemployment and famine dawned on
Germany, giving Hitler a chance to remilitarize Germany. Germany’s industrial capacity such as iron,
coal was forced to be shipped to France. Since the treaty took away Germany’s means of transporting
goods, Germany had to pay for the transportation fee. Germany did not have any spare money due to
the reparations of 132 GM imposed by the Treaty. Because of this, Germany was unable to import
enough food due to its lack of transportation causing mass starvation. 10% of the German population
was unemployed (shown in source S). Those with jobs through nepotism or companies that control
more wealth had salaries cut by 8 % on average. The loss of its resources, predominantly coal, iron
put many industries out of business and unable to employ, without merchants, no trade can be
conducted with other countries, those who relied on navigation as a source of income lost their career.
This is relevant because it created social and economic discontent, It delayed the recovery process of
the war-torn country significantly, The wealthy people didn’t have sufficient food, an average family
can’t afford rent payment, food as the prices skyrocketed due to lack of supply. Many Germans
committed suicided after their endurance broke from starvation, lack of money. This shows the
appalling mental health of the Germans. As a result, popular demonstrations broke out to end the
treaty. The bankruptcy, food and job shortages created by the treaty gave Germanys a new focus, It
would fuel the German desire to become strong once again and have revenge. Hitler, a power
war-hungry tyrant took advantage of the dilemma. His ascension started when he promised an end to
the treaty. Source U contrast the GNP in Germany before and after Hitler came to power in 1933.
GNP is the finished domestic products in Germany, after 1933, the source shows a huge increase from
67 to 83, this means there is more income for the country, allowing for more expenses to purchase
munitions. The government increased tax and cutbacks to spending while Hitler’s National Socialist
program delivered, many went to work in factories primarily making munitions and his arrangement
of overseas transport allowed trade with their goods. He stopped transporting goods to France, thus
reviving the starving companies with money and resources. He brought money, food, transportation,
jobs back to Germany after a long absence. The people are convinced that if Hitler is elected, he can
unite German to fight against a common problem, ceasing their suffering.

Secondly, The Treaty of Versailles caused Germans to have political discontent with the government.
They believe that the decision made by the republic government was an intolerable mistake since they
did not doubt the unstoppable might of their army, which led to its eventual replacement by a Nazi
dictatorship. The Nazi government that craved for the continuation of the war. By November 1918,
German troops had yet to be driven fully out of France, barely any troops were under Allied
occupation while kaiser's troops still occupied a substantial part of Belgium. German press used
propaganda to glorify their success, announcing for months that their soldiers were very close to
victory throughout 1918. Then within this glory, the newly created republic was suddenly forced to
sign a treaty as humiliating as the Treaty of Versailles due to the acceptance of the War Guilt Clause
and the denial of the League of Nations, the treaty caused Germany to become an internationally
despised country. It was issued in the worst time for Germany as their people believe their country is
winning and now suddenly subjected to humiliation. Nazi used the best opportunity to introduce
themselves, right when Germans beileve the Weimer republic betrayed them by signing the treaty. In
source T it is evident that Nazi is gradually getting more supporters. In source L2 it shows Hitler
goose-stepping over and mocking the spineless leaders of democracy, showing how democracies are
paving the way for Hitler. The importance of this is to show the zeitgeist in Germany, their armies
were unbeaten in the field only lost because of the republic’s betrayal was spreading in influence. It
also made Germans open to a new form of Government, thinking it would bring glory back to
Germany. Germans at this stage lost faith in the republic, their confidence in their cohesive fighting
force caused them to amount to a continuation of the war just as Nazi intended for them to behave.
This chain of events poisoned the republic as it was formed. As a result, authoritarian political
movements and anti-democratic found sufficient groundswell of support. On June 20, 1919, the
resignation of Chancellor Philipp Scheidemann was inevitable. Hitler who is already popular among
Germans used this opportunity to propose a new government to the parliament, thus forming the Nazi
dictatorship. Hitler harnessed the believe and courage in his people, blaming the communist republic.
When appointed chancellor, he constructed a totalitarian state, pushing his country towards WWII. As
a totalitarian state, the government has become a single party. The German population is stripped of
freedom, subordinated to Hitler’s racial ideas and WWII. Hitler introduced conscription to increase
his army and Luftwaffe to increase airforce and disabled the buffer zone between France and
Germany, all possible due to the rule of a totalitarian government.

Finally, during the treaty meetings, all the countries that sided with the victorious power have
different provisions, because of the poor attempt to include a diversity of proposals, some countries
were outraged by the consequence. WWII would have never happened if it were just Germany alone
because they are too weak to challenge the league of the nation. Hitler made important allies, allies
that agreed to pursue Germany’s cause because of the flaws of the treaty, creating an evenly powerful
side that can rival the league, making WWII possible. In 1915, Italy entered the war on the side of the
Triple Entente. Italy was promised with control over the border of Austria-Hungary stretching from
Trentino through the South Tyrol to Trieste. However, the pack was never fulfilled. The post war
Treaty only granted parts of Tirol and received a fraction of the Balkan territories. In the Versailles
palace, Japan proposed racial equality and was disregarded by Britain, USA without consideration,
Japan being seen as an inferior race felt insulted. The treaty insulted two proud nations allowing for
Germany to have enough arms for WWII. The treaty failed to fully satisfy its promises to Italy and
endorse racial equality for Japan. Japan became obsessed with asserting its undermined power to the
league. As anticipated, militarists took over in Japan, Japanese imperialism and Italy signed the
Tripartite Pact in Berlin on September 27, 1940. With foreign support, Germany invaded Poland
which is marked as the beginning of World War II.

Ultimately, WWII started because of the chain of events ignited by the treaty. The treaty became
responsible for creating discontent among the general masses of Germany and made Germans lose
faith in the newly established republic, giving Hitler a chance to empower himself using Germans
motivation for revenge, it most importantly neglected to give Italy and Japan land that was promised
to them before the WWI. Germans in their wrath demanded large scale rearmament and launched
attacks against Poland alongside the reinforcement from Italy and Japan, resulting in Britain and
France declaring war on Germany once again. Condemning the league to drag more and more
countries into the conflict. Hence, the Treaty of Versailles meant another war was inevitable.