Figure 1.--This was a Realistic Travel Publishers stereo view card. The caption read, "Guzarding sacred Ypres where Btritish heroism shown splendent during the darkest hours of the war." Here we can see the enormous damage from the war. Scenes like this were common in both Belgium and nothern France. As it was Germany which launched the War by invading Brlgium and France, but was relatively untouched, was it rally unreasonable that Germany should help finance the cost of reconstruction and repair.

The modern discussion of the Versailles Treaty commonly focuses on the alleged harsh treatment of Germany. The German provisions, however, were only one part of the Treaty. And an important point in evaluating the Treaty is the enormity of the changes resulting from the War that Germany launched. Any criticism of Versailles has to take in account how likely it is that any treaty could have solved the problems that were created by the War. Think of it. The Austrian-Hungarian Empire was gone. The Ottoman Empire was gone. The Tsar and the Tsarist Empire was gone and replaced with a brutal totalitarian regime determined to destroy the democratic states of Western Europe and America. A whole generation was destroyed and the physical damage beyond belief. People were starving. And one if the worst pandemics in history had struck both the devastated people of Europe and America. It also has to be stressed that the Treaty was not intended as the end and final product to reorder Europe. Rather, it was only meant to be the beginning of a process. That process was to be worked out through arbitration and negotiation facilitated by the League of Nations. Here the refusal of the United States to join the League and the rise of Bolshevism in Russia would make any felicitous outcome of this effort unlikely. Now as to The Germans. Many historians see it at the first step toward World War II. Not only did it create immense ill-will in Germany, but it severely damaged the credit-ability of the new Weimar Republic at its very birth. Many Germans felt that their country had been humiliated and they came to blame the Weimar politicians that accepted the treaty. Had their been a more benevolent peace based on Wilson's 14 Points the Weimar Republic might have mustered the strength to successfully fight the post-War economic and social turmoil. This is, however, conjecture. One of the principal concerns of Germans were the territorial concessions and most of these were based upon the right to national self determination which was part of the 14 Points. It is not really the case that Versailles was unbelievably harsh. The Versailles Treaty was not as onerous as the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918) which the Germans imposed on the Russians. Or the Romanian Treaty (1918). And it was the Germans that placed heavy reparations on France (1871). Germany was not occupied to any significant extent, only a short-term occupation of the Rhineland. And it was Germany hat launched the War. Belgium did not invade Germany. And many countries experience enormous damage, including Belgium and France. It is really just that the countries invaded should shoulder the enormous cost of recovery alone. And Germany which launched he war and was largely untouched should not contribute to the cost of rebuilding and repairing the destruction they caused. It is true that Versailles was not a a magnanimous treaty of reconciliation. The problem with Versailles was that it was a compromise. It was harsh enough that it alienated the Germans. It was, however, not harsh enough to convince the Germans that their desire to dominate Europe was going to invite disaster--basically if you do not want your home burned down, don't set the world on fire. Choosing the middle road at Versailles basically guaranteed a second chapter to the World War I tragedy.

Created: 8:57 AM 9/5/2024
Last updated: 8:57 AM 9/5/2024