Homework Essay

Jacob Brown
Mr. Singer
History
(DATE)

Many people wonder what happened in World war two and why it happened. Before world war two was world war one and all it’s gory glory. World war one showed everybody that the countries do have the balls to fight and can. World war one was very unethical and really had no reason to be. I think world war one was just to show balls off to other countries. So I see world war one as a training battle or a warm up for world war two. World war one ended with the Treaty of Versailles, a very important document that had much to do with the start of World war two. So not only was world war one a lesson but it opened a door to an even more devious war. From the Treaty of Versailles and the rising power of Hitler to pearl harbor and Hiroshima, world war two was far beyond the body count of world war one. In my essay I will tell you all about World war two as this essay will answer main questions relative.
The end of WWI, WWI had over 40 million casualties and started in 1914. The war was a very bloody battle with no real reason. It began with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand from the Austro-Hungarian throne by the Black Hand from the Austro-Hungarian throne. The war was propagated by two major alliances. The Entente Powers (France, the United Kingdom, Russia) and the Central Powers (Germany and Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria). The war was ended by several treaties, most notably the Treaty of Versailles, signed on June 28th, 1918, though the Allied powers had a truce with Germany in place since 11 November 1918. After the war, the League of Nations was created as an international organization designed to avoid future wars by giving nations a means of solving their differences diplomatically but later would fall apart. World War one ended in 1918 with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.
The Treaty of Versailles, Created to establish the Paris Peace and end world war one, was signed in Versailles Palace, France. This may have been one of the greatest mistakes of war history. Again, the treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28th, 1918 and was put into motion on November 11th, 1918. The war needed to end and the only way to do so was to blame one country for the war so that they could pay the price to all other countries. Germany happened to be the lucky country. So France, Great Britain, US, and Italy (AKA the big four), created the treaty which blamed Germany for the whole war. What the Treaty of Versailles enclosed was, a war guilt clause, reparations (Germany is assigned fines to certain countries), the total sum due was over 4 billion Euros, 30 billion US currency (This would later lead to inflation). The Versailles reparation impositions were partly a reply to the reparations placed upon France by Germany through the 1871 Treaty of Frankfurt signed after the Franco-Prussian War, disarmament and territorial restrictions (Germany lost 13 percent of their national territory, All of its overseas colonies [including Kamerun, German East Africa, German Southwest Africa, Togoland and German New Guinea], 12.5% of its population, 16% of its coalfields, and 48% of its iron and steel industry.).
France’s wants from the Treaty of Versailles, wanting revenge on Germany for the 1.5 million military personnel and 400,000 (estimated) civilians dead, France deliberately meant to cripple Germany militarily, politically, and economically by using the Treaty of Versailles. So French Prime Minister, Georges Clemenceau suggested the disarmament. Clemenceau’s intentions were to not only weaken Germany’s army for the time being, but permanently weakened so as never to be able to invade France again. He also wanted to protect secret treaties and entail naval blockades around Germany so France can control trade from Germany. Clemenceau was the most radical member of the Big Four, and received the nickname "Le Tigre". Clemenceau also wanted reparations from Germany to rebuild the war-torn country. Urban building casualties were 750,000 houses and 23,000 factories ending up being destroyed. France commanded reparations for the damage.
The United States’ wants from the Treaty of Versailles, unlike France, took a more appeasing view towards the issue of German reparations. American leaders wanted to be sure of 100% success of future trading opportunities and collect on European debt. Woodrow Wilson, did not want any more secret diplomacy, e.g. secret alliances, treaties etc. He also demanded that Germany should have a reduction in armament, which meant that their army would be reduced to a smaller size to make another war completely out of the question. And unlike the other continents, He also wanted other nations to do the same, limiting the risk of war further.
Great Britain’s wants from the Treaty of Versailles, supported reparations but not as much as Clemenceau and France. Lloyd George was aware that if the demands made by France were carried out, France could become the most powerful force on the continent, and a delicate balance could be unsettled. Like the French, Lloyd George also supported naval blockades and secret treaties. The British public wanted to punish Germany in a similar fashion to the French for its apparent sole responsibility for the outbreak of the war. Lloyd George managed to increase the overall reparations payment and Britain's share by demanding compensation for the huge number of orphans, widows, and men left unable to work through injury, due to the war. George was aware of the potential trouble Germany could produce and he felt that a less harsh treaty should be assigned to preserve peace. To defend British interests by preserving Britain's naval supremacy that had been threatened by Germany in the run up to the war, maintaining Britain's empire. Britain’s wants were, to reduce Germany's future military power and to obtain reparations, to avoid an embittered Germany that would seek revenge and threaten peace in the long term future, and to help Germany economically to become a strong trading partner with Britain.
What the treaty of Versailles later did to Germany, Three big things happened to Germany because of the Treaty of Versailles, a domino effect onto every other county in the world, thus creating world war two, the great crash and Hitler’s uprising as a Dictator. Germany was much unprepared and not ready for this kind of treaty work. Germany was very furious about the treaty. The treaty had already set up Germany for revenge and that sparked World War II.
First of all, By 1930 Germany was in economic chaos. Germany’s anger and the plagues that the Treaty of Versailles created, imposed a door to Adolph Hitler and his National socialist Party to capture Germany. Germany was in a world of hurt and very desperate for a new dictator thus opening that door for Hitler and his party gaining power. Hitler basically refused to abide by any rules of the treaty and rebuilt the armies. Eventually WWII followed. What Germany didn’t know was the fact that Hitler was insane and wanted to try to kill all the Jews and create a superior race. This is ironically funny because Hitler was Jewish himself.
Second of all, Germany’s reparation fines from the document threw them into a great depression or in the books, A Great Crash. Some payments were to be in kind (i.e., coal, steel, ships) and German government resistance made it difficult for the Allies to collect amounts due them. Germany was already having lots of financial issues and the reparations that were placed by the treaty didn’t help. The Dawes Plan from 1924 (Germany had been lagging in payment, and the Dawes Plan provided that the Ruhr area be evacuated by Allied occupation troops, that reparation payment should begin at 1 billion marks for the first year and should rise over a period of four years to 2.5 billion marks per year.) and the Young Plan from 1929 (which set the total reparations at $26,350,000,000 to be paid over a period of 58 1/2 years.) and the allies later adopted, sought to ease the strain of reparations payments. But not even the money owed to Germany could pay for The Treaty of Versailles reparation on Germany. Adolph Hitler repudiated the debt, and German payments were not resumed until after 1953.
Hitler, Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician who led the National Socialist German Workers Party. He was born April 20th 1889 and he died April 30th 1945. Hitler pursued a foreign policy with the goal of seizing Lebensraum. He was also an artist. No one really liked his art. Not even I did. During the final days of the war in 1945, as Berlin was being invaded and destroyed by the Red Army, Hitler married Eva Braun. Less than 24 hours later, the two committed suicide in the Fuhrerbunker. Hitler was very unstable.