Position:Home>History> The treaty of versaille, the german reaction and who in the big thrre like it?

Actually, in World War I, it was the Big Four: France (Clemenceau), British Empire (Lloyd-George), Italy (Orland), and United States Wilson!. That was in order of most keen on the treaty to least keen!.

Guild - The Germans were furious that they had to agree that the entire war was their fault!.

Everyone knew this wasn't true!. The French were as much if not more so to blame for the war!. Since 1870 when the Germans humiliated them in the Franco-Prussian war, the whole of French society had been united by a desire for revenge!. They said so publicly!. It was no secret!. Every French administration stirred the political and diplomatic stew of Europe so that a country was either with the Germans or the French!. So, when the assassination of the Austro-Hungarian heir occurred in Sarejevo, it was just inevitable that the war would happen!.

Reparations - The treaty saddled them with huge payments to the allies as a penalty!. Huge chunks of their western territory wold be controlled by the French and Belgians to make sure they paid!. They knew the costs were designed not just to help rebuild but to also cripple the German economy to keep them in a subservient role!.

Armed Forces - At the time, the military, specially the army, has a very high place in German culture!. The Germans saw themselves as a warrior race!. Not to mention, they were surrounded by countries that hated them!.

The treaty capped the German army at 100,000 men with no tanks or planes!. This left them virtually defenseless!. also, given the pride of place the Army had in German society, it was humiliating!.

The German Navy, though not as important, was reduced from second to the world to less than a coast guard!. No modern battleships allowed, no aircraft carriers, and no submarines!.

German Territories - Until the end of the war, allied armies were not able to conquer German territory!. It might have been just a matter of time if they held out, but still, to the people, the allies were never able to pierce Germany!. Their cities were undisturbed!. so, they couldn't understand why they were forced to give up land!.

Large tracks of land were given to France, Denmark, Czechoslovakia, and Poland!. also, the borders of Poland at the time (which would change after World War II again) made it land-locked!. To give Poland ocean access, strip of land cut right through Prussia cutting that province in two!.

The Germans also lost all their overseas colonies!. Materially, this was no big loss!. The colonies were not developed enough to produce anything worthwhile, but it was still humiliating!.

League of Nations - The Germans were originally not allowed to join!. They were treated as a pariah nation!.

This embodied there single feeling towards the whole thing!. President Woodrow Wilson had made a very big case about how, if the Germans stopped fighting, peace would be negotiated openly and fairly among the combatants!.

When the German delegates got to the Peace Conference, they were sadly disappointed!. First, the French made them go through all the battlefields and look at the destruction!. Second, they made the delegates walk from the train station to their hotel unguarded so the French townspeople could yell at them and throw things at them!.

When the conference started, there was no negotiation!. The treaty had been written up, and the Germans where told to sign it as is!. As a concession, the Germans were allowed to comment on the treaty, but no changes were made!.

The Treaty itself was mostly the work of the French and the Belgians!. They had suffered the most damage to their countries, and they wanted revenge!.

The British politicians were not as keen on revenge, but they understood that the British public wanted some measure of blood!.

Wilson, for his part, was totally out maneuvered by the other allies!.

The terms of the Treaty itself were designed to humiliate the Germans!.

The great master strategist Sun Tzu, who is read even today, said that you must never humiliate a defeated opponent!. You have to let them have some measure of pride and self-respect!. Otherwise, he just comes back looking for revenge!.

It was true of Germany after World War I!. It's true of Russia after the Cold War!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Guilt- The guilt of the War should rest with Russia and Germany each side backed its allies after the assassination of the Duke !. Each side was guilty because they though it would be a short war and not a World War!. France and England were Guilty of Forcing Germany to accept responsibility for the stars of the War!.

Reparations- The allies(France-and-England making Germany pay for the war and damages was an insult to the Germans for years to come!.

Armed Forces- Germany still had an Undefeated Army in the field!. The Germans soldiers felt that they could still fight!. If it were not for the intervention of the US in the War England and France would have gotten there butts kicked by the Axis Powers!. (Germany was limited to a 100,000 man army after the war)

German Territories- were seized by the Allies and Poland and other countries were formed!. Germany could not enter the Rhineland (this hurt Germany because this area was an Industrial base for Germany)

The League of Nations- started by Pres!. Wilson( the United States never signed the OFFICIAL Document for the League) had no real power behind it!. It was supposed to stop future wars and look what happened in 1939 when the Nazi invaded Poland and WWII started!. Www@QuestionHome@Com

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