The major cause of World War II: Treaty of Versailles

Treaty of Versailles can be defined as one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I and it was signed on 28 June 19191. The treaty was signed at the vast Versailles Palace between Germany and the Allies. The delegates of the Allies worried about the future of Europe and the treaty can allowed themselves to become preoccupied with worries about borders, power, and major aim is weaken Germany. The stipulations of the Treaty of Versailles specifically aimed to making Germany as weak as possible. The term treaty can be divided into three sections which are territorial, military and economy. The first term of this treaty is territorial. In this treaties some of German territory has been took away from them and distributed it to other countries or the territory was used to form new countries. Examples of land taken away from Germany are Alsace-Lorraine given to France, Eupen and Malmedy given to Belgium, Northern Schleswig given to Denmark, Hultschin (given to Czechoslovakia) and West Prussia, Posen and Upper Silesia given to Poland. While the Saar, Danzig and Memel are put under the control of the League of Nations. The second section of the treaty is military. The treaty reduce and smaller the number of Germany army and forbade the import of war materials into Germany. Treaty put a restriction on Germanys military which is Germanys army was reduced to 100,000 men and a navy of fifteen thousand2. Based on the treaty, Germany wasnt allowed an air force, armored cars, tanks, heavy guns and submarines. The west of the Rhineland was made into a demilitarized zone (DMZ) which no German soldier or weapon was allowed into this zone.
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.org/wiki/Treaty of Versailles Margaret Macmillan, Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World (New York: Random House, http://en.wikipedia Inc., 2001) 176

The third section of the treaty is economy. The Treaty of Versailles gives a large effect and destroys German economy. Before war, the German economy had been dependent on three things which are overseas commerce and trade, iron and coal, transport and tariff system3. The effect on the German economy can be seen by loss of Germanys overseas colonies, mercantile marine, and transport goods to other nations. Without sufficient means of transportation Germany couldnt export as many goods. With the combine of financial penalties linked to reparations, it seemed clear that the Allies wanted to bankrupt them. The loss of Alsace Lorraine to France meant the loss of ore-fields for Germany which contained seventy-five percent of Germanys iron-ore. In general, Germany had to admit full responsibility for starting the war and damage cause in First World War based on Treaty of Versailles. Therefore, Germany had to pay reparations that were eventually put at 6,600 million which is a huge sum of money and beyond Germanys ability to pay.

Adolf Hitler reaction to the Treaty of Versailles

The steps that Hitler took that actually started World War II were all attempts to reverse what the Treaty of Versailles had created. The Treaty of Versailles destroy Germanys necessary trade, taking away resources of industry, causing inflation and unemployment.in the Treaties, the German people been separated by taking German territory. Hitler was working to fix all of these problems when he took the actions that began World War II. Furthermore, he wanted to make Germany powerful economic, military, and geographically. He also wanted to unite the German people.
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John Maynard Keynes, The Economic Consequences of Peace (New York: Penguin Books, 1995) 56