Was the treaty of Versailles fair on Germany?

The main reason the treaty of Versailles was created was to demolish Germany
and their superpower within itself so that they could not start another war. Many
people myself included find the treaty of Versailles unfair as it took most of
Germanys valuable belongings and distributed it among the countries that had
helped the triple entente and were forced to admit they started the First World
War. On the other hand people argue that Germany caused a lot of damage
during the war and deserved to be punished.
The military clause was one of the sanctions put on Germany by Britain and its
alliances. It shamed Germany as they had the largest army which was then
restricted to 100,000 armed men, the treaty left Germany vulnerable and open
to attack. An army of 100,000 persons can barely keep order in Germany yet
defend from invading powers. The Germans were proud of their large and
powerful army which the world had once feared. The size of the army was
reduced to almost half of what it was which ruined Germanys superpower status
and left them a target of invasion. The Rhineland which bordered France and
Germany was demilitarised. This gave France a big chance to attack. Some
people think that the military clause was just, as it gave smaller countries the
chance to thrive and not fear any involvement by Germany. Restricting
Germanys arms meant they had a smaller chance of starting off another war.
The war guilt and reparation clauses had a big impact on Germany. I believe that
Europe had declared war and it was not one country s fault as many countries
were involved in the arms race and the y alliance system. That is why I believe
Germany did not start the war by themselves, they should have not taken full
blame of the war. Germanys economy was crumbling into pieces so 6600
million was too much for them and would destroy the country as it needed the
money to rebuild and develop. Others believed that Germany deserved to take
full blame and should pay for the damage they caused.
The last clause was of land. Germany had lost most of its land also all its
colonies/overseas empire was taken away from them and was distributed among
the damaged areas and the countries which were with the Triple entente as a
prize of war. This had a great effect on Germany economically and hit their pride
hard. As Germany was losing land British and French were still improving their
game by taking control of the land lost by Germany and its partners. I think this
is unfair as Britain and France did not work hard for the German land which
Germany put in effort to increase their size. The treaty also disallowed Germany
to form an ally system. On the other hand, some people believe that Germanys
land and overseas empire was taken away as it caused hatred and bad relations
between Britain, France towards Germany and that taking the land would solve
the problem.
How was Germany supposed to pay the reparations as they had lost 12% of their
coalmines and more than half its iron and steel industry? The terms of the treaty
that were unfair outweighed the allegedly fair terms. By having most of it taken
away from them, left them with little confidence and pride. It also meant that
Hadi Al-Naher |

they had no way of seizing land or boosting their economy, and left them with
little protection from other powers. Leaving Germany this weak and vulnerable
cannot be seen as a fair punishment. In addition, Germany was dispossessed of
the ability to negotiate any of the terms of the treaty, and had to take full
responsibility for all the damage caused by the war. Although Germany had been
prosecuted, economy was in pieces and lost most of its land and army, but 20
years later WW2 had begun.

Hadi Al-Naher |