The Treaty of Versailles was harsh and sowed the seeds for the Second World War. In this context, briefly describe the following: (a) The grievances of Germany against the Treaty. (b) The motives of the USA, Britain and France in imposing the Treaty of Versailles on Germany (c) The Policy of appeasement adopted by Britain and France. The dissatisfaction of Italy
Answers
Explanation:
(a) The Treaty of Versailles, by which the First World War came to an end, created more problems than it solved.
The treaty demanded annexation of German territories and creation of many States.
This sowed the seeds of bitterness and conflict.
All the German colonies were forcibly taken away from her and she was divided into two parts for the benefit of Poland.
She was burdened with huge war indemnity which she could never pay.
Her military power was reduced.
This humiliation gave rise to the spirit of revenge and Germany started looking for an opportunity to do away with the harsh treaty.
But this was not possible without an aggressive policy and armaments.
Hence, the war became inevitable.
(b) Both Great Britain and France had suffered tremendous casualties during the war and faced serious economic problems because of the war's costs.
The two countries' leaders wanted to see Germany pay reparations for the cost of the war and accept the blame for causing the war.
The War Guilt clause of the treaty explicitly and directly blamed Germany for the outbreak of hostilities.
The treaty forced Germany to disarm, to make territorial concessions, and to pay a huge war indemnity.
France was the only Allied power to share a border with Germany, and therefore suffered the bulk of the devastation and casualties from the German war machine.
The French aimed to weaken Germany to the greatest extent possible.
(c) Appeasement meant accepting the hostile demands of an aggressive nation to gain peace.
Britain and France followed the policy of appeasement towards dictatorial countries like Germany and Italy because they felt that the dictators had a real cause of grievance due to the humiliating terms of the Treaty of Versailles and if their grievances were removed they would not disturb world peace.
Further, they wanted to check the rising tide of Communism and Russian Bolshevism.
Britain and France feared that Germany would divert towards Russian Bolshevism.
They, therefore, allowed Germany to rearm and to re-militarise the Rhineland and capture Austria and Czechoslovakia.
So without the Western countries' policy of appeasement, Fascism or Nazism could not have survived so long and would not have been able to unleash the Second World War.
Italy joined the Allies in the First World War to gain territories of Turkey and Germany. But she could get no part of the German and Turkish colonial empire. So, she felt dissatisfied
Answer:
The War Guilt clause of the treaty explicitly and directly blamed Germany for the outbreak of hostilities. The treaty forced Germany to disarm, to make territorial concessions, and to pay a huge war indemnity. ... The French aimed to weaken Germany to the greatest extent possible.