| "The Treaty
of Versailles was, perhaps, the biggest factor
in the creation of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy
because it crippled these countries not only economically,
but spiritually as well.” Fascism combats
the whole complex system of democratic ideology,
and disclaims it, whether in its speculative premises
or in its practical application. Fascism denies
that the majority, by the simple fact that it
is a majority, can direct human society; it denies
that numbers alone can govern by means of a periodical
consultation, and it affirms the immutable, beneficial,
and fruitful inequality of mankind, which can
never be permanently leveled through the mere
operation of a mechanical process such as universal.Fascism
was introduced in Italy by Benito Mussolini who
believed in dictating the harsh reforms to keep
strict awareness. In Germany, dictatorship gained
popularity in the form of the National Socialist
German Workers' party, otherwise known as the
Nazis. Headed by an Austrian named Adolf Hitler,
the Nazis manipulated German restlessness with
post–World War I conditions.The Treaty of
Versailles of 1919 is the peace treaty(Peace treaty,
2004) created as a result of the six-month-long
Paris Peace Conference of 1919 (Paris Peace Conference,
2004)which put an official end to World War I.
. The ceremonial signing of the treaty with Germany
occurred June 28, 1919. The treaty was ratified
on January 10, 1920 and required that Germany
and its allies accept responsibility for causing
the war and paying large amounts of compensation.
The treaty was passed, it was assumed that the
conditions in these countries would improve with
time paving way for the betterment but instead
it bought out sourer out bursts from the people.
The Treaty included no condition for the economic
rehabilitation of Europe - nothing to make the
defeated Central Powers into good neighbors, nothing
to alleviate the new States of Europe, nothing
to reclaim Russia, nor did it promote in any way
a compact of economic solidarity amongst the Allies
themselves; no arrangement was reached at Paris
for restoring the disordered finances of France
and Italy, or to adjust the systems of the Old
World and the New.
During the period between the world wars, both
Germany and Italy surrendered to dictatorial rule.
The Military conditions of the Treaty of Versailles
were harsh and were put in action to prevent Germany
from starting another World War. The German army
was to be restricted to 100,000 men, there was
to be no conscription,
The economic problems that the peopel had to face
and German resentment at their imposition, are
cited by some as one of the causes of the end
of the Weimar Republic (Weimar Republic, 2004)
and the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler, (Doron,
1994) which eventually led to the outbreak of
World War II .
The conduct of Germany is almost unexampled in
human history. The terrible responsibility which
lied at her doors could be seen in the fact that
not less than seven million were dead lie buried
in Europe, while more than twenty million others
carried upon them the evidence of wounds and sufferings,
because Germany saw fit to gratify her hunger
for cruelty by resort to war.
It seems to me that the Peace Treaty can be viewed
from two points of view, the moral and the purely
functional. From it appears thoroughly bad, and
it has failed and must continue to fail to reach
any good result, such as all who fought in the
war supposed were to gain. It was hoped to establish
justice, fair-dealing between nations, and the
honest keeping of promises; thought to establish
a good and lasting peace which would, of necessity,
have been established on good will. The Peace
Treaty has done nothing of the kind. The Treaty
includes no provision for the economic rehabilitation
of Europe - nothing to make the defeated Central
Powers into good neighbors, nothing to stabilize
the new States of Europe, nothing to reclaim Russia;
nor does it promote in any way a compact of economic
solidarity amongst the Allies themselves;
In the end, the Treaty of Versailles almost surely
caused World War II. Had it been softer on Germany,
the Weimar Republic would have been stronger and
would not have faced as much economic and social
turmoil. Had the treaty been harsher, Germany
would not have had the power to make war. Even
with a miserably ineffective treaty, World War
II could still have been averted. Under Chamberlain’s
nose, Germany began to remilitarize and was allowed
to annex enormous territories under Hitler in
the 1930’s. Nobody would make even the slightest
move to enforce the clauses of the Treaty of Versailles,
and this was the reason that Hitler’s army
became powerful enough to threaten European peace
once again. The faults in the Treaty of Versailles
were great, but the faults of those who refused
to later enforce it were far greater.
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