Speaker A
[Music] The Treaty of Versailles was one of the most important events of the 20th century, and it had far-reaching consequences. It was largely responsible for the major events which occurred in the rest of the century, including the rise of Hitler and the Nazi Party, World War II, and much of the Cold War which occurred afterwards. The treaty was the result of the First World War. This war wasn't like any other because it involved most of the countries of the world. The destruction caused by the war was unheard of in its size, economic impact, and the number of casualties. It was the first war that featured advanced technology such as submarines, aircraft, radio communication, and poison gas. Manufacturing advances also allowed a great production of weaponry, including new items such as tanks and machine guns. All this resulted in a total of 8,241,000 combat deaths, not to mention there were 25 million people who died from the Spanish Flu immediately after the war. After the United States entered the war on the side of the Allies, the tide was turned against Germany. US President Woodrow Wilson came up with his 14-point plan of how to end the war in a fair way and to ensure a lasting peace afterwards. The German government was willing to end the war and accept a treaty, trusting that it would be on the basis of Wilson's 14-point plan. The war ended. The German military was dismantled, and the four main Allied leaders met at Versailles to determine the final terms of the treaty. But the victorious allies brought their 19th-century prejudices with them. Germany and its allies, such as Austria-Hungary, were excluded from these discussions, and the victorious allies, with the exception of Wilson, were determined to punish Germany. Even the French General Foch said, "This is not peace; it is an armistice for 20 years." Foch's prediction turned out to be exactly true. The treaty was very one-sided in its punishment of Germany. Germany was required to give up large parts of its territory and even part of its population. It lost coal mines and industrial areas, had to dismantle its military, was forced to admit responsibility for the war, and was required to pay large financial reparations of $32 billion, equal to $393 billion in today's money. The German public was shocked, and the German government was unable to oppose or alter the terms of the treaty. If Germany refused to accept the terms, the Allies threatened to invade, and now Germany had no means to fight back. One of the terms said that Germany was to turn over its entire navy. Angry at this, Germany instead sank its remaining ships. The terms were so unpopular in Germany that the leaders who had to sign the Treaty of Versailles were referred to as the November criminals. As a result of this, the German Weimar Republic, which was the government that had assumed power in Germany after the war, lost much support. Instead, the German people increasingly turned to more radical political parties of both the left and right. Gaining popularity were the Communists on the left and a new emerging right-wing party called the Nazi Party and its charismatic leader, World War I veteran Adolf Hitler. The French leader Clemenceau was the most radical of the authors of the Treaty. He was determined not only to punish Germany but to make sure it could never pose a threat to France again. He pushed for the terms which took away territory and population and restricted the rebuilding of Germany's military. Germany's army was limited to 100,000, and it was prohibited from having submarines, mares, tanks, or an air force. British leader David Lloyd George realized the terms were unfair to Germany, but he could not say so publicly because the British people were as determined to punish Germany as the French. George saw the emerging Communist threat from Russia in the East, and he wanted Germany to be strong enough to be able to stop the Communist expansion. Behind the scenes, he tried to be easy on Germany, but publicly he signed the treaty. Italian leader Vittorio Orlando was dismissed as irrelevant and ignored in the negotiations. American President Wilson, though he was admired, was not allowed to implement his fair 14-point plan for peace. The leaders of Versailles agreed to one part of Wilson's plan, which was the formation of the League of Nations. This was an organization which was a forerunner of today's United Nations. Its purpose was to prevent future wars through negotiations and economic sanctions against any nation which engaged in aggression. Ironically, even though the European countries joined the League of Nations, the American Congress refused to approve Wilson's idea, and America did not become a member. Meanwhile, the oppressive terms requiring reparation payments put a severe strain on the German economy. When Germany failed to make reparation payments in 1922, France occupied the Ruhr, which was an important industrial area, causing Germany's economic distress to increase even further. German industries went on strike, contributing to the hyperinflation which destroyed the German mark, creating even more economic distress. On top of this, Germany's colonies were taken away and given to France and England, countries that already had numerous colonies. To add insult to injury, the German public was angry about Section 231 of the treaty, which forced them to admit responsibility for the war. Further economic sanctions against Germany caused some starvation, even of children. Seething under this humiliation and economic hardship, the German public was eager to hear and agree with the dynamic Adolf Hitler. Hitler promised to throw out the Treaty of Versailles. He promised to make Germany great again, to bring back its lost territories and people, to avenge the humiliation of the Allies, and make Germany into a prosperous economic powerhouse. Just as Foch predicted, one step at a time, Germany ignored the terms of the treaty and became economically strong and rearmed. Following the Nazi Party platform, Hitler reunited with Austria and sabotaged the restrictions on Germany's military. At first, submarine crews were trained in other countries. Though it was prohibited, in the air force many pilots were trained, and the 100,000 army was much stronger because they were called reservists. The Allied powers failed to respond to Hitler's violations of the treaty, so after the first violations, Germany ignored them completely. It soon built a powerful air force, numerous advanced submarines, and a large army complete with fast-moving tanks. German technology was among the best in the world and enabled Germany to launch Blitzkrieg, or lightning war. World War I radically changed the culture and political map of Europe, and the Treaty of Versailles cemented these changes. It led to a number of significant developments. Without it, the Nazi Party would probably have never risen to power in Germany. Germany would not have rearmed and sought revenge by attacking other countries. The Soviet Union and communism would not have expanded. World War II would probably not have been fought. We would be living in a much different world today if there had been no World War II, no concentration camps, millions had not died in political murders, and the Cold War between communism and the West had never happened. The Treaty of Versailles didn't only end World War I, but it was a major cause of World War II and thus profoundly changed the world we live in up to the present day.
