Treaty The German Government example essay topic

development of political and military alliances caused tension and hostility among nations leading up to World War I. Two major alliance systems developed due to conflicting national interests, which had been evident during the past two decades throughout Europe. These were the "Triple Alliance" of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy and the "Triple Entente" of Britain, France and Russia. Also several smaller countries became indirectly involved in the alliances, which effectively divided Europe into two "Armed Camps". The events that lead up to the July crisis were imperial rivalry, arms race, alliances and the Balkan wars.

But why did Germany lost the war? Why was Germany weak? After all, its armies had won on the eastern front and were winning on the western front and had very good military machinery like submarines. But Germany was experiencing severe famine, most of the people were starving and the politicians were worried. In 1918 Germany also lost the support of Bulgaria, Austro-Hungary and Turkey.

This made the situation worse for the Germans; not only were its people discontented; they had lost all support from the "Central Powers". It could be argued that due to their fears and defeat of the other "Central Powers" they initiated armistice talks in October 1918 with the Allies. But when America joined the war in 1917 they brought with them what both sides desperately needed; munitions, morale, fresh men, technology, food and new leadership. Although many of the victories against the Axis powers were not credited to America, they took a considerable amount of the strain away from the allies on the western front. Therefore the Allies could spare forces for new offensives against the Axis powers; they also provided the supplies for these offensives to take place.

The Americans played their most vital role in the summer of 1918 when the German offensive threw the British and French forces back. Working with French and British soldiers they halted the final German offensive and then aided the Allied counter attack. Most notably on 12th September they defeated a particularly strong German salient at Saint-Mihiel capturing 14,000 men. When World War I ended on November 11, 1918, peace talks went on for Months due to the Allied leaders (France) wanting to punish the enemy and "Dividing the spoils of war". A formal agreement to end the war was made and called the treaty of Versailles. The issue that took the most time was the territorial aspect because the empires of Russia, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman, and Germany had collapsed.

These fallen empires had to be divided up and America's President Woodrow Wilson, Georges Clemenceau of France, Vittorio Orlando of Italy, and David Lloyd George of Great Britain. The Treaty of Versailles was either a treaty of peace or a vengeance for the Germans. The Treaty of Versailles was enacted into history in June 1919 with Germany forced to accept sole responsibility for causing World War I, Guilt clause, article 231. Since then there has been considerable debate concerning the war but even today historians still cannot fully agree upon the causes. Some support has been given to the theory that Germany was totally responsible for the war, Fisher for example, in 1961 states that war in 1914 was not a "tragedy of miscalculations" but was brought about deliberately by German leaders for two main reasons: Germany wanted to fight an expansionist war aimed at establish Germany as a world power both economically and politically and also wanted to ease the tension on international political affairs.

However substantial evidence does not support that view. Therefore the insistence by the victorious powers to include in the Treaty that Germany accepts total blame cannot be justified. When Germany surrendered and changed its government, it expected a negotiated peace rather than the harsh terms of the Versailles treaty of 1919. The allies were determined to receive reparations for their losses and to see that Germany was never in a position to harm them again.

Germany lost the Alsace-Lorraine to France and lost West Prussia to Poland. It also lost all its colonies and had to give up most of its coal, trains, and merchant ships, as well as its navy. Germany had to limit its army and submit to Allied occupation of Rhineland for 15 years. Worst of all, the Germans had to accept full responsibility for causing the war and, consequently pay its total cost. The Germans did not consider themselves anymore guilty than anyone else and could not possibly pay all of the costs demanded.

The Versailles treaty seemed fair to the Allies point of view, but it did not ensure a lasting peace. By accepting the treaty the German Government gained a bad name among its people. The war reparations put an enormous strain on a country already bankrupted by four years of war. The economic situation made matters worse because the German government could not pay off reparation requirements, so France invaded Ruhr in 1923 to take over coalmines. The government encouraged the workers to resist passively, printing large amounts of currency to pay them. The result was an "inflation that wiped out savings, pensions, insurance, and other forms of fixed income, creating a revolution that destroyed the most stable elements of Germany".

Aided by the Dawes plan of 1924, which set reasonable amounts of reparations and provided for foreign loans, the brilliant German Minister Gustav Stresemann reorganized the monetary system and encouraged industry. But Germany was no the only country who lost with the war. The Austria-Hungary Empire collapsed, the treaty which concern this Germany allied was the treaty of Saint-Germain, a peace treaty between the Allied powers and Austria after World War I, signed at Saint-Germain-en-Lake, France, on September 10, 1919. The treaty required Austria, the only remaining part of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, to recognize the sovereignty of Hungary; to cede territories to Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania, and Italy; and to accept regulations protecting ethnic minorities within the new Austrian borders. The military clauses allowed Austria a volunteer force of 30,000 men, but the Austro-Hungarian navy was destroyed or distributed among the Allies. Financial reparations for war damages were called for, but money was never paid.

"Article 88, which forbade any compromise of Austrian independence, were designed to prevent any future union with Germany". This article was responsible for the Austro-German tensions of the 1930's, and it was discarded by Adolf Hitler, who annexed Austria in 1938. For the Hungarian case, the peace treaty of Trianon was signed between Hungary and the Allies at the Grand Trianon Palace, Versailles, France, on June 4, 1920. The treaty, the acceptance of which had been delayed for some time by revolution in Hungary, included terms similar to those of the Treaty of Saint Germain between the Allies and Austria, except for specific territorial adjustments. In accordance with the treaty Hungary lost about two-thirds of its territory and half of its population through the loosed territory given to countries such as Czechoslovakia, Romania, Yugoslavia and to Austria; and of small sections of territory to Italy and Poland. The Hungarian army was limited.

The treaty also provided that "livestock was to be furnished" by Hungary for devastated countries and that "Yugoslavia was to receive, without cost, annual allotments of coal from Hungary for five years". Financial reparations were to be made. The Hungarians resented the treaty, which was the cause of many subsequent disputes. The treaty of Neuilly was signed at Neuilly, France, on November 27, 1919, for the defeated Bulgaria. By its terms, Bulgaria ceded small portions of territory to Yugoslavia, whose independence it thus recognized, and gave up its part of Thrace to Greece, thus sacrificing the Bulgarian seaboard on the Aegean Sea.

Dobro gea (Dobruja) was restored to Romania by the terms of the treaty. And for the last German allied, the treaty of Sevres, between Turkey and the Allied powers, excluding the USSR and the United States. The agreement was signed on August 10, 1920, at Sevres, France. It dissolved the Ottoman Empire and limited Turkey to the city of Constantinople and surrounding territory and to part of Asia Minor, or Anatolia. But the Powers had also lost. European countries channeled all of their resources into total war, which resulted in enormous social change.

The result of working together for a common goal seemed to be unifying European societies; Death knocked down all barriers between people. "All belligerents had enacted some form of a selective service, which leveled classes in many ways". But wartime scarcities made luxury an impossibility and unfavorable. By the end of war 8.5 million people were dead, the double were wounded, famine were threatening may regions. International tensions had not ended.

Britain declared not support to France in any aspect against Germany (except if Germany attacked first). Each country was looking for own benefits. But this was not United States case. They rejected the Treaty of Versailles and stayed away from the Leagues of the Nations. However, European countries borrowed heavily from the United States during the war.

Thus, they could never stay isolated from the outside world. For example, the Dawes Plan helped Germany recover from inflation by letting them borrow two hundred million to rebuild on. Charles Dawes, an American banker and statesmen headed it. The United States became an important source of income for all the countries.

The Isolation issue never came successful since problems occurred across the world. United States expanded their business across the globe. They expanded their overseas operations to Latin America. Many countries depended on United States' goods too. The world economy was based on the United States. "They were like a balanced house of cards.

If the United States fell, the whole world would collapse with it". Because of all of the above, it can be clearly seen that although the "great War" had ended and the supposed Guilty country wad been punished, every European country lost something, whether it was land, money, population, reputation or power. For common benefit, a reconsideration of attitude between countries had to be made in order to gain, whether it was money by letting the market flow again, or international support.

Bibliography

web web web web web Al bertini, Luigi. The Origins of the War of 1914, II.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1953 Tierney, Brian, Kagan, Donald and Williams, L.
Pearce. The Outbreak of World War I-Who Was Responsible? New York: McGraw-Hill Co., 1977.
World War I", Microsoft (R) Encarta. Copyright (c) 1993 Microsoft Corporation.
Copyright (c) 1993 Funk & Wagnall's Corporation.