Case Study 2 : Versailles : The Allies’ “Last Horrible Triumph”

The Treaty Of Versailles was a document that listed various conditions that were agreed upon by the countries involved in World War I to cease fighting. The treaty was great news for the allied powers but, many believe it was too skewed in their favor leaving Germany with less than what they had prior to the war. Germany felt like they got the short end of the stick in the treaty and on October 19th 1919, the german delegation at the paris peace conference detailed their issues with the treaty and is what some people say started World War II. Germany’s economy took a huge hit when the Treaty Of Versailles was signed. One of the biggest complaints the german delegation had was the reparations germany was expected to pay out after the treaty is signed. The issue for them was there was no set amount agreed upon at the time of the signing. It would be decided after the fact and the deciders would be the enemies of Germany during the war. After the treaty was signed while the commissions was deciding on germany’s final reparation amount, they were required to hand over 5 billion dollars which with inflation would be close to 7 billion today. It is not an amount that can be just handed over, it hurt Germany’s finances and the economy would be the next victim as money was being taken out of the system. No money being spent means no money being made so the economy was in ruin. The german delegates argue that the league of nations did not treat them with the respect that was given to the rest of countries involved. They argued that they should have been treated as equals to everyone, as that was the principle that the league of nations was founded upon. As it says in the document, “How often Germany has been given the promise that this League of Nations would unite the belligerents, conquerors as well