In the decades leading up to the Great War, many European nations were struggling with the emotions of nationalism, the competition of imperialism and militarism, and the tensions of the alliance systems that were developing across the continent. The countries involved in the “War to End All Wars” suffered tremendous loss of life and property during the four year struggle. Ironically, it is the harsh and punishing conditions of the very document, The Treaty of Versailles,(that was drawn up to officially end the war) that created the atmosphere for a Second World War to occur. The treaty had many weaknesses such as the war guilt clause, the required demilitarization of Germany, the loss of colonies for Germany, unrealistic reparations amounts for Germany and the overall desire by some allied nations to punish Germany all contributed to an unstable situation in Europe.
The war guilt clause required Germany to accept sole responsibility for the war. In other words, all the lives lost, all the damages, and all the grief that resulted from World War I was Germany’s fault. The Treaty of Versailles states that no countries were responsible for the Great War, except Germany. The document is not true, because the ideas of imperialism, militarism, nationalism, and the Alliance System started the war. The war …show more content…
As David Lloyd George of Great Britain states, the Allied Powers wanted to “Make Germany Pay,”. The Allied powers did make Germany pay by creating clauses in the Treaty of Versailles that were meant to specifically punish Germany. In whole Treaty of Versailles, there are 440 clauses. Of those 440 clauses, 414 of those were meant to punish Germany. These clauses meant to punish Germany include the War-guilt Clause, demilitarization, reparations, loss of colonies, and more. The Treaty of Versailles punished Germany very greatly, creating one of the main causes of World War