![]() “The United States must be neutral in fact as well as in name during these days that are to try men’s souls. Chateau de Versailles.Why did America enter World War I? When WWI began in Europe in 1914, many Americans wanted the United States to stay out of the conflict, supporting President Woodrow Wilson’s policy of strict and impartial neutrality. “The Treaty of Versailles: An Uneasy Peace,” (excerpt from Michael Neiberg, The Treaty of Versailles: A Concise History), August 13, 2017. Department of State: Office of the Historian. The Paris Peace Conference and the Treaty of Versailles. With the onset of the Great Depression after 1929, economic unrest destabilized the already vulnerable Weimar Republic government in Germany, setting the stage for Nazi leader Adolf Hitler’s fateful rise to power in 1933. Radical right-wing political forces-especially the National Socialist Workers’ Party, or the Nazis-would gain support in the 1920s and ‘30s by promising to reverse the humiliation of the Versailles Treaty. In the years following the Treaty of Versailles, many ordinary Germans believed they had been betrayed by the “November Criminals,” those leaders who signed the treaty and formed the post-war government. READ MORE: Germany's World War I Debt Was So Crushing It Took 92 Years to Pay Off November Criminals Other key provisions of the Treaty of Versailles called for the demilitarization and occupation of the Rhineland, limited Germany’s army and navy, forbade it to maintain an air force, and required it to conduct war crimes trials against Kaiser Wilhelm II and other leaders for their aggression. In the end, the European Allies imposed harsh peace terms on Germany, forcing the nation to surrender around 10 percent of its territory and all of its overseas possessions. The other leaders saw Wilson as too naive and idealistic, and his principles were difficult to translate into policy. Wilson opposed Italian territorial demands, as well as previously existing arrangements regarding territory between the other Allies instead, he wanted to create a new world order along the lines of his Fourteen Points. ![]() For his part, Orlando wanted to expand Italy’s influence and shape it into a major power that could hold its own alongside the other great nations. Lloyd George, on the other hand, saw the rebuilding of Germany as a priority in order to reestablish the nation as a strong trading partner for Great Britain. In a speech to Congress in January 1918, Wilson laid out his idealistic vision for the world after World War I, which was at the time sometimes referred to as “the war to end all wars.” WATCH: The Last Day Of World War I on HISTORY Vault The Fourteen Points Economic distress and seething resentment of the treaty within Germany helped fuel the rise of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party, as well as World War II. President Woodrow Wilson had outlined in his famous Fourteen Points in early 1918, the Treaty of Versailles humiliated Germany while failing to resolve the underlying issues that had led to war in the first place. Far from the “peace without victory” that U.S. The Treaty of Versailles held Germany responsible for starting the war and imposed harsh penalties on the Germans, including loss of territory, massive reparations payments and demilitarization. The Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919 at the Palace of Versailles in Paris at the end of World War I, codified peace terms between Germany and the victorious Allies. How Did the Treaty of Versailles Lead to World War II?.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |