Rejection+of+the+Treaty

__THE REJECTION OF THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES__


__**A Brief History of the Treaty**__ The Treaty of Versailles ended World War I in 1919. It was a declaration between Woodrow Wilson of the United States, Georges Clemenceau of France, David Lloyd George of Britain, and Vittorio Orlando of Italy, which sought the end of war between the Allies and Germany (http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/). The Treaty was created with the aims of the Allies in mind. It was a great compromise between the conflicting wishes of the Allies. However, it ignored the instability of Germany and blamed the nation for causing the entire war. It demanded that Germany surrender such things as vast portions of land, including Alsace-Lorraine to France, Northern Schleswig to Denmark, The Hultschin Area to Czechoslovakia, and the Saarland to the League of Nations. The Treaty also imposed costs for reparations at around 230 billion Reichsmarks (about 250 trillion US dollars c. 2008) (http://www.history.ucsb.edu/and http://www.infoplease.com/). Lastly, the Treaty set restrictions on Conscription and Weapons Manufacture in Germany. The Anti-Germany treaty was displayed to the German Representatives without considering their opinions on the matter. They were merely told to sign and forced to accept the impositions.

__**The Reaction of Germany**__ As the German Foreign Minister, Brockdorff-Rantzau, stated: //“I have the honor to transmit herewith the observations of the German Delegation on the Draft of the Treaty of Peace. We had come to Versailles in the expectation of receiving a proposal of peace on the basis actually agreed upon. . . We hope to get the Peace of Right which has been promised us. We were aghast when, in reading (the treaty), we learned what demands Might Triumphant has raised against us. The deeper we penetrated into the spirit of this Treaty, the more we became convinced of its impracticability. The demands raised go beyond the power of the German Nation,” (http://web.jjay.cuny.edu/)//

Without the Militaristic vitality to overcome the power of the Allies, Germany was forced to take their counter-attack gradually and subtly. Indeed, the largest violations towards the Treaty of Versailles were committed by Adolf Hitler in the 1930s. Most notably, Hitler revived the armed forces in Germany and reinstated conscription. His other actions included reoccupying the Rhine and Sudentenland (it must be noted that Britain, France, and Italy condoned this action), annexing Austria (Austria and Germany were not allowed to join as one by the terms of the treaty), and taking the rest of Czechoslovakia. Hitler's final violation occurred on September 1, 1939 when he marched his troops into Poland, kicking off World War II.

__**The Reaction of the United States**__ Germany was not the only country to harbor uncertain feelings about the Treaty. In the United States, Woodrow Wilson, sought "peace without victory" while one of his opponents, Henry Cabbot Lodge, sought an unconditional German surrender. Part of the reason Wilson was against the Treaty was because in his eyes, the unfairness would cause an imbalance in the world powers, and as he proclaimed in his appeal for support of the League of Nations, "I can predict with absolute certainty that within another generation there will be another world war if the nations of the world do not concert the method by which to prevent it." (http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/ww40.htm). Due to the conflict of interest, Lodge and his committee added numerous "reservations" to the Treaty and presented it to the Senate in hopes of getting it accepted. Wilson was still against the treaty, however, and thus the Senate, on November 19, 1919, for the first time in American history, rejected a peace treaty (http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/A_Bitter_Rejection.htm), and the United States did not join the League of Nations.

The German War reparations were lowered to 132 billion Reichsmarks. The Germans started World War II.
 * __Impact of the Rejection__**