The Versailles Peace Treaty

The Treaty of Versailles was created in 1919 to establish world peace. This Treaty was made to give all nations equal rights and to give them their justice. This treaty was meant to be, and is; fair to all Nations.

Although this may seem harsh on some especially the Germans I believe this Treaty was the best possible solution available at the time. Wilson forced Germany to reduce the size of her army to less than a hundred thousand men. Germany has restrictions on the types of weapons and vehicles in the military force and was made to give up land. Giving Independence to Czechoslovakia, Austria and Poland is completely fair because every nation has their right to independence. Giving France back their provinces of Lorraine and Alsace is also fair because Lorraine and Alsace belong to France and Germany would only be returning what they took. Having restrictions on what Germany can and cannot do in my mind is too harsh on Germany.

From 1939 to 1945 in Germany a huge event known as the holocaust occurred. Millions of Jews were gassed and killed because of racist acts lead by the Germans. Today we all know that every individual is equal but half a century ago the Germans obviously didn’t. As a result of this event, the other European countries established this treaty and confiscated rights from the Germans. I agree that what the Germans did was wrong, but I think that the punishment is too harsh. Punishing someone doesn’t fix what happened. Nothing can bring back the lives of all the dead Jews, and punishing the Germans makes them angrier and more likely to lead another similar event in the future.

I agree that the peace treaty is fair to all the nations even though it’s harsher on some. The League of nations and the Versailles Peace Treaty may not have worked like they were intended to but it was a start to world peace.

Like Woodrow Wilson quoted ‘I am convinced that if this peace is not made on the highest principles of justice, it will be swept away by the peoples of the world in less than a generation.’