UNIV 3539 Blog

Geographically, the Peace Conference really only involved three countries, known as "The Big Three". They were the United States, France, & Great Britain. Economically, Great Britain was bankrupt and exhausted and could not be much help. Therefore, it was left to President Wilson and French Prime Minister Clemenceau to sort out. Politically, the new election in the U.S. brought about a change in party, and the country moved from being enthusiastic about the war to wanting to isolate themselves from Europe and stay out of their affairs.
No, the treaty and newly formed League of Nations did not adequately address the issues that brought about the Great War. The League of Nations had good intentions, to preserve peace. However, the treaty humiliated the Germans and may have exacerbated things that almost made World War II inevitable. This, of course, was the complete opposite of what Wilson was trying to do. The United States did not join the Leagu because they felt that these problems were really not a concern of theirs. It was European conflict the League intended to resolve, and the US really did not have the desire to meddle in European affairs. They joined World War I as a last resort, and should another war occur, they would once again attempt to stay out of it. Yes, I believe our participation may have saved the world from World War II. The League failed because it did not have the resources to implement its third sanction - military force. England and France were already beaten and Russia and Germany were prohibited from joining. The US remained the only credible military force at the time. If they had been there to intervene forcefully, they may have been able to stop World War II. The European nations realized that the League could not live up to its threat to impose military might. Hitler knew he could stand up to the them and not be shut down because of their inability to exercise force.

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What were the major results of the Peace Conference?
Geographically-Germany lost 27,500 sq miles of land and its entire colonial empire, Poland was given large parts of the provinces of Posen and West Prussia. The Council for the League of Nations awarded the riches part of Silesia to Poland and a portion of Upper Silesia was given to Czechoslovakia in 1920.

Economically-Austria and Hungary were facing bankruptcy. The League made it possible for both nations to receive loans and the Commissioner were sent to oversee the spending. This helped Austria and Hungary get on the road to recovery. Economic deprivation aced mostly everyone. Germany was required o pay 5 Billion dollars in reparations within two years and an undisclosed amount later.

Politically-The order of Europe changed drastically, The German, Austro-Hungarian and Russian empires ceased to exist, and the Ottoman Empire soon followed them to oblivion. Borders were shifted, ethnic conflicts arose and new nations were created.

The Treaty and the League did not adequately address the issues that brought on the Great War. They had some minor successes, in the area of preserving peace, including settlement of disputes between Finland and Sweden over the mutual border. The League had many failures; such as not having their own arm forces. The League did not have the support form it members as they expected. The leading members put their own interest first. Absent powers like the United States and Russia contributed to their inadequacies.

The United States did not join the League of Nations because the US Senate voted not to join, they retreated to isolationism. The US Senate was afraid that the United States would become involved in another war. The United States never ratified the Treaty of Versailles.

The United States participation would have saved the world from the Second World War because the United States was a much stronger nation, they had a stronger military and its economics were far greater.

The League was unable to prevent the rise of Hitler because Hitler blamed outsiders for causing problems in the nation. He persuaded them to believe that if pure Germans controlled the destiny of Germany, it would return to greatness. Hitler defied the League and annexed Austria.

The League was unable to prevent the rearmament of Germany because Hitler withdrew Germany from the League in protest of disarmament. Hitler announced that Germany?s rearmament had begun and reintroduced conscription. The Western democracies were in a weak position. The German troops re-entered the ?demilitarized? zone of the Rhineland. France and Great Britain were distracted by the Ethiopian crisis and neither country showed any willingness to support sanctions against Germany.

Economically, geographically, and politically, the main provisions of the Treaty of Versailles was to allot all of Germany's former wealth, land, and power to places that the Allies thought were more suitable. All of the Allies received reparations from Germany for the losses sustained by them in the war. Poland as well as Czechoslovakia were given a great deal of Germany's territories to be the guardians over, which subsequently put Germans under a type of Polish or Czech rule for a time. Not only was Germany put under partial rule from countries they usually ruled over, but great empires like the Hapsburg Monarchy and the Romanov Dynasty disappeared and the Ottomans followed soon after. The falling of these empires put Europe into a political frenzy where every type of government began to be rethought and new states emerged from the ashes.

The League attacked the problems of World War I in the simplest way they thought possible. They pointed the finger at Germany and then hit them where it hurt (economically, geographically, and politically). The League felt that if Germany had none of its strengths it would not rise again to rage war on Europe. However, in being so harsh on Germany, the League succeeded in uniting the country against them, creating a vengeful hate for the Allies.

The United States did not join the League because of the disagreements about the provisions it wanted to be added to the Treaty of Versailles and because the Senate was afraid of spending more life, power, and money on yet another war in Europe. However, the withdraw of the United States in the League of Nations added to the problems of the Second World War. While a Second World War brought on by Germany was inevitable because of the spite the country felt about the suppression of their nation and even to some extent their culture, the involvement of the United States would have prevented the War from being so big because it would have joined in the war sooner, bringing in much needed military power to crush Germany before it had a chance to grow as big as it eventually did.

The League could not prevent the rise of Hitler because of the seed that had already been planted to make Germans fear and hate any outside influence. Their country had been gutted and thrown in the dirt by the League of Nations by means of the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler played on those feelings to get most of the country in line with him and withdrew from any control the League had the nation under--thereby, using his rebuilt country (courtesy of the League) to act out against them.

the treaty of versallies changed a lot of territory. Germany lost around a tenth of its total land as well as its over seas colonies. France received Alsace and Lorraine back. Britain was interested in keeping Germany's Military under control. German now had a new government that did want to sign the treaty because it placed most of the blame for the war on Germanys shoulders. over all it would be fair game to say that the treaty did establish sound rules though it was harsh on Germany the united states did not join the league of nations because they were not going to ratify the treaty at all. because they were still discussing the treaty, they were unable to sign up for the league of nations, despite wilson claiming that not joining the league would lead to another war in 20 years. it is very doubtful that America joining the league of nations would have prevented World War II. Germany was already upset at jewish people and with all the anti semantic activity going on in the country it is hard to believe that the nazi party would have been stopped either. the league was unable to prevent the rise of hitler and World War II because they were an external force, when all of the activities that pushed the nazi party and hitler forward were internal. nothing short of war would have been able to change the minds of the german people.

The Peace Conference had some devastating effects economically, geographically, and politically.

Germany was especially effected as a result of the Paris Peace Treaty. Germany and its allies were forced to give up a great portion of their land. This event left many people displaced. France believed that Germanys punishment should be territorial. The French wanted the return of territory that was taken by Germany in 1871.
The economic effecs were great. Germany and its allies were forced to accept full responsibility for the war. Because Germany was forced to pay so much in reparations it led to their economic despair. Because their economy was so weak they were only able to small portion of their reparations. This led to their hyperinflation.

The political effects were far reaching. As a result most empires were dissolved and new nations began to emerge. The U.S. did not want to join the League of Nations because they were not interested in fighting some one else's war. The U.S. was concerned with disarmanemt and ways to keep peace among the nations. The U.S. could not have prevented the Second War. Even though they were strong the war was inevitable. There were too many different emotions that were all on different ends of the spectrum.

The League of Nations was unable to prevent the rise of Hitler because they were weak. No one in the League of Nations really wanted to defend anyone else. This was evident when they allowed the attack on Ethiopia.

What were the major results of the Peace Conference, geographically, economically, and politically?
Germany was particularly dealt with harshly as a result of the Peace Conference. Much of their land had to be forfeited; they were forced to pay the reparations of the war; and they had to claim responsibility for causing the war in the first place. Overall, Germany was largely alienated by the global community and they were given very little sympathy. The forfeited land was handed over to Poland and Czechoslovakia. The reparations were given to the Allied nations. This repayment for the war caused Germany?s poverty level to significantly increase. The demands for reparations were simply too great for the German economy to withstand.

Did the treaty and the resultant League adequately address the issues that brought about the Great War?
The League initially seemed effective in dealing with Germany, but overall, they failed to address all of the complex issue that brought about the Great War.

Why did the United States not join the League? Would our participation have saved the world from the Second World War?
The United States did not join the League for two primary reasons.
1) The American people were highly skeptical about joining because they believed the U.S. would be dragged in to fight another country?s war or conflict.
2) The U.S. Congress did not ratify the Treaty which resulted in a lack of authorization for President Woodrow Wilson to admit the U.S. to the League.
President Wilson worked very hard to sway public opinion. He traveled the nation explaining the benefits of joining, but the American people were never fully convinced.
It?s hard to tell if U.S. participation in the League would have prevented the Second World War. I believe the League would have still lacked the motivation needed in addressing Germany even if the U.S. was a member. It would have taken an extraordinary amount of cooperation, which was significantly lacking, in order for the Second World War to be restrained.

Why was the League unable to prevent the rise of Hitler and the rearmament of Germany?
The League was weak and would not take action when it was most necessary. They simply turned a blind eye to what was happening in Germany (and other parts of the world, for that matter).

There were many things that resulted from the Peace conference at Versailles. Geographically, Germany lost much of its land, and, with the dismantlement of the Austrian-Hungarian empire, new nations such as Yugoslavia, Poland, and Czechoslavakia were formed. Economically, the Germans were ordered to incur the cost of the war and the country's economy suffered from inflation. The British, French, and other countries around Europe faced many years of economic recovery after the devastation of the first World War. Politically, as mentioned previously, the Austrian-Hungarian empire was dismantled, and many new, smaller countries were formed, each with their own form of government. The Germans were now weak politically on the European stage, due to the provisions from the Treaty of Versailles, and they resented this fact very much.

The Treaty of Versailles did address the issues that brought about the war, and would have proved a useful tool if it had been enforced. Also, the creation of the League of Nations was also a good idea in theory, and was created in direct response to the issues that had brought about World War I.

The United States, despite the efforts of President Woodrow Wilson, did not join the League of Nations. This is because the American people were anxious to leave the affairs of Europe behind and were not supportive of the League.

The participation of the U.S. in the League of Nations probably would not have been enough to prevent World War II entirely. However, many aspects about it may have been prevented, and the scale of the war may not have been as great. The U.S. was a force to be reckoned with, especially after its ability to sway the first World War. Many people, such as Hitler, may have seen the League of Nations as a more credible entity having this huge world power as a member of the League. This may have prevented some of his, and others', actions.

The League was unable to prevent the rise of Hitler for one very important reason : they didn't try. The policies that were set forth in the Treaty of Versailles were ignored on a large scale, and, in the end, countries such as Italy and Germany were allowed to do whatever they wanted. Without the enforcement of the Treaty, the actions of Hitler and Mussolini were unanswered and unprosecuted.

The treaty in my opinion was basically set up to punish Germany. The world economy was crippled because of the war. The United States did not join the League because the Senate voted against it. The treay was basically talk because it was not put into effect, but if it had it would have addressed the issues that caused the war. The did not work because Hitler still was able to start a second World War.