World War Ii Essays (5465 words) - Reparations, Treaty Of Versailles

World War Ii INTRODUCTION War is one of the most tragic things in our world today. It is even sadder that usually it comes around at least once in our lifetime. In the 20th century alone we have already had two huge wars. These wars were call the World Wars simply because they involved most of the big countries of the world. Many people have died in these wars, especially the second World War. That is my focus for this essay. The leader of Germany at the time of WW2 and the person who most think started World War II was a man named Adolf Hitler. Although there are many other reasons, he was definitely one of them. Another reason was the Treaty of Versailles. This was the treaty that was signed at the end of World War 1. This treaty outlined the rules that Germany must follow because of their defeat by Britain and France. Many Germans were angered by the treaty, for most of the rules in the treaty were unfair and Germany lost a great amount of wealth. However, One of the cruelest reasons for the war was Hitler's racist hate for Jews. He would actually be the cause of one of the greatest injustices done againest human-kind in the history of the world. As the war progressed many countries became involved in the war. British forces, which consisted of troops both from England and Canada, along with France, originally declared war on Germany. Germany allied themselves with Italy and Japan, known as the Axis powers, hoped to defeat the Allies. As the war progressed though, and more countries allied themselves with the Allied Forces, such as the United States and the Soviet Union, resistance became futile and in August, 1945, the allies had successfully defeated the Nazi armies. TREATY OF VERSAILLES When World War I came to a close in mid-November of 1918, many ideas were circulating in Europe as to what the peace settlement should entail. In Britain, leaders were thinking about how to increase British colonial power. In France, many wanted to permanently punish the Germans, partly in revenge for Germany's aggression in World War I, but also, perhaps for the Franco-Prussian war in 1871. In Germany, citizens were worried about how radical changes after the war could affect their daily lives. All these biases, worries, plans, and ideas came together in Paris on the 28th of June 1919 with the Treaty of Versailles, establishing the post-war peace in Europe. Yet just twenty years later, war would once again break out in Europe. So why were the peace settlements of World War I unable to prevent the outbreak of war twenty years later in World War II? To understand this, one must first have a detailed understanding of the World War I peace settlement at Versailles Germany was also punished in regard to its colonial and imperial power. During the war, Germany had control of many small islands and archipelagos in the South Pacific. The Treaty of Versailles gave these islands to Britain and Japan. In Africa, France gained the Cameroon from Germany and Britain was given German East Africa and German West Africa. All German assets in other colonies were to be immediately dissolved into the current government of those colonies. Finally, Germany's military was to be greatly reduced in size. The Treaty mandated that Germany's standing army could be no larger than 100,000 men. In addition, their Navy was reduced, and according to Article 198, The armed forces of Germany must not include any military or naval air forces. (2) Germany's army was, in effect, useless, and without an air force, the Allies hoped that Germany would be unable ever to wage war. The Treaty of Versailles also charged Germany with the task of paying heavy reparations. The treaty set up a reparations committee that would meet sometime in 1921 to determine reparations for Germany to pay. Until then, Germany would pay $5,000,000,000 due May 1, 1921. The Germans would have to wait to see what reparations they would really pay. Until then, though, they started on the $5,000,000,000, already a very daunting task for the nation. The economic strain put on Germany was probably the single most important factor in increasing