John Maynard Keynes's Criticisms of the Treaty of Versailles - Essay Example

Explain and Evaluate John Maynard Keynes’s Criticisms of the Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles At the end of World War Germany was seen to have lost a war that could have changed the world significantly. The enemies of Germany were angry and they blamed Germany for beginning the war and causing so much damage to their countries. In a quest to revenge, these countries wrote a treaty that declared Germany as being responsible for the war. Many historians believe that the cause of the Second World War was the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty was signed between the countries that won the First World War, the Allies. These countries included Italy, the United States, France and the United Kingdom. The primary aim of the treaty was to come up with suggestions on what to do with the countries that lost the First World War, the Central Powers. The main countries that lost the First World War were Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungary and Germany (ORACLE ThinkQuest 2002). The Allies met with the Central Powers at the Palace of Versailles in France to converse and create peace treaties. The leaders of the Allied countries were the ones to determine the fate of the Central Powers. These leaders were David Lloyd George of the United Kingdom, Woodrow Wilson, the president of the United States of America, Vittorio Orlando of Italy, and Georges Clemenceau of France. The president of the United States felt it was not correct to make secret treaties. He did not like the idea but he felt Germany had to pay for her misgivings. He also felt that Germany had to form a democratic government in order to prevent future occurrences of such wars and rebuild Europe. The consequences of the First World War were immense and the Allies wanted Germany to pay for the damages done. The Treaty of Versailles stated that (a) Germany was solely responsible for the start of the First World War. (b) Germany had to pay for all the losses incurred in other countries. (c)The other countries had the permission to take away Germany’s colonies around the globe, and (d) Germany’s trade was to be reduced, its navy eliminated and its army made small. The Treaty of Versailles led to a number of losses within Germany and outside Germany. Germany lost 16.7 percent of its land, 10 percent of the factories and 12.5 percent of the livestock (ORACLEThinkQuest 2002). In a summary, the Treaty of Versailles had the following five main components: War guilt: Germany was supposed to accept the blame for initiating the First World War. Pay compensation: Also referred to as reparations, Germany was supposed to pay 6.6 billion sterling pounds. Germany’s empire: The treaty also required Germany to surrender all its African colonies. After surrendering the colonies, the Allies took over the colonies. Massive army cuts: Reduction in the number of army to 100,000; the navy was allowed only six battleships and they were restricted not to build any new plane, submarines or tanks. German land given away: A huge chunk of land was lost to the Belgium, France, Poland and Denmark. A section of the Germany mainland was separated (ORACLEThinkQuest 2002). John Maynard Keynes’s Criticisms of the Treaty of Versailles Rivalry schemes of the future policy took centre stage in the signing of the treaty – the Carthaginian Peace of M. Clemenceau and the Fourteen Points of the President. Only one of these schemes was supposed to enforce the treaty. The enemy, the Central Powers, had not surrendered unconditionally but on the terms agreed in the treaty. Majority of the people assume that the Armistice Terms were part of the first contract between the Allied Powers and the Associated Powers and Germany government. The conference was assumed to have started with their hands free but the Armistice Terms would still bind them; these were not the exact happenings. On October 5, 1918, the Fourteen Points of the president were accepted by the German government which then responded by requesting for peace negotiations. The president responded by writing a note to the German government asking them if they understood what entailed by accepting the terms in the Fourteen Points. The president asserted that he would only enter a discussion if they were to discuss the practical application of the agreement. Another condition put was to evacuate the invaded region as a prior condition of the Armistice Terms. On October 12, 1918, the German government accepted the unconditional affirmative. On October 14, 1918, the president having received the affirmative, he communicated further to clarify the points (Keynes 2010, p25). The points include; (a) the details of the Armistice would be left to the United States and Allies military advisers and make sure that the possibilities of Germany resuming hostilities are null, (b) the conversations would continue if only the submarine warfare would cease, (c) the president required guarantees such as government representative characters with what he was dealing with. On October 20, Germany agreed to the first and second points but disagreed on the third pint because German was a sovereign state and it had its own constitution. From then, the president worked on the finer details of the treaty negotiations. These primary negotiations terms were only done by the president and the Governments of Allied Powers were not included in the process. The terms were properly read to the accredited representatives and the reply from these representatives relayed back to the president. The same copy was transmitted to Germany, a reply he had received from the Allied and Associated government. The Allied Governments replied by saying that they would make peace agreements with Germany based on the terms laid by the president on January 8, 1918. Qualifications to be addressed in the negotiations were two; the first qualification was related to the freedom of the overseas – Germany was required to let go of the colonies overseas, and the second qualification was reparation – Germany was required to compensate all the damages to the people of the Allied Nations and to their possessions through aggressive attack by Germany on air, sea and land (Keynes 2010, p26). According to Keynes (2010, p28), the German economy dependent on three factors; (a) overseas commerce which is represented by her colonies, exports, foreign investments, mercantile marine and merchant connections overseas, (b) exploitation of iron and coal industries, (c) tariff and transport system. The first factor was the most vulnerable for Germany. The Treaty aimed at the destruction of all the three factors but specifically the first two factors. A small description of the destructive nature of the Treaty is given. (a) The German government had to cede all her marine mercantile vessels. The cession also included other vessels owned by Germans regardless of the flag flown, all vessels under construction and afloat. Germany was also required to undertake any vessel construction if required so by the Allies. Thus, Germany has little or no overseas possession and chances of recovery are dependent on her efforts. (b) The German government had to cede all of her overseas possessions. The cession includes the humiliation of Germany sovereignty and imposition of unfavourable terms to the Government property (Keynes 2010, p29). (c) Some of the German’s property is at disposal to the French without compensation or payment. Alsace-Lorraine is the core of the German economy. Any liability incurred in the process such as in the form of public debts, it remains to be the liability of German. (d) The expropriation or the making of private property outside the country a public utility renders other property unnecessary and undermines the international law on expropriation. Those involved in the expropriation of the Germany property do so without considering compensation. In the treaty, the Allies had hoped to settle private debts due through other nationals and the balance that remained was to be settled by cash. The Treaty allowed easy liquidation and retention of the Germany property within the Allied jurisdiction and the resultant effect, all German property worldwide could be expropriated. The provision was to make sure that Germany had no property anywhere within its jurisdiction and the Allied jurisdictions. The next provision aimed at eliminating all German’s interests in her territory, her former allies, and her neighbours. The article requires that German government expropriate her nationals and deliver them to the Reparation Commission. These nationals are China, Austria, Russia, Turkey, Bulgaria and Hungary. The provision limits the influence of Germany and property within her allies is confiscated making it more difficult for her to make any future livelihood, enterprise, technical skill or expend her energy. Germany is also required to pay 5million dollars as a compensation fee for damages done to the Allied governments. The overall effect of these provisions is to take away everything Germany possesses outside her territories as described in the Treaty. The provisions give the Allies more power to take away everything she has at will (Keynes 2010, p33). Another important section of the German economy that was touched by the treaty is the coal and iron industry. Coal and iron were important for the growth of domestic economy as well as the overseas economy. Almost a third of the German population lived in these coal and iron industries towns. The population was very important for the growth of the iron and coal industry. France’s target of the area was not mistaken, but the situation was to be salvaged by the technical impossibilities and extreme immoderations of the treaty (Keynes 2010, p34). These are some of the key points highlighted by Keynes in his critical evaluation and criticism of the Treaty of Versailles. Some of the provisions in the Treaty according to Keynes were not of any real importance. Instead they represented the conclusion of Germany’s outlawry and the economic subjection of the Allies meant to suit them (Keynes 2010, p33). Keynes critically evaluates the contents of the treaty and gives a comprehensive statement of some of the loopholes within the treaty. It is imperative to note that the treaty put the whole blame on Germany as the initiator of the First World War. Germany may not be initiator of the war; there are some suggestions that the war broke out when a Serbian resident shot an Austrian national. Most Germans believe that they were made scapegoats thus forcing them to take the blame for the whole war. The terms of the treaty were full of revenge and fulfilment of national desires. The main aim of the treaty was to punish Germany for her misgiving during the First World War. Germany had much of the control overseas and territories surrounding her. The treaty terms were to reduce her political and economic influence around the world. This was the only option for the Allies nation. By getting all of her resources, they could have manipulated her easily for their own gain. Germany was economically well and she had massed a lot of wealth both locally and overseas. There were enough ports and trading points for the Allies to impose their influence, but this was only through the creation of a treaty. The compensation Germany was to pay was way beyond her capabilities. She had been deprived of her economic status, thus, making the compensation payment difficult. Imposing such provisions in the treaty made it even more difficult for her to ever recover from the state she was in. It is imperative to also note that the terms of the treaties were imposed by the president, the Fourteen Points. The terms were solely written by him and the Allied governments only pushed the agenda ahead. This shows how the treaty was biased towards one side. It was not a peace treaty but a mechanism to gainfully exploit others. Many historians believe that the Treaty of Versailles triggered the Second World War. This is because of the kind of terms and provisions included in it. The treaty provoked Germany and her allies. Thus the treaty may not have served its initial purpose but brought a number of things that affected both the Allies and Central Powers. References Keynes, J. M. (2010) The economic consequences of the peace. Los Angeles, CA: IndoEuropean Publishing. ORACLEThinkQuest (2002) Treaty of Versailles [online], ORACLEThinkQuest. Available from: [Accessed 24 January 2011]. Read More