Did International Discontinuities That Resulted from the Treaties Ending WW I Lead to WW II - Term Paper Example

Did the international discontinuities that resulted from the treaties ending World War I lead to World War II? Latifa Al-darwish 2nd of December Did the international discontinuities that resulted from the treaties ending World War I lead to World War II? WW I remains one of the largest and most fatal wars in the history of mankind, claiming the lives about sixteen million soldiers and civilians combined (Trachtenberg, 2000). The war pitted the Allied Powers against the Central Powers and was fought primarily in Europe. The initial members of the Allied Powers were France, the British Empire, and Russia, although several other nations joined them in the course of the war. These included Italy, the United States and Japan among others. The original members of the Central Powers, on the other hand, included Germany, Austria-Hungary and Ottoman Empire. Later, they were joined by Bulgaria. There is no a single agreed date on which the war ended. However, many historians point to the signing of the Treaty of Versailles as the beginning of the end of the state of war, even though actual fighting had stopped several months earlier. It was after the treaty was signed that many soldiers that were serving abroad began to return to their countries. Besides the Treaty of Versailles, the ratification of several other peace treaties led to the end of the First World War. The Paris Peace Conference initiated and imposed these treaties (Trachtenberg, 2000). This paper answers the question posed in the title above in the affirmative. In order to justify this position, the Treaty of Versailles and four other treaties will be examined, and an attempt made to illustrate how they led to the Second World War. These other four treaties are the Treaties of Saint-Germain, Trianon, Sèvres and Lausanne. As the Treaty of Versailles was the most important of them all, more space will be devoted to it. Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was signed on the 28th day of June in 1919, precisely five years after Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria was assassinated. Their assassination in Sarajevo had triggered World War I on the 28th day of June in 1914. The Treaty of Versailles brought to an end the state of war that had persisted between Germany and the Allied Powers (Trachtenberg, 2000). Separate treaties dealt with the other Central Powers that were allied to Germany. The armistice ratified on the 11th day of November had ended the actual fighting. However, it took another six months of active negotiations at the Peace Conference of Paris to finalize the treaty. The Secretariat of the League of Nations incorporated the treaty on October 21, 1919 and printed it in the League of Nations Treaty Series. The Treaty of Versailles had many provisions. However, the single most important and most controversial one required Germany and her allies to take responsibility for all the loss and damage suffered in the course of the war. This provision was contained in Article 231 of the treaty. Later, it came to be called the “War Guilt” clause (Trachtenberg, 2000). The treaties that the other members of the Central Powers signed had similar articles. The treaty compelled Germany to disarm, give up many of their territories and pay reparations to a number of countries that had been members of the Allied Powers. In addition, the treaty severely limited the size of German troops. On reparations, while the treaties signed by Germanys allies had similar provisions, the burden of paying reparations fell squarely on the shoulders of Germany (Trachtenberg, 2000). By the end of the conflict, the economies of all Germanys allies had been devastated; only Germany still had a functional economy. In 1921, these reparations were estimated at 132 billion marks. Then, the amount was equivalent to $31.4 billion. In 2014, the amount was roughly equal to $442 billion. At the time, many economists posited that the treaty was too cruel and that the figure was exorbitant and counter-productive (Ritschl, 2012). On their part, contemporary historians judge the reparation amount as lenient (Ritschl, 2012). They argue that the sum was made to appear imposing while, in fact, it was not (Ritschl, 2012). They also argue that the sum had little impact on Germany’s economy (Ritschl, 2012). Overall, they analyze the whole treaty as quite restrained and kind to Germany. Overall, the Germans felt that the treaty dealt them unfairly. Meanwhile, the new nations that had been under German rule saw the treaty as liberating them from the wrongs Germany had committed against them. When Adolf Hitler took over as the Chancellor of Germany in 1933, they defied the Treaty of Versailles (Trachtenberg, 2000). They soon embarked on a massive campaign to rearm Germany. Hitler also declined to honor the reparations requirements of the treaty, labeling them harsh and unjustified. By now, many political scientists started to predict the possibility of a second world war (Trachtenberg, 2000). With Hitler’s ambitious rearmament and remilitarization program, Germany became increasingly aggressive. Meanwhile, the Italians felt betrayed by the British Empire as the latter did not fulfill the promises they had made to lure Italy into joining the Allied Powers in WWI. In October 1936, Germany allied with Italy to form the Rome-Berlin Axis. By so doing, the two powers had set the stage for World War II (Trachtenberg, 2000). Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye The Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye was signed on the 10th day September in 1919 between by the winning Allies of the First World War and the Republic of Austria. The treaty was signed at Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, hence the name of the treaty. The treaty declared the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (Strachan, 2010). Under Article 177, the Austrian side was compelled to take responsibility for bringing about the war alongside the Central Powers. The New Republic of Austria recognized the independence of Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland and the Kingdoms of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. Like Germany, Austria was required to pay vast sums of money to the Allies in war reparations. Article 88 of the treaty demanded that Austria refrains from compromising their independence directly or indirectly (Strachan, 2010). This meant that Austria could not forge political and economic alliances with Germany without the approval of the League of Nations. This provision angered both Austria and Germany. They sought to revenge against the Allies and WW II presented them with the opportunity to do so. Treaty of Trianon The Treaty of Trianon was the peace pact of 1920 that officially ended the war between the Allies and the Kingdom of Hungary, the second of the successor states of Austria-Hungary. Prior to WWI, Austria-Hungary was a superpower in central Europe, a fast developing region and a strong supporter of Germany. Thus, one of the primary motives of the Allies in dissolving Austria-Hungary was to weaken Germany and stop them from acquiring massive influence in the future(Ticktin, 2014). In order to achieve their goal, the Western powers deemed it fit that first Austria, and Hungary should be separated then each surrounded by a ring of states that were friendly to them. To further weaken Austria and Hungary, each state surrounding them was made bigger. Germany rightly interpreted the scheme behind the Treaty of Trianon: it was designed to weaken them by weakening their main supporter, the Empire of Austria-Hungary. Thus, the outbreak of WWII provided Germany with the opportunity to get even with the Allies. Treaty of Sèvres The Treaty of Sèvres was ratified on august 10, 1920. It marked the beginning and the ultimate elimination of the Ottoman Empire(Krieger, 2007). At the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the United States, France and Britain had differed on the fate of the Ottoman Empire, sarcastically referred to as “the sick man of Europe”. However, the common notion was that the sick man of Europe had come to their end. In a twist of events, the Allies agreed that the Ottoman government should be kept in Istanbul. Istanbul remained the seat of the Ottoman Empire, albeit with conditions set by the treaty. The treaty demanded the expulsion of the Empire from Europe. On their part, the United States chose not to involve herself with the division of the Ottoman Empire. The U.S.s only interest was a permanent peace with financial compensation for their expenditure in the war. The Sultan of the Ottoman Empire declined to ratify the treaty as theydeemed it too harsh (Trachtenberg, 2000). Consequently, the less punitive Treaty of Lausanne was signed in 1923. Treaty of Lausanne This was a peace treaty ratified in Lausanne, Switzerland on the 24th day of July in 1923. It formally ended the stalemate that had persisted between Turkey and the Allied Powers. This was the second attempt at peace following the collapse of the Treaty of Sèvres that Turkeyhad rejected. Under the former treaty, Turkey would have lost much of their territory had they signed the treaty. The Treaty of Lausanne defined the borders of the Turkish Republic as it is known today. Turkey surrendered all their claims on the rest of the Ottoman Empire. In return, the Allies recognized the sovereignty of the new Turkey(Krieger, 2007). Later, during WW II, Britain tried unsuccessfully to entice Turkey into the war. Turkey remained suspicious of Britain as the latter had pushed for the complete elimination of the Ottoman Empire from the map of Europe. WWI Treaties and European Politics WW1 treaties had far-reaching effects on and marked a turning point in the politics of Europe (Trachtenberg, 2000). Three major dynasties disappeared from the map of Europe: Hapsburgs in Austria-Hungary, Romanovs in Russia and Hohenzollerns in Germany. New states emerged in central Europe. Some of them, such as Poland and Czechoslovakia contained people of numerous nationalities. The League of Nations was formed to maintain global peace and prevent the Second World War. It failed at their mandate. Several nations such as Russia, Germany, and Italy resorted to military dictatorships in a bid to solve their political problems (Trachtenberg, 2000). In Germany, the dictatorship took the form of Nazism, led by Adolf Hitler. In Italy, it was dubbed Fascism and was led by Benito Mussolini. The League of Nations The League of Nations was formed in January 1920 following the Paris Conference of Peace, the same conference that had been responsible for crafting the treaties discussed in this paper. The primary mandate of the organization was to prevent the Second World War. Ultimately, the organization failed(Eloranda, 2005), for many reasons. Two reasons will suffice for the purposes of this paper. Germans saw the organization as supporting the status quo – the infamous Treaty of Versailles. Secondly, they failed at disarmament. For instance, among other failure, the organization turned a blind eye to major events that led to WW II such as the re-militarization of the Rhineland by Hitler(Eloranda, 2005). Nazism, Fascism and WW II The emergence of Nazism and Fascism in, Germany and Italy respectively, revived feelings of nationalism and a rejection of the post-WWI treaties (Trachtenberg, 2000). The Germans regarded the Treaty of Versailles a stab in the back. Meanwhile, the Italians felt betrayed by Britain after the latter declined to fulfill the promises they had made to Italy to win their support in WWI. The Civil War of Spain started in July 1936. The war pitted the Nationalists against the Spanish Republic. Hitler and Mussolini supported the Nationalists while Russia supported the Spanish Republic. The conflict offered both sides an opportunity to test their new weapons. The Nationalists emerged victorious in early 1939. Meanwhile, Germany and Italy had formed the Rome-Berlin Axis in October 1936 (Trachtenberg, 2000). This was the outfit with which the countries entered WWII against the Allies in early September 1939. Conclusion Towards the end of the WWI, all signs indicated that the Allied Powers would defeat the Central Powers. Aware of their advantaged position, the Allied Powers, under the guise of the so-called Paris Peace Conference, initiated a series of treaties to be signed between the Allies and the defeated Central Powers. On the surface, the Allies presented these treaties as an attempt to secure a permanent peace. However, in reality, the treaties only served to further the selfish interests of the Allies (Trachtenberg, 2000). The Central Powers interpreted them rightly. Consequently, rather than promote a lasting peace, the treaties brewed resentment and suspicion among the Central Powers, thereby setting the stage for WWII. References Eloranda, J. (2005). why did the league of nations fail? Sixth European Historical Economics Society Conference (pp. 1-39). Istanbul: Historical Center of the former Imperial Ottoman Bank. Krieger, D. (2007). Ending the scourge of war. Peace Review, 5(3),353-360. Strachan, H. (2010). The First World War as a global war. First World War Studies, 1(1),3-14. Ticktin, H. (2014). Towards a Political Economy of War in Capitalism, with reference to the First World War. Critique, 42(5),335-351. Trachtenberg, M. (2000). Versailles revisited. Security Studies, 9(3),191-205. 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