The Treaty of Versailles - Case Study Example

The Treaty of Versailles 1991 was the peace Treaty that officially ended the WWI between the Allies and the Germans or the central power. The Treaty required that Germany take full responsibility of the war, and under the terms of articles 231-247, make compensation to certain of the Allies. The Treaty also demanded that Germany lose a certain amount of its territory to the surrounding countries and its ability to make war again was restricted too. The Treaty was drawn up and signed after six months of negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and was a follow up to an armistice signed months ago. The Germany’s foreign minister undersigned it on June 28, 1919; it was then ratified by the League of Nations on January 10, 1920 (Wikipedia)1. The US Senate refused to ratify the Treaty or join the League of Nations. The collapse of the Versailles treaty remains undisputed. A lot of debates and discussions have been held as to what was the initial motive behind it and why was it not ratified by the US. Most deliberations have taken place from particular national perspective. To understand why United States refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles and to join the League of Nations, it is first important to know how the US entered the war. The typical explanation for the First World War was to avenge the assassination of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, the heir to the Habsburg throne, on June 28, 1914 (Freedom Technology)2. President Washington, in his farewell address advised the nation to steer clear of permanent alliance with any portion of the foreign world. While he was against getting involved in the war but there were those who were secretly planning how to enter the war. In 1909 the Committee to Investigate Tax Exempt Foundations of the U.S. House of Representatives was invited to study the minutes of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace as part of the Committee's investigation. They discussed a question for a year and the answer that was derived at was that if the objective is to alter the life of an entire people, there is no means more efficient than war. This led to the decision to involve the US in the war, which alter the life on an entire people. The appointment of Winston Churchill as the First Lord of the Admiralty in England and the appointment of Franklin Delano Roosevelt as Assistant Secretary of the Navy by President Woodrow Wilson were the initial steps taken towards involving the United States in the war. Churchill later concluded that there was a master conspiracy at work in the major events of the world. Roosevelt is also on record that there is a conspiracy at least in the United States and that he was not excepting the Wilson government. The next step to involve the US in the war was to send Lusitania to New York where it was loaded with six million rounds of ammunition to be sold to England and France to aid in their war against Germany. The ocean liner was set to sail to England already at war with Germany. The German government had warned the people in the US through newspaper advertisements that the ship would be sailing through war zone and that it could sink. President Wilson was aware of all such warnings but did nothing to inform the public. The British government connived to get the ocean liner Lusitania to sink with Americans on board. This was done to lure the Americans to enter the war and Winston Churchill probably concocted the plot. While Wilson claimed neutrality of the war, his government was secretly plotting to involve the American people by having the Lusitania sunk. 1201 people lost their lives in this sinking. Robert Lansing, the Assistant Secretary of State, is culture record stating that the public must be educated and gradually drawn to a point where it would be willing to go in to war. Wilson was secretly plotting America’s entry into the war through his major adviser Colonel Edward Mandell House. The real reason emerged on May 27, 1916 when Wilson urged the formation of the League of Nations. His argument was that the world needed such a body to prevent recurrence of similar war. On April 6, 1917, United States declared war ‘to end all wars’. According to Historian Walter Millis, "The Colonel's sole justification for preparing such a batch of blood for his countrymen was his hope of establishing a new world order [a world government] of peace and security...."(Three World Wars)3 The treaty provided for creation of the League of Nations, which was a major goal of the US President Woodrow Wilson. His assumption was that such a body would ensure world peace and such a situation would never recur. The League of Nations would help every country to voice their opinions concerning International affairs.(Rit Nosotro)4 The Big Four, which included Clemenceau of France, Lloyd George of Great Britain, Orlando of Italy and President Wilson of the U.S made most of the decisions. Germany was excluded from this treaty. President Wilson made a series of errors, one of which was to attend the Peace conference with only a weak group of peace commissioners. He chose to negotiate more or less alone. His group included only a single Republican, Henry White, an inconsequential politician (Houghton Mifflin). 5 The President then insisted that the delegates form the constitution of the League of Nations and went back to the US for a month. He returned to discover that the House had compromised on major issues. His high flown idealism was stumped and he was forced to accommodate the hard realities of age old feuds, territorial disputes, and the demands of the victors from Germany (T Hoopes & D Brinkley)6. He then reduced the Council of ten to council of four including himself, which was further reduced to ‘Big three’ as Italy backed out when her demands were not met. He was forced to swallow the demands of the treaty but felt he could by the Covenant of the League of Nations, which was his creation and which he had sold to the political leaders of Europe. Wilson made the creation of the League his crusade and insisted that it should be included in the Treaty of Versailles so that it actually came into existence. League members were obligated by the Covenant's preamble "not to resort to war" and to conduct "open, just and honorable relations" with all other nations. He made the mistake of not laying the political groundwork for Senate approval. He had not taken any Republican of stature in the delegation to Paris for the Treaty and nor did he consult with anyone but himself at Paris. He treated even his own people with suspicion which only provoked further anger and distrust. Wilson brought the treaty back to United States and asked the Senate to ratify it. The Senate remembered the words of George Washington to avoid foreign entanglements. The Republicans had a landslide victory in the mid-term elections in 1918 and gained control over the Senate (Lord Brawl)7. The senate was now divided in three on their opinion on the treaty. The majority comprised the moderate group who would accept the treaty with modifications. The democrats supported the president but comprised of a few people while the irreconcilables believed that the harsh sanction would only lead to more unrest. President Wilson was obviously displeased when the Senate refused to sign the treaty because as Henry Cabot Lodge of the moderate group pointed out, Wilson saw himself as "... a future President of the world." He claimed to have redone the world and seemed to be asking for a rubber stamp. People thought he was arrogant when he refused to explain and merely stated that the European governments had accepted several amendments to the League treaty to accommodate American critics. The war was supposed to give the world a world government and Wilson expected to head this government. He had a sense of incredible power that he would rule the world and achieve which many others had tried and failed. The Americans expressed their displeasure through the Senate, and would not ratify the treaty. The horrors of the world had created an extremely isolationist feeling amongst the Americans (Lord Brawl). Trying to make peace after the First World War was a disturbing and inexplicable experience for the Americans. They could not understand why the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations produced so much contention between their President Woodrow Wilson and his opponents in the Senate. They felt that they should leave the old world alone and thus opposed the league. Senator Lodge took advantage of this and also on the fear that the League of Nations could supersede the US on military matters. This would amount to gross violation of the US Constitution. The Republican candidate Warren G. Harding opposed the League and said that it had been conceived for world super-government (Three World Wars). When Wilson could draw no support from the people, he went on a nation-wide stumping campaign but his physical health forced him to give up his pursuit. The treaty was never ratified and the US never joined the League of Nations. Absolute rigidity on part of President Wilson, the growing differences between Senator Lodge and Wilson, the fears and disappointments of the common people in the US were the reasons why the treaty was never ratified. Another view why the US Senate did not ratify the treaty was the terms laid down were against Germany. Germany had weak allies and it had overcome only with American help. If Germany was left intact it would again be a threat to peace. On the other hand, a weak Germany would could easily become prey to France who wished to establish its own prominence over Europe. In fact France would have been happier had Germany not accepted the terms of the treaty. If France could attack Germany before it recovered and impose its own peace. American assistance would be needed to save Germany. The United States was not prepared to assume fresh responsibilities as the world power (Weimar Republic).8 Under the League of Nations Covenant adopted at Versailles, the council of the League could issue recommendations to states in danger of going to war. If the council failed to agree, the disrupting parties were free to take necessary action. The League also lacked the capacity to enforce decisions. People had become disillusioned, idealism was stumped and people wanted to retreat to the isolationist state. Hence, the leaders, the people, and Senate decided not to ratify the treaty or join the League of Nations. The treaty was signed to end the war but Lord Curzon, the British Foreign Secretary saw through the actual intent and declared that it was merely a truce for twenty years. The terms of the treaty set the base for the Second World War. He had forewarned that the Second World War would start in 1939. The British Economist John Maynard Keynes, a member of the British delegation, too felt that the treaty would bring nothing but misfortune. Two forces upset the Wilsonian world order. The first was the Great Depression, which weakened the resolve of the former allies and resulted in aggressive actions by Germany, Italy, and Japan. War psychosis too had developed in the participating nations since the war lasted so long that it left them weary. Thus, it is evident that the involvement of the Unites States in the war was vested with personal interests of Wilson. The reasons became clear when he expressed dissatisfaction of the terms of the Versailles Treaty as it was harsh against Germany. He expected to redeem to some extent through the League of Nations, which too did not materialize. He made the mistake of not amassing support of the Republicans or giving them due recognition at the Peace Conference. The US did not join the League of Nations because the isolationist in the US senate were afraid that they would be involved in yet another war. The League was proposed by President Wilson in his fourteen points, the Unites States never ratified the Treaty of Versailles and hence never joined the League of Nations. References: Brawl L (1999), Treaty of Versailles, < http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node=Treaty%20of%20Versailles> 24 January 2006 Freedom Technology (2005), What really caused World War I? 25 January 2006 Hoopes T & Brinkley D (1997), The Ghost of Woodrow Wilson, The New York Times on the Web, 24 January 2006 Mifflin H, Versailles treaty and League of Nations, < http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/rcah/html/ah_089200_versaillestr.htm> 24 January 2006 Nosotro R (2004), The United Nations, 24 January 2006 Three World Wars (2005), What really caused World War I? 25 January 2006 Weimar Republic, The Treaty of Versailles, 24 January 2006 Wikipedia (2006), Treaty of Versailles, 24 January 2006 Bibliography Mills W G, Morality and Diplomacy--Impact of World War I, < http://husky1.stmarys.ca/~wmills/course203/12Morality_Diplomacy.html> 24 January 2006 The Treaty of Versailles, < http://web.jjay.cuny.edu/~jobrien/reference/ob18.html> 24 January 2006 Read More