Changes

The guns fell silent on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918. Over four years of incredible destruction came to a silent end. For the belligerent Central and Allied Powers, the armistice brought uncertainty. The Kaiser had just been overthrown, and a new alliance of Liberals and Socialists announced a democratic regime at Weimar, Germany. The other Central Powers had collapsed in disarray and revolution. Russia, out of the war in early 1918 , was in the midst of a deepening Civil War. Many of the Allies were exhausted and drained. The delegates that crafted the treaty that ended the First World War believed that they had brought lasting peace to Europe. President Wilson felt that the war had made much of the world safe for democracy to spread. However, conflicting goals, the harsh terms of the treaty and Germany’s response to those terms would lead to the most destructive conflict in world history - World War Two.

This idea of revanchism had consumed generations of French policy , and a clear opportunity finally presented itself. France demanded terms that would have completely de-industrialized and demilitarized Germany. The French floated proposals that included breaking up Germany proper and creating a client state in the industrial Rhineland. France demanded harsh reparations for the damage done to its country and Belgium during the conflict. Ultimately, Germany was forced to pay $31 billion in reparations under the treaty. <ref>Roekmeke, Feldman, and Glaser, Editors. <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0521621321/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0521621321&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=23707e21c609bf040f6ea201065827fb The Treaty of Versailles: A Reassessment after 75 Years]</i>, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Page 90.</ref>

Each of the powers represented at the treaty conference came out with some disappointments. The British goal of stability was largely subverted by revolutions across Europe and France's demand for increasing to increase Germany's punishment for Germany. Italy did not receive territory promised in secret deliberations during the war. The largest shortfalls appeared for France and the United States.

President Wilson's lofty goals of internationalism fell asunder in the postwar reality. The emerging League of Nations lacked the teeth needed to prevent an aggressive power from emerging and destroying the fragile peace. Rather than creating a series of independent democracies across Eastern Europe and the Middle East, conflict raged for years, leading to opportunities for Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia. Furthermore, the United States never signed the Treaty of Versailles and joined the League. The U.S. Senate never ratified the Treaty, destroying Wilson's grand vision. <ref>Graebner, Norman and Bennett, Edward. <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1107647487/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1107647487&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=c74d9defaf3a45523aa17dfc019a9d1c The Versailles Treaty and Its Legacy: The Failure of the Wilsonian Vision]</i>, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2011. Pages 86-87)</ref>

However, it was France that had the most significant impact. France's constant desire for revenge alienated its allies and sparked radical political movements in Germany. The French understood that Germany was utterly drained by the war, losing almost half of its youngest adult male generation. Paris developed a decidedly defensive posture, seeking various ways to box in and humiliate Germany. France created alliances with many of the new Eastern European states, none of which would adequately function. France also produced a long line of defenses along the new Franco-German border. This Maginot Line proved to be less than up to the task in 1940, despite the substantial effort and investment.

Rather than foster long -term peace and stability, the Versailles Treaty's main goal of handling Germany instead sparked movements that would lead directly into World War II. The National Socialist Party used widespread anger about Versailles with the economic collapse of the Great Depression to come to power in 1933. Six years later , the world was again at war, this time far more destructive and incorporating widespread genocide. The inability for Wilson's ideals to come to widespread fruition led to further devolving situations in Eastern Europe and Asia also allowed for Soviet and Japanese expansionism. Far from preventing another war, in many ways , Versailles instead caused another one.