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Tommy Fornoff
US History
Mr. Dougharity
20 January 2015 Treaty of Versailles too Harsh a Treaty?
The Treaty of Versailles has been debated ever since it was created in 1919.
Many people say that the treaty was way too harsh on the Germans, but some say it wasn’t harsh enough. I believe that the Treaty of Versailles was a little too harsh on the
Germans. Although they did use unrestricted submarine warfare, attacked France through Belgium, and tried persuading Mexico into invading the United States, they were not the ones who started the war and they were defending the victims of a murder.
They should not have to pay off the 33 billion dollar cost of the war when they were not the only ones destroying territory. If anyone is to blame it should be Serbia for assassinating Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
After World War I, Germany was forced to take all blame for any destruction caused in the war. The “War­guilt clause” was put into place to make Germany pay 33 billion dollars in reparations. Although Germany was not the only country to cause destruction in the war, Germany was the center of the punishment given by the Treaty of Versailles because they used unlawful tactics in the war. The Germans used unrestricted submarine warfare, attacked through other countries who had no part in the war, “A large army was to cross the flat Belgian countryside and descend on Paris from

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the North” (Snellgrove 49), and tried to persuade Mexico into invading the United States so that they could not enter the war. These were the reasons why Germany was to blame, but Germany was not the country that caused destruction in the war, Great
Britain and France caused just as much damage as Germany did, yet they were not punished. As result of the war, Germany also lost a large amount of land to other countries or even to become their own country. “The province of Alsace­Lorraine was given back to France, Eupen and Malmedy were given to Belgium, Northern Schleswig to
Denmark, land given by Germany and Russia became Poland, and Germany lost many colonies in Africa and the Pacific ocean.” (Greenville 59­71) Nearly one year preceding the Treaty of Versailles, Germany defeated Russia and claimed territory the size of
Turkey and Austria­Hungary combined. This land was later lost by Germany and was split between many different countries. Germany may have deserved to lose this land, but stripping them of numerous colonies throughout Africa and the Pacific was a little too severe.
The Treaty of Versailles required Germany to cut down the amount of military
soldiers.