Reaching A Compromise

Although the Treaty of Versailles was meant to create a pervasive peace in Europe following the world war, it merely set up the building blocks of later conflicts. I agree with Robby that the terms impressed upon the Germans were somewhat oppressive. Forcing the Germans to reduce the army to 100,000 men and lessen their equipment for the air and the sea left them with no military power whatsoever. Should a fellow nation choose to attack, Germany would be utterly incapable of retaliating. Had the treaty followed Wilson's suggestion that all see to a "reduction of national armaments," it would have been fairer because all nations would be equally disadvantaged. That France, England, and the United States entered into another defensive alliance seems to me counterproductive - a similar alliance system was what created the war in the first place. Another important element was the redistribution of land, which, in any case, would have caused tension. Following a war there is the inevitable antipathy due both to a desire for revenge and upset over lost territory. The Ottoman empire felt this more than any other - having lost, lands that had only just won independence from the Turks were "mandated" to the victorious Europeans. This is further evidence of the inequity of the Treaty of Versailles; it was biased strongly towards the Europeans with little thought to the efforts or changes within the losing countries. This would likely create conflict between acquired nations (Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Palestine) and the European countries upon whom they were bestowed (England and France). Despite new rivalries, it was unlikely that any nation enter into a new conflict directly following 1919 since so many had died.