Visions of Post WWI Europe
The problems, the instability, the uncertainties, and the economic collapse created by the war were far more difficult to deal with than any situation that existed prior to the war.
In hopes, to fix all this, the major countries of Europe, devised the Treaty of Versailles, the major peace treaty that hoped to resolve the lingering problems.
What the Treaty did:
The Treaty required Germany to accept complete responsibility for causing WWI. Germany needed to pay heavy reparations and to come of the countries and make quite a bit of territorial compromises.
In 1921, the total cost for the reparations was said to be around 132 billion Marks (then #31.4 billion) and approximately equivalent to $442 billion now.
John Maynard Keynes said that the reparations were too “excessive” and “counterproductive.”
Germany was not pacified, conciliated, or permanently weakened, this was a huge factor leading into WWII.
What the Treaty did:
The Treaty required Germany to accept complete responsibility for causing WWI. Germany needed to pay heavy reparations and to come of the countries and make quite a bit of territorial compromises.
In 1921, the total cost for the reparations was said to be around 132 billion Marks (then #31.4 billion) and approximately equivalent to $442 billion now.
John Maynard Keynes said that the reparations were too “excessive” and “counterproductive.”
Germany was not pacified, conciliated, or permanently weakened, this was a huge factor leading into WWII.