Question

The Peace Conference at Versailles was shaped largely by three countervailing forces: a desire for national self-preservation on the part of Germany, a desire for vengeance on the parts of Britain and France, and a desire for a new international order on the part of the United States. Identify how at least one of these desires fared in the negotiation.

Answer 1

The outcomes of the Peace Conference of Versailles, 1919 for Germany were as follows:

1. Germany was required to pay almost $33 billion in reparations, to cover damage caused to national property of the winning forces during the war.

2. This figure of $33 billion was further segregated into three categories of bonds- A,B and C. Bonds A and B had to be paid unconditionally and they amounted to about $12.5 billion. The payment of 'C' bonds was interest-free and contingent on the Weimar Republic's ability to pay this, to be evaluated by an Allied committee.

Germany, in their defense, continued to deny that it was solely responsible for the war.

However, at the time of fulfillment of the requirements of the negotiation, Germany continued to default on the payments.The Allies agreed that the defaulting was in bad faith.

In 1923, the Reparation Commission decided that Germany was in default voted to occupy the Ruhr to enforce the country's commitments.

Finally, the reparations came to an end in about 1932, the exact amount paid by Germany being a matter of dispute.

This shows that Germany's desire for self-preservation did not go too well during the negotation of the treaty, but they may have saved themselves from paying complete reparations afterwards. Of course, the German government faced a lot of backlash from the public for the humiliating treaty.