World War I And The Treaty Of Versailles

After World War 1, America had to demobilize and revert back to a peace time economy. During the 1920’s, it was viewed as a prosperous economy since there was a new labor force due to demobilization, new inventions, and a new infrastructure. Also moral spirits were high since America along with the Allied Powers defeated Germany and the Great War was finally over. However, America began making many economic policies and decisions that will eventually lead up to the Great Depression.

What responsibility did each of the “Big Three” have for the failure of the Versailles Treaty to bring peace to Europe? Be sure to discuss what each wanted to accomplish.

The Roaring Twenties is known as an age of parties, jazz, and overspending. After World War I, the optimistic American people reacted by celebrating and overspending. They purchased new appliances such as cars, radios and refrigerators; they purchased luxury items like clothes and invested in stocks. Their new attitude towards the booming American economy was carefree, leading to a series of events. First the stock market crashed. Next, the banks failed. Then, companies laid off employees who were unable to make the payments on the items they purchased. Tariffs and droughts further complicated the situation. This decade became known as the Great Depression, because the economic setbacks impacted everyone and everything. But the question is “Why did Americans lose so much money in such a short period of time?” One answer is, the failing stock market. A second is unregulated banking systems which allowed for buying on margin. Third, the lifestyle following World War I was too materialistic. The Great Depression was caused by Americans failing to responsibly manage their money.

During the 1920s the American people led themselves to their economic demise. In America, the Great Depression occurred during the 1930s after the crash of the stock market. “The Roaring Twenties”, which occurred before the Great Depression, was a time when the assembly line created more jobs and money to be used. This new economic prosperity, brought about the stock market, in which hundreds of Americans put in their money in hopes of their company making profits. The Great Depression was caused by stockholders using more money then they could pay back, workers using the non-shameful credit to buy products, which led Americans into debt, and the lack of demand, when there was an increase in supplies.

During the 1920’s America was experiencing great economic growth. As WWI was ending Americans were out of energy. For almost 100 years they had been facing the problems of sectionalism, civil war, reconstruction, imperialism, and WWI. By the end they were ready to just sit back and party. Demand sky-rocketed and brought great economic growth. Americans failed to see the great problem looming overhead though. The Great Depression was caused by a combination of factors- a natural slowdown of the business cycle, weaknesses of the 1290’s economy magnified the slowdown, the republican response failed to help, a great environmental disaster, and the collapse of the world economy all contributed to the cause of the Great

WWI and the Versailles Treaty had only a marginal (limited) relationship to the world Depression of the 1930s

Thesis: The peace treaty that resulted from World War 1 was not too harsh of a punishment for the offenses committed.

The first World War had devastated the balance of the 20th century with effects still felt today. The war had obliterated once powerful imperial dynasties, birthed new states from the fallen imperial powers, supported the idea of independence in European colonies, and led to the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Yet, it brought hope to the newly independent territories and minority groups, while plunging a heavy recession to countries that were once world powers. The war ended with the defeat of the Central Powers (German Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Ottoman Empire, and the Russian Empire) and the signage of the Versailles Treaty. This treaty along with the League of Nations was created to prevent another global crusade from happening again, but failed and led to World War II, which started only twenty years after the Treaty of Versailles was endorsed. And even with end of the Great War, it was evident that the world would never return to how it once was, four years earlier, in 1914. The destructive warfare brought out several unnerving and irreversible social and economic consequences that shook modern society for decades to come.

​Throughout the history of the United States, the American government has employed many propaganda techniques, usually during times of war and hardships, to evoke an intended reaction from Americans. "Propaganda is the deliberate, systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions, and direct behavior to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist.” To control the public during difficult times, the government heavily utilized propaganda. The wars that propaganda was most prominently employed in were World War I and World War II. Propaganda, specifically in World War I and World War II, has had far more negative effects on American society than positive effects.

The Great War, or World War I, was the first modern warfare and the first total war in which almost everyone participated in it, both directly or indirectly. After the war, President Woodrow Wilson hoped that the Great War will be a war to “end all wars”; unfortunately, almost twenty years later, World War II erupted in Europe and the world plunged into an even deadlier war. With the end of World War I, the Treaty of Versailles was drafted to secure peace throughout Europe, but the cruel and unreasonable terms made World War II almost inevitable.

During the 20th century, devastating events prevailed over the encouraging ones. Two World Wars appeared during the 1900s: World War I and World War II. Many countries lost soldiers over the course of both wars. During the First World War, America originally decided to remain neutral. American ships had to cease trading with Germany due to a naval blockade by Britain. This effect did not stop Woodrow Wilson from exchanging products with European countries. Wilson trading with Britain and France angered Germany and forced America into war. This war that America was forced into caused roughly 100,000 deaths, and World War II, alone, led to nearly 500,000 deaths. However, the citizens elected one president who beneficially changed American

The Treaty of Versailles was intended to be a peace agreement between the Allies and the Germans, instead with the harsh end terms for Germany, it created political and economic chaos in Germany. By the end of the First World War, Germany had surrendered and signed a peace agreement. The task of forming a peace agreement was now in the hands of the Allies. In December of 1918, the Allies met in Versailles to start on the peace settlement. The main countries and their representatives were: The United States, Woodrow Wilson; Great Britain, David Lloyd George; and France, George Clemenceau. It had seemed that making peace agreement would be fairly simple. Once they started, the Allies began having different ideas about the wording of the

The Inter War Years Only 20 years after the peace treaties were signed that officially brought The First World War to an end, the world was again at war. Across most of the world, the decade after ‘the war to end all wars’, was a time of prosperity and wealth. In the United States the “Roaring Twenties” were a period of fast growth of wealth. However people’s hopes came crashing down when the world economy collapsed in 1929 which started The Great Depression. There was mass unemployment and misery in the 1930’s, when most companies collapsed, leaving many without a source of income.

As a result of World War I, Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles, made to pay for the war, and had to disarm themselves, which directly led into World War II. Germany went down the tubes after they were forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles. There economy crashed and there money had just about no value. Many people that World War II was just a 20 year break from World War I. They were right because just about 20 years later World War II started. There are many things that could contribute to starting the war but these are the main point and the most recognized.

The Treaty of Versailles ended World War I in 1919, and at the treaty, Article 231 or the War Guilt Clause presumes Germany to be responsible for the troubles caused during the War, and ask them to pay the fees for damage or repairs. Because of this, Germany was put into a large economic debt. This is where Hitler arrived as the big dictator that would change all and so began the attacks on its neighboring countries (1933). This was definitely contradicting the Versailles Treaty. Americans decided to hide, because they were fearing another World War. At the Same time, European Countries did nothing. Later as the Americans began to see the consequences of moderation, and the ambiguous economic entanglement in the war, the United States