impression of a failed Peace has been the overwhelming judgement of
historians ever since.
Peace of Versailles was an unsatisfactory compromise with little chance of ensuring
an enduring peace. Each of the 'Big Three' had different aims

impression of a failed Peace has been the overwhelming judgement of
historians ever since.
Peace of Versailles was an unsatisfactory compromise with little chance of ensuring
an enduring peace. Each of the 'Big Three' had different aims
which had to be modified in order to reach an overall agreement and the
Germans were not even allowed to take part in the negotiations.
was humiliated, the French didn't feel
completely secure, the British had wanted the re-establishment of trade
more than anything else and the Americans had had to give up on their
ideals of self determination where Germany
was concerned. All this was a
recipe for disaster in my opinion.
private communication to www.johndclare.net from Carole Faithorn
Faithorn studied History and Economics at the University
. Now retired, she
was formerly Head of History at an 11-18 Catholic Boys school in Avon,
modern teachers believe that it failed to secure peace and ruined the
Treaty of Versailles was flawed to the extent that instead of preventing
future wars it made a future war inevitable.
State of Michigan,
sample core curriculum, Social Studies lesson plan 8
lesson plan, in a section:
suggests that studying the treaty of
will help students understand that ‘every
action and choice has a consequence, and different actions and different
choices result in different consequences. This is true both for
individuals and for nations. Students also learn that some actions make
other actions inevitable.
Treaty of Versailles was the basic cause of the Second World War, the
holocaust and the Cold War. Why?
Because it was a treaty made without thought of fairness or
consideration as to what its effects might be. Instead the
treaty created an alien system of democracy that was never more than
stable and which because of the constitution's flaws allowed
to be torn apart
by extremist political parties like the Communists and worse Adolf Hitler
and the Nazis. In effect it put Germany
in a situation
it couldn't get out of, with unworkable political systems and economic and
social problems just waiting to explode (hence the Nazis and their
scapegoating of Jews became much easier). Had the treaty been
fair and balanced it's likely
would never have
become embroiled in starting a Second World War, nor would the madman
Hitler have come to power and so the Holocaust would never have happed.
Could this have been predicted?
Lloyd George was sure the Treaty of Versailles would lead to a
Second World War and he was right.
private communication to www.johndclare.net from Dave Wallbanks (2004)
Wallbanks studied history at Bradford
University, and PGCE at
and is now
history Curriculum Leader at an 11-16 Community College in the North of
Treaty of Versailles was to ultimately lead Europe to a Second World War
due to the direct fact that the Big Three' ultimately had different goals
in terms of achieving peace. What is clear from the terms of
the Treaty is that France had one main aim, revenge, whereas the USA
wanted money and Britain, it could be said, wanted a more fair resolution
that would prevent future conflict. What they all failed to
take into account was that in order for a plan, a treaty or an arrangement
to be successful everybody has to have the same aims and
goals. This goes some way to explaining why the Treaty of
Versailles was not the success that it could have been.
private communication to www.johndclare.net from Nichola
Nichola Boughey gained a BA Hons in Economic and Social History at the
University of Liverpool (1997-2000) and is now a History Teacher at
Weatherhead High School, Wallasey
Treaty of Versailles was an aberration. The Allies couldn't
agree amongst themselves what to do with the defeated Germany and ended up
accepting a document that was agreed begrudgingly by some of the major
nations involved in its construction. Something created so
quickly and in an environment as hostile as the immediate aftermath of the
bloodiest war of all time was bound to be filled with clauses created more
through fear and anger than forgiveness, compassion and a desire for
rebuilding relationships and really ensuring long lasting peace..
private communication to www.johndclare.net from Dan
Moorhouse studied History at De Montfort University and is now
Head of History at a school in Bradford.
one of my GCSE students put it, brilliantly:
Peace of Versailles was like a big stick of dynamite, and Hitler was just
like the little boy with the match.
is a GCSE History student.
the historian Norman Lowe made this thought-provoking aside:
Germans did have some cause for complaint... However, Germany
was still the strongest power in Europe economically, so that the unwise
thing about Versailles was that it annoyed the Germans yet did not
render them too weak to retaliate.
Lowe, Mastering Modern World History (1982)
Modern World History was a GCSE History