[Maricel]

hello! i'm doing my igcse next week and i've been having problems with the treaty of versilles subject...
Can you help me with the main facts of fairness and unfairness?
So far I have:
Fair:
germany had already made france pay debts and humilliation with the treaty of frankfurt in 1871
all the war was held on in french and belgium territory therefore it was destroyed and needed reparation,
the territories taken from germany could be seen as payment for all the french territory destroyed.
Germany did started the war by attacking france and belgium
Britain and France also had to pay debts to USA
Unfair:
Germany lost her industrial lands and colonies that could help her recover and be capable to pay the debts,
the kaiser and the generals who started the war were not in power anymore, therefore the german people had to pay its consecuences
No self determination established for germany


its not much, at least i need to support each fact but i find myself quite lost... can you help me please??

[A Finemess]

What you have here seems pretty good to me. Supporting your points is just a matter of having key facts at your fingertips for each of your points e.g. How much did Germany have to pay in reparations? How much of Fremcha nd Belgian industry . housing etc was destroyed during the war?

You may find this link useful.

[space]

Hey,

I'm doing IGCSE too.

You've got good points there which I've never even thought of before.

Uh, you could say that it's unfair too because of the arms race, it wasn't Germany alone that was building up its army and navy. Germany might have appeared aggressive and had to build up military because it was only a new country after 1871. Furthermore, Britain invented the Dreadnought and then Super Dreadnought to challenge Germany. Russia also built military railway tracks clearly designed to take troops to fight Germany and Austria-Hungary. France used WWI as an excuse to seek revenge over its defeat at the Franco-Prussian War from 1870-71. Additionally, France also built up the army to four million men by 1914. So, with all these facts, you could say that hence, it is unfair for Germany to admit total war guilt and pay for all the damages caused in the Great War as other countries did contribute to war too. Moreover, the terms listed in the Treaty of Versailles wasn't even addressed in Wilson's Fourteen Points, thus, the Germans felt cheated.

On the other hand, the Treaty of Versailles is fair because Germany treated Russia much harsher in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Germany only lost 10% land, 12.5% popluation and 16% coal mines. Whereas Russia lost 34% population, 32% agriculture land, 89% coal mines, 26% railways and was fined 300 million roubles. This factual statistics goes to show that Germany was really being imperialistic thus the Treaty of Versailles was fair. It's good if you could memorise these kinda numbers. It helps. Hmm, it's also fair because when Germany ignored Wilson's Fourteen Points when they were at the winning side of the war, so Germany can't expect the Allies to give into them again.

Yeah, that's all I can think of now.

Good luck.

[MrJohnDClare]

Great post, space - and an example of the forum being used at its best, with students sharing ideas and advice.
So much of the forum just concerns a teacher 'telling' a pupil what to say, it's lovely to see you sharing ideas in this way.
Congrats.

[Historygirl9]

I'm writing a letter, imagining I am a German citizen and I'm writing a letter to be submitted German newspaper after World War One about my opinions of the treaty of Versailles. My character will need to feel the treaty is grossly unfair but, I was hoping you might be able to give me a few more ideas....

I would be really grateful if you could help!

HistoryGirl9

[MrJohnDClare]

Try this site for ideas of things to say:
http://www.johndclar...e_treaties5.htm

All you'll need to do is to 'turn it round' so that you're saying 'we' not 'they'.

[Historygirl9]

Thank you very much- the site is really useful.
HistoryGirl9

[Historygirl9]

Sorry to bother you again, but can you tell me what Woodrow Wilson's views and ideas for the treaty of versailles were? I would really appreciate any help.


HistoryGirl9

[MrJohnDClare]

No probs - try half way down this webpage: http://www.johndclar...e_treaties3.htm

[Historygirl9]

Thanks!

HistoryGirl9

[mavalentini]

THis is a very basic question and i know there must be lots of topics like this i just couldnt find one and as im writing notes for my igcse exam i need some help!

i know there are 2 views:
that it was justifiable, or fair, because it was the best treaty possible at that time
and that it was not, that it was too harsh

i dont know how to expand these points with evidence and need some help with the structure of this essay...
this is a question c) so it has to be very good.
THANKS

[MrJohnDClare]

Read this webpage for the basic background, but then you will find that this webpage is what you need.