Failure to Enforce the Treaty of Versailles/Appeasement

1. Failure to Enforce the Treaty of Versailles/Appeasement Nicole J, Emily W, Paige P, Aparna G

2. Thesis Regardless of whether the terms were too harsh or too lenient on Germany, the Treaty of Versailles was a major cause of World War II because of the Allies' lack of enforcement.

3. Disarmament/Rearmament • In the Treaty of Versailles, German forces were restricted to 100,000 troops, 6 battleships, and no submarines among other things. • In 1933 Hitler began rearmament in secret, and then publicly announced it in 1935. • In response to this, the leading European powers did nothing except form the Stresa Front, which was based on an agreement to stop any future violation of the Treaty of Versailles.

4. The Anglo-German Naval Agreement • In June 1935, Great Britain violated the terms of the Stresa Front and made an agreement with Germany that they could rearm their navy to have a third of the tonnage of the British Navy. • This gave the Germans a sense of support and that, because the powers were not working together in repressing their growth, they would stand more of a chance in a war situation.

5. "In the case of the Treaty of Versailles, lack of enforcement turns out to have been a more serious defect than any clause in the text" -Hans A. Schmitt

6. Reparations • By 1921, the reparations committee agreed to set the total payment to £6.6 million • Also included coal and steel payments from Germany • Maybe too harsh (led to hyperinflation crisis in Germany in 1923) • Not adequately enforced, led to further appeasement towards Germany (learned they could get away with it)

7. "What stopped the Treaty of Versailles from ever approaching success, however, was not the terms of the treaty... But rather the reluctance to enforce the terms by the Allies" -James Atkinson

8. Territoral Clauses • Germany had to give up more land than any other country • Gave up control of Polish Corridor, German and Turkish colonies, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia,and Czechoslova • Anschluss (with Austria) was forbidden • Much more should have been taken away to make Germany less of a threat

9. Rebuttal Claim: Allies did not have the military resources or popular want to enforce the Treaty of Versailles and prevent German violations. Response: Enough support against Germany, rally to prevent another World War Claim: Reparations too harsh to enforce Response: Germany had enough to rearm and prepare for war, had Allies enforced reparations, Germany would have not had the resources for WWII

10. Works Cited • Atkinson, James. "The Treaty of Versailles and Its Consequences." Www.upf.edu. N.p., 16 Dec. 2002. Web. 23 Sept. 2012. <http://www.upf.edu/materials/fhuma/hcu/docs/t2/art5.pdf>. • "Enforcement of the Provisions of the Treaties: US Isolationism, the Retreat from the Anglo-American Guarantee, Disarmament-Washington, London and Geneva Conferences."IB History Notes. IB Guides, n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2012. <http://www.ibguides.com/history/notes/enforcement-of-the-provisions-of-the-treaties-us-isolationism-the-retreat-from-the-anglo-american-guarantee-disarmament>. • Schmitt, Hans A. "The Treaty of Versailles: Mirror of Europe's Postwar Agony." The Treaty of Versailles: Mirror of Europe's Postwar Agony. N.p., 1989. Web. 23 Sept. 2012. <http://www.ctevans.net/Versailles/Papers/Schmitt/Schmitt_paper.html>.