Less harsh to Germany than France had hoped: wanted them to never be strong enough to attack again
ToV was a blow to many Germans - they were encircled and had little chance of recovering their pre-war position
No German state would ever be able to accept consequences of the Treaty in the long term: negotiation would be too difficult due to hostility so another conflict seemed inevitable
Germans felt vulnerable for several reasons:
Smaller armed forces than neighbouring countries
Needed to defend itself against communist Russia
Couldn't assist German speakers in surrounding countries should they feel threatened due to limited soldiers/boats/tanks
Issues with money due to hyperinflation & reparations
Failed to pay reparations = further humiliation in 1923
Examples of conditions of German surrender:
Diktat - German delegation didn't negotiate terms; forced to accept
Germany blamed for war and ordered to pay reparations of £6600 million - distorted events to blame Germany & reparations threatened economy
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LEAGUE OF NATIONS
League of Nations objective was to prevent conflicts escalating into war - however by 1933 it was clear that this was not going to happen
League showed early on that it had little power to control the aggression of the larger powers e.g. America wasn't in the LoN
USA declined to join & USSR only a member from 1934-1939 - in practice the LoN relied on GB & France
Didn't have its own army or committed support from major powers, therefore it was unable to prevent another major war
It has been argued that if the LoN could do their job properly, war wouldn't have started up again = failure of an effective international organisation
Nations argued it was the job of LoN to confront aggression in the name of peace
Powers could leave the LoN whenever they wanted - they would leave when criticised
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