History Assignment: The Treaty of Versailles and Germany's Perspective

This report analyzes the Treaty of Versailles, focusing on its impact on Germany after World War I. The assignment begins by outlining the treaty's terms, including the reparations, territorial concessions, and the assignment of war guilt to Germany. It then explores the German perspective on the treaty, highlighting their objections to the terms and the belief that they were unfairly treated. The report discusses the arguments regarding self-determination and the violation of German sovereignty. Finally, it concludes with an assessment of the treaty's fairness, arguing that the reparations were excessive and the assignment of blame was unjustified, while also acknowledging the arguments made by the proponents of the treaty. The report makes use of a reference: Comments of the German Delegation to the Paris Peace Conference on the Conditions of Peace (1919) to support its arguments and analysis of the treaty.

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History Assignment
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HISTORY
Question 1
The end of the World War I witnessed the agreement made between the parties and
the eventual signing of the Versailles Treaty. The purpose of the signing this treaty was to
bring unity among the countries and propagate equality to the parties that took part in the
war. As per the German Delegation (1919), the unity was to be brought about between the
conquerors, belligerents and those who were conquered in a system of common rights. Th
treaty required Germany to confess that they were to be blamed for the emergence of the war
and punishments to be given to the Germans. This demand led Germany to suffer damage as
a whole. The major complaint that came up was that the country was in huge debt to other
countries and economic development was hampered to a great extent. Railroads and canals
were built on the properties belonging to Germany, and it was proposed that international
bodies were to maintain rivers of the country. In addition, these constructions were allowed to
be used by delegates of Germany; however, they were not given any priority over delegates
of other countries. Germany suffered discrimination as other countries were teamed up
against it. Billions of dollars were to be given out as the compensation for the destruction so
that other countries could rebuild what has been lost.
Question 2
The viewpoint of Germany was that it would have received different treatment if the
principles they attribute to President Wilson was under application. According to German
Delegation (1919), Germany was not required to take the complete blame of initiating the
war. In the viewpoint of Wilson, the cause of the war is not to be attributed to a singe factor.
He argued that peace was in demand on the basis of equality that is backed by participation in
mutual benefits. Germans should not have surrendered the rivers to the international body and

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HISTORY
permit any external authorities to make constructions on their property of the above notion
was followed strictly.
Question 3
The basis of the arguments is on the immutable and unchallenging fundamental rights
of self-determination and self-preservation. Speaking particularly, Germany has the sole right
to take decisions regarding what is going to happen to their territory, and the Treat was a
violation of the innate national right that undermined the sovereignty of the country. In
addition, the germans were deprived of their territories and subsequently self- determination
as they were being given to other countries.
Question 4
I agree to the fact that Germany was poorly treated after analysing the Treaty in terms
of historical hindsight. The reparations were considerably high, and the concessions of the
territories weakened the country’s ability to pay the compensations. Also, it was unjustified
to force Germany to take the blame for starting the war as it was historically inaccurate.
Proponents of the Treaty upheld the viewpoint that the compensations were required
in order to prevent another war being started by Germany. The argument would be that
territorial concessions helped to discourage future aggression of the country (German
Delegation, 1919).

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Reference
Comments of the German Delegation to the Paris Peace Conference on the Conditions of
Peace. (1919).