Blog #3 : The Treaty of Versailles

The Treaty of Versailles... can it be called a peace treaty?

The Treaty of Versailles is a peace treaty written by the major powers at the end of World War 1. It is truly a significant historical event to Canada. Firstly, Robert Borden insisted that Canada would sit at the Paris Peace Conference in its own right. It was a another step for Canada toward its independence from Britain. Secondly, Canada was given two seats at the peace conference. The Canadian delegates had no votes, and the peace treaties were written by the major powers, however by participating in the conference, Canada earned a seat and a vote in the new League of Nations, which was created by the Treaty of Versailles.

            The new League of Nations' role was to punish all the aggressive nations and guarantee the peace. Also, the Treaty of Versailles was meant to ensure that World War 1 would be the war to end all wars and keep a lasting peace in Europe. It is known to be a peace treaty, however, the question is.... 'is it?' Did it contribute in maintaining  a lasting peace in Europe after WW!? Personally, I think writing the Treaty of Versailles and forming the League of Nations were huge mistakes made by the major powers in 1918 because they resulted the exact opposite of the expected outcomes. Now, let's look deeper into The Treaty of Versailles and its dreadful outcomes. The key clauses of the Treaty of Versailles were the surrender of all German overseas investments, coal mines to the Allied Powers, reduce its military forces, acknowledge the independence of Austria and Czechoslovakia, pay war reparations to France, Britain, Russia and other countries affected by the war and take all blame for the war. Even though it was a peace treaty, it ensured that exhausted Germany was forced to accept all the conditions and blames. Its harshness of the Treaty of Versailles resulted an unstable peace in Europe because Germans were not content with the settlement also, it resulted Germany's sense of desire for revenge. I think if the League of Nations really desired peace in Europe, they would not have been too harsh on Germany because as they all knew, there were many causes of World War 1 and it was not something that one nation could entirely be responsible for. As Robert Borden wrote in his diary "The world has drifted from its old anchorage and no one can with certainty prophecy what the outcome will be. No one realized that the Treaty of Versailles had sowed the bitter seeds of World War 2.

Questions:
1. Would WW2 have been prevented If the Treaty of Versailles did not blame everything on Germany, and the other nations took some responsibility for the war? (if the conditions of the treaty were different?)
2. Do you think the positive effects of the Treaty of Versailles' on Canada's independence outweigh the negative outcomes of it?