When Germany signed the armistice ending hostilities in the First World War on November 11, 1918, its leaders believed they were accepting a “peace without victory,” as outlined by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson in his famous Fourteen Points. But from the moment the leaders of the victorious Allied nations arrived in France for the peace conference in early 1919, the post-war reality began to diverge sharply from Wilson’s idealistic vision.
Five long months later, on June 28—exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo—the leaders of the Allied and associated powers, as well as representatives from Germany, gathered in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles to sign the final treaty. By placing the burden of war guilt entirely on Germany, imposing harsh reparations payments and creating an increasingly unstable collection of smaller nations in Europe, the treaty would ultimately fail to resolve the underlying issues that caused war to break out in 1914, and help pave the way for another massive global conflict 20 years later.
After World War I, the blame for the war was put entirely on Germany. Germany was not happy with this, and saw themselves as accountable as everyone else. The Treaty of Versailles was incredibly harsh on Germany, they could now only have 100,000 armed troops with 6 navy ships, had to give up the land they had gotten during World War I to France, and had to pay millions of dollars in reparations for the war. When Adolf Hitler came into power after World War I, he pushed the boundaries of the Treaty of Versailles and violated it completely. It would not be option C, as Kaiser Wilhelm was not executed, and died from other circumstances before Germany even lost World War I.
Explanation: Although Leopold II established Belgium as a colonial power in Africa, he is best known for the widespread atrocities that were carried out under his rule, as a result of which as many as 10 million people died in the Congo Free State.
He explains that people or born with natural rights that another human cannot take away from somebody. He gives the examples of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, among others. <span />
