Question

Criticism of the Paris peace settlement is unfair and shows a lack of understanding of the problems facing the peace makers in 1919-20. Discuss

Answer 1

The correct answer to this open question is the following.

Here we are talking about the Treaty of Paris that was signed to officially end World War I.

Some historians and scholars have criticized the terms of the Treaty of Paris and called it unfair or excessive.

But these critics only show a lack of understanding of the problems facing the peacemakers in 1919-20. And the problems were considerable.

Diplomats and politicians who attended the peace agreement had to evaluate many circumstances when working out the details of the treaty. It was not an easy task for them.

US President Wilson had already presented its famous "14 Points Plan" but was rejected by the European allies. The reason was simple. European allies such as France and England did not really want a peace plan that benefited all. No. They wanted retribution. And for these countries, there was only one nation to blame. And they wanted revenge and severe punishment for the pain and destruction caused by Germans during the war. That is how Germany had to pay for war reparations.

However, everybody knows what happened next.

After the failure of teh Weimar Republic, the advent of Adolph Hitler and another generation of belic Germans got to power and they indeed wanted revenge. And the world started to fear the worst...WOrld War II was about to begin.