Free Essay in History: The Treaty of Versailles

SECTION TWO

Battle of the Somme

The Battle was a First World War battle that took place between the first of July and the first of November of the year 1916 around the Somme River in France and is reflected as one of the goriest combats of the First World War. It is projected that British casualties of the first day were higher than 57000 and when the battle concluded the allies and the central powers lost more than one and a half million soldiers.

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Weimar Republic

An era after the First World War from 1918 to 1945 that substituted the imperial form of government. The brief period was punctuated by peace between the Germans and Europe partly because of the Treaty of Versailles which had significantly receded the influence of Germany, besides economic inflation political extremism was experienced in Germany within this period. The period ended when the Third Reich under Hitler took control of Germany.

Anglo-American Guarantee

A treaty made on June 29th of 1919 that guaranteed France of both United States and United Kingdom's support in case of a repeat invasion by Germany. The agreement failed to be ratified by the United States' Senate, and its signatories withdrew eliciting feelings of betrayal among France's leaders by its allies.

Operation Sea Lion

The name of the operation of hitter's intended invasion of Great Britain in 1940 that never took place as the Germans lost the battle of Britain, with assertions that Hitler's priorities and interest were on the imminent attacks on Russia.

Detente

A period of enhanced relations between the united states and the soviet union that commenced uncertainly in 1971 and assumed seriousness when president Richard M Nixon met the secretary general of the communist party in Moscow in May of 1972 Leonid I. Brezhnev.

Glasnost

A Soviet policy of open deliberation of political and social matters that was founded in the late 1980s by Mikhail Gorbachev and commenced the process of bringing democracy to the soviet union resulting in crucial changes in the soviets union political composition, reduced powers of the communist party, occurrence of multicandidate elections, permission of government officials criticism and enhanced media freedom.

Munich Olympics Massacre (1972)

A terrorist attack by a Palestinian terrorist group al Fattah through its members called the black September during the 1972 summer Olympics that were taking place in Munich West Germany was eleven members of the Israeli Olympic team were abducted and killed by the group alongside a German police officer.

9/11

The name of the terrorist events that transpired on 11th September of 2001 in which nineteen al-Qaeda associated militants hijacked four planes and committed suicide attacks on various targets in the United States and included two of the planes being crashed into the twin towers building that housed the world trade centre. Another plane crashed into the Pentagon, and the fourth crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. 9/11 attack killed up to 3000 people and resulted in the commencement of counter-terrorism initiatives and defined the presidency of George w. bush.

Truman Doctrine

A policy proclaimed by Harry Truman, the president of the United States of America on 12th of March in 1947 and was a warning to the Soviet Union albeit not being mentioned of the United States intervention to aid a country that was being faced by a seizure by an armed marginal group.

League of Nations

An international diplomatic group shaped after the First World War as a means to resolve rows amongst countries to avert warfare. The antecedent to the united nation, it attained both success and failure in its undertaking and had to cope with the issue of self-interest in the conflict resolution processes and unrecognition from some governments. It stopped its operations during the Second World War.

SECTION TWO: ESSAY

Examine the Treaty of Versailles. What were the three things it sought to do? What was the significance of the treaty to the fate of Europe after World War I, and how did the treaty serve to weaken collective security?

The treaty of Versailles was an arrangement that brought to an end the war between Germany and the allied forces. The treaty was preceded by an armistice which was signed on 11th November 1918. It was signed in Versailles on 28th of 1919 after the conclusion of allied negotiations on the treaty at the Paris peace conference, and after which its registration was done by the secretariat of the League of Nations on 21st October 1919. The treaty of Versailles was the most important of treaties that resulted in the conclusion of the First World War. The defeated nations of Germany, Austria and Hungary were expunged from the negotiations as well as Russia which had an existing treaty with Germany. They were only allowed to make responses to the treaty which were not considered. The terms of the treaty were principally architected by Lloyd George the British Prime Minister, Frances Clemenceau the French prime minister and Woodrow Wilson the United States president.

The treaty of Versailles was to serve several purposes. It served to instigate territorial and boundary change, requisition of Germany to renounce sovereignty over former colonies. The treaty put restrictions on Germany's military to incapacitate them against offensive actions and to encourage the process of international disarmament. The treaty also purposed to make Germany take responsibility for the losses and damages incurred as a result of the war. The compensation by Germany totalling to five billion gold marks would be paid in any form like gold, securities, ships or any other means and was to carter for the outlays related to the allied occupation and the purchase of food and raw supplies for Germany's consumption. The Versailles treaty also made provisions for the conception of the League of Nations, an international diplomatic organization which would serve a crucial arbitration role in the resolution of disputes amongst disagreeing countries and deter the possibility of warfare again.

The treaty of Versailles had a significant role in the fate of Europe after post world war I end in that it served to ensure that territorial injustice would be addressed through Germany taking accountability for the damages of the war and renouncing its claim on territories of European countries like Poland and Czechoslovakia, this was significant in that it would ensure that the European countries that had been annexed by Germany regain their territorial frontiers. The compensation by Germany would also go a great way in infrastructural construction to repair the damaged infrastructures.

The treaty of Versailles occasioned many repercussions for European countries. The implementation of the treaty meant that Germany a major European country would have its military restricted and incapacitated. The treaty of Versailles humiliated and elicited widespread condemnation among the German populace which fueled the rise of German political extremism through its leaders like Adolf Hitler. The blatant violation of the treaty also posed a major security concern to European countries and posed another security threat imminent invasion and renewed territorial claims by Germany. The treaty gave Germany an excuse to war, fuelled by the citizen's anger all it required was a war-hungry leader for Germany to invade the allied European countries. The hyperinflation effects that the treaty brought upon the economy of the German people infuriated them and led to them resenting the allied countries, the Germans also feared for their security stemming from the fact that their military had been weakened.

SECTION THREE: JEOPARDY QUESTIONS

_Hamas_____________________ is an Islamic terrorist organization that says it is the religious duty of each Muslim to regain control of Israel or destroy it.

Al Fattah, a terrorist organization headed by ____Yasir Arafat______________, is best known for their actions at the Munich Olympics Massacre in 1972.

At the Munich Conference in 1938 British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain followed a policy of ___appeasement____________________, and gave Hitler exactly what he wanted.

Known as "jellied petroleum" this bomb, that today is called__Napalm______________, caused extensive damage to German cities in the strategic bombing of that country during World War II.

During the Cold War the United States and the Soviet Union embraced the doctrine of ________Truman__________________________________, insuring that each country would not engage in a full-scale war with the other.