Provide a political analysis of the Peace Treaty of Versailles and the Essay

Provide a political analysis of the Peace Treaty of Versailles and the contending agendas there. What did it accomplish How was - Essay Example The two aspects of Versailles that took into account financial (economic) clauses and territorial clauses turned out to be more of â€Å"horrendous failures by any standard one wishes to employ† (Feldman, cited in Boemeke, Feldman, and Glaser 441). Discussion Amongst the various provisions within the treaty, a major clause that turned controversial made it mandatory for Germany to assume all responsibilities for starting WWI (under Treaty of Trianon and Treaty of Saint- Germain-en- Laye, and articles 231–248 also referred to as War Guilt clauses). Besides this, there were provisions for disarmament, significant territorial  losses through surrender and heavy fines (reparations)  to the Triple Entente (France, the UK and Russia). At the time of treaty, in and around 1920, the reparations (as war damages) were held to be nearly ?32,000 million, an amount that was deemed extremely high and damaging for Germany economy (Keynes 70). In this context Keynes commented that â€Å"the policy of reducing Germany to servitude for a generation, of degrading the lives of millions of human beings and of depriving a whole nation of happiness should be abhorrent and detestable†(Keynes 107). ... rime Minister, during this time, Clemenceau  expressed the overall French sentiments regarding this issue by stating, â€Å"America is far away, protected by the ocean†¦ [the US and UK] are both sheltered; we are not† (cited in Keylor 34). Clemenceau wanted to develop a kind of buffer  using Rhineland that would protect France, however, the proposal was rejected, and instead Rhineland was made to give up on all sorts of military presence, despite the US not signing this part of the mandate. In this context Keynes claimed that â€Å"so far as possible, therefore, it was the policy of France to set the clock back and undo what, since 1870, the progress of Germany had accomplished. By loss of territory and other measures her population was to be curtailed; but chiefly the economic system, upon which the depended for her new strength, the vast fabric built upon iron, coal, and transport must be destroyed. If France could seize, even in part, what Germany was compelled to drop, the inequality of strength between the two rivals for European hegemony might be remedied for generations† (Keynes 34). Since France had suffered severe damages in WWI, it remained firm on its reparation claims from Germany, despite strong opposition from the US, and even attacked Ruhr for non-payment of fines by Germany. The UK, despite suffering very little in the war, more or less made similar demands like France, while the US was completely against meting out a harsh treatment to Germany and its allies through the Versailles treaty, and was more interested in rebuilding the socio-economic framework of war-torn Europe. The chief contents of the treaty that were enforced on Germany (leading to severe restrictions) comprised of Article 227 that charged German Emperor  Wilhelm II for crimes against