Examine how the Allied powers dismembered the Central Powers of World War I by a treaty that failed to prevent World War II
U.S. Pres. Woodrow Wilson was among the statesmen who gathered in France in June 1919 to sign the Treaty of Versailles, an agreement that did little to heal the wounds of World War I and instead set the stage for World War II. From “The Second World War: Prelude to Conflict” (1963), a documentary by Encyclopædia Britannica Educational Corporation.
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Transcript
[Music in]
NARRATOR: . . . but when it was all over, the statesmen went to discuss the peace treaty at Versailles, armed only with 19th-century prejudices. The idealism of President Woodrow Wilson would soon be shattered by the harsh practicalities of his European partners. They were determined that never again would the Germans have the opportunity of ravaging France.
The treaty dismembered Germany and its allies--(the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire). These large and powerful states were to be broken up so that the various ethnic groups they contained would have their own separate countries. Unfortunately, however, this checkerboard of small independent nations would prove to be too weak to defend itself against an embittered and vengeance-seeking Germany. Instead of healing old wounds, the Treaty of Versailles only succeeded in creating a new discontent.
More drastic solutions would soon replace the fumbling of the diplomats.
[Music out]
NARRATOR: . . . but when it was all over, the statesmen went to discuss the peace treaty at Versailles, armed only with 19th-century prejudices. The idealism of President Woodrow Wilson would soon be shattered by the harsh practicalities of his European partners. They were determined that never again would the Germans have the opportunity of ravaging France.
The treaty dismembered Germany and its allies--(the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire). These large and powerful states were to be broken up so that the various ethnic groups they contained would have their own separate countries. Unfortunately, however, this checkerboard of small independent nations would prove to be too weak to defend itself against an embittered and vengeance-seeking Germany. Instead of healing old wounds, the Treaty of Versailles only succeeded in creating a new discontent.
More drastic solutions would soon replace the fumbling of the diplomats.
[Music out]
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