The Treaty of Versailles (ended WW I)

The Treaty of Versailles was the peace treaty that officially ended World War I, it was signed in 1919 by the Allied nations and Germany. The treaty created a League of Nations; their goal was to keep peace among nations.

The treaty punished Germany. They were blamed for all of the loss and damage incurred by the allies (England and France). Germany was also blamed for being the aggressor in the war. The treaty forced Germany to pay huge fines, suffered large territorial losses in total, Germany lost over one millions square miles of land. They also had severe restrictions placed on its military operations.

The Treaty of Versailles is very important because it punished Germany so much that it could never recover and this defeated Germany became ripe for Adolph Hitler and his fascist politics of hate and blame. Hitler tried to regain the land and power that were taken away from Germany. He had long pledge to undo the Versailles Treaty. In March 1935, Hitler announced that Germany would not obey the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles. It strengthened Hitler's power and prestige within Germany.