How could the Treaty of Versailles have been written differently to prevent conflict?

Answer 1

Well for a start it would have to remove the parts which effectively forced Germany into accepting the blame for the war, and stating that they had lost the war. Germany cannot be solely blamed here. The situation had been just waiting to explode for a while, the asassination of the Archduke in Sarajevo (June 1914)simply proved to be the straw that broke the camel's back. As a consequence of having to bear the burden of blame, Germany was to foster a deep resentment, that was played upon by Hitler to great effect. It was to greatly benefit his actions of rebuilding the Reich, which created the international tension that led to war. Secondly, the treaty of Versailles should not have placed the astronomically high reperations upon Germany. This was done so that the Germans would pay for the damage inflicted on the allies, but they were completely unrealistic. This situation led to hyper-inflation in Germany, leading to an economic collapse, which in combination with the other factors made a perfect breeding ground for radical politics, such as that represented by Hitler and the Nazis. Of course, the important thing to remember here though is that this treaty is not solely to blame for WWII. it only created the conditions in which the Nazis could rise to prominence. It would not sustain them; for as the 1920's progressed and Germany began to recover, as a result the people began to turn away from the radical politics the Nazis espoused. What is sighted as the cause of WWII is the Great Depression, which was the result of the Wall st crash (Oct 1929). If it wasn't for this the Nazis would have run their natural course and simply faded away. instead it reinvigorated them long enough for Hitler to gain a foothold in political power. It is not often that you witness such a clear cut cause and effect relationship in history, but this is indeed the case here.

Also take into consideration the large areas of land that was taken away from European Germany and the smaller German speaking provinces that were given to neighbouring countries, like Sudetenland which was given to Czechoslovakia. Then there was also the loss of the international German colonies. All of the German colonists were sent back to Europe and their estates and farms were sold- all their work for nothing. Apart from this, an extermination of German culture and language occured around the world largely thanks to hate inciting English Propaganda.

Thus Germany lost a vast amount of territory, it's entire empire and a chance to establish its language and culture internationally - which was very important for all the imperialistic nations. Germany was overcrowded and this loss of territory made it appealing for Germans to follow Hitler in his attempt to acquire more Lebensraum for Germany.

Had the English and French not stolen Germany's colonies and had they not carved up continental Germany, Germany might have moarned its losses after WW1 and would have been content with what it had. Instead the ransacking Treaty of Versailles replaced their grief and sorrow with indignity, anger and vengeance. The German politicians could rely on the fact that the nation did not have much to lose in creating another war, having lost everything in ww1 already, to rally the German nation behind its new cause.