The Failures of the League of Nations and the Treaty of Versailles

 
    While the League of Nations was the first effort to band countries together to provide collective security amongst other agreements in order to prevent the breakout of a devastating war again. World War 1, up until that point, was the largest and bloodiest war that had been fought with estimated casualties ranging from thirty seven to forty million. The whole concept of the League of Nations was inspired by American President Woodrow Wilson. Prior to the meeting of the British, French, Americans, and Italians the war was still raging hard in Europe. The Germans had massed their troops for one final push but were stopped by the combined forces of the Allies. Germany accepted surrender on the condition that Wilson's fourteen points would dictate the surrender terms.
    However, that wasn't the case as Britain and France had other intentions. After losing countless soldiers and civilians the British but especially the French wanted to punish Germany for their losses. On top of that, Woodrow Wilson had left America without convincing the Republicans to vote for his proposition which would prove to be disastrous. Although Wilson had leverage against the other Allied powers he was inept with international affairs and that ended up causing a chain reaction of events. The European Allied powers were focused on making Germany pay heavy reparations and blamed them for the war. In the end Wilson's Fourteen Points didn't do much of an impact and were changed significantly from their original form and intent. The League of Nations was formed but the Allies also signed the infamous Treaty of Versailles which humiliated Germany.
   The Allied powers decreed that Germany was to pay a ridiculous amount of money along with a bunch of other orders. Germany was forced to pay 269 billion gold marks which was roughly equivalent to around 37 billion American dollars(269 in todays American dollars). Germany's economy completely collapsed and hyperinflation was so severe that most people in Germany were in poverty. Additionally, the kaiser was forced to stand for war crimes and was dethroned. The Weimar Republic that was established as a temporary government was incredibly inefficient. Not only that but the German Army was reduced the almost nothing, Alsace Lorraine was turned over to the French, and the Rhineland(German industrial area) was occupied by the allies. However, the United States attempted to cut down the German debt through the Dawes Plan but when the Great Depression hit the German economy collapsed again.
    To conclude, the Treaty of Versailles was a horrible treaty angered Germany and plenty of other countries who expected it to help their case for independence. Just a hint, this hurt and humiliated Germany to the extent that they were willing to accept Hitler as a leader who led the Nazi Party. The Japanese would also join the second world war as an Axis power because they felt neglected. The League of Nations was a noble idea but the fact of the matter was that none of the countries were willing to accept the terms proposed. The United States didn't even join and countries like Germany and Soviet Russia were excluded. That coalition collapsed in just two decades leading to the second World War which was even more deadly than the first due to the failures of the League of Nations and Treaty of Versailles.

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1914-1920/league
https://www.historyonthenet.com/why-did-the-league-of-nations-fail
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/topics/reference/treaty-versailles-ended-wwi-started-wwii/