Western Civilization - World War Essay

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Question Three

Not only was France the seat of the Treaty of Versailles that ended the First World War, but also it became an important actor in the international relations that would shape the international community with the end of the war. Destroyed by the German offensive and fearing another invasion, the Treaty of Versailles stipulated the demilitarization of the Rhineland between the two countries in addition to monetary war reparations on the part of Germany. These methods, intended to secure French security, allowed France to eventually take advantage of Germany, according to some historians. Once Germany began failing to make its war reparation payments, France invaded the demilitarized Rhineland, to which Germany responded with pacifism. Germany's military was not called upon to act, and citizens were urged to practice "passive resistance" by order of the German government. Even as French troops pushed further into Germany, the state did not respond with a military resistance. For their aggressive behavior toward a peaceful enemy, the French were rewarded with negative media. The occupation also produced negative affects for Germany, as uprisings within the state occurred as a result of the French invasion. Although France eventually agreed to a staggered withdrawal of troops and an easing of Germany's war reparations, they demanded that payments continue, a stipulation to which Germany agreed. In 1925, the French signed the Locarno Pact in Switzerland, which defined boarders and allowed for French security ("Pact of Locarno" 2008 "France 1918-1929: Foreign Policy" 2007).

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While France's signature on the Locarno Pact was necessary in order to redefine their security, the invasion of the Rhineland not only caused public relations problems for the French government, but also it resulted in a lessening of Germany's war reparations, a fact once can believe contributed to their World War Two aggression.

Question Four

Tired of war long before World War One ended, the citizens of Germany staged a revolution that resulted in Emperor William II fleeing his throne and his country. In the monarch's stead, a revolutionary coalition of moderate Social Democrats and the radical Independent social democrats formed a constitution that tool hold in 1919, establishing a democracy that lasted until Hitler's rise to power in 1933. Regardless of its good intentions, however, the government was wrought with weaknesses. In the aftermath of the treaty of Versailles, Germany was not only broke, but was also unable to reconstruct itself physically. This problem was furthered by the French invasion of the Ruhr. Thus, Germany was in a poor situation to begin again with a new government. Furthermore, these problems were enhanced by economic failure due to international loans and the establishment of a new currency, the Reichsmark. Due to heavy government spending on the part of the democracy's first two presidents, Gustav Stressemann and Paul von Hindenburg as well as the weight of these loans, the Weimer Republic began to fail (Nicholis, a.J. 2008)......

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