World War I And Not A War Of Its Own - 1320 Words

Europe, ancient and modern, is known for internal wars. From countries trying to obtain more land to genocide Europe has seen it all. However 1914 started something new, World War One or The war to end all wars. WWI brought more death to the western world than ever before. In 1918 WWI ended and with it came an uneasy peace to Europe for twenty. The war that ranged from 1939 to 1945 became known as World War II, a sequel to WWI with and even larger death toll than before. Although they were twenty years apart, World War II can be seen as a continuation of World War I and not a war of its own. On June 28th, 1914 in Sarajevo, Bosnia the Austrian Archduke, Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist. This led to the†¦show more content†¦The punishment came in the form of the Treaty of Versailles. This treaty got rid of what little power Germany had left. The Treaty was written by Lloyd George the Prime Minister of Britain, Clemenceau a statesman of France, W oodrow Wilson President of the United States and sometimes Prime Minister Orlando of Italy. The Treaty confiscated all of Germany’s overseas possessions. The army of half a million people was reduced to a volunteer defenses force of 100,000. Germany was to compensate France for the destructions of its coalmines. The German territory on the left bank of the Rhine and a 50 kilometer strip on the right were demilitarized and placed under Allied occupation for twelve years. Germany was also to take the complete blame for the war. The meeting to sign the treaty took place in the same Hall of Mirrors where the German Empire was declared in 1871. The Germans themselves were only present twice throughout the process of creating the treaty. Once on May 7th to receive the draft conditions and once on June 28th to sign the document. The Germans had one opportunity to show the new Weimar Republic. Count Ulrich von Bockdorff-Rantzau represented the Germans and made a very poor im pression. As Lloyd George’s secretary Phillip Kerr once said, â€Å"At the start everybody felt a little sympathetic with the Hun, but by the time Bockdorff-Rantzau had finished, most people were almost anxious to recommence