On the 28th June 1919 The Treaty of Versailles was signed after six months of negotiations at the Paris peace conference consisting of diplomats of more than thirty countries including President Woodrow Wilson of the United states, Prime Minister David Lloyd George of Great Britain and Georges Clemenceau of France, diplomats from Germany and Russia were not allowed to attend, however many representatives from various nations spanning the globe were in attendance each with their own agenda. The conference opened on January 18th 1919 and was for the next six months effectively the centre of world government, disbanding bankrupt nations creating new states, widening and narrowing borders, imposing sanctions for which Germany and its allies of the Great war came under the most scrutiny. Georges Clemenceau of France main goal was to weaken the military might and economy of Germany, as being witness to attacks on French soil by the Germans in the past, wanted guarantees that Germany could never be in a position to attack France again. Clemenceau also sought a guarantee of security from America and Britain in case of a German attack once again in France. Britain's approach to the conference and main objectives were to ensure the security of France, remove the threat of the German high seas fleet, set territorial contentions and gain support for the Wilsonians League of Nations. With the arrival of the Woodrow Wilson at this time the first serving United States President to visit Europe came with high hopes and expectation, with Wilson's diplomacy and fourteen points which had essentially brought the end of hostilities of World War One, much it seemed rested on Wilson and the United States. Conflicts of interest soon became a reality as the French and British refused to accept some specific points and its core principals of the Fourteen points, while Wilson argued that Article 231 of the treaty imposed on Germany was neither fair or warranted, the British and the French tried to appease the President by consenting to the establishment of the League of Nations, however as some of the leagues charter conflicted with the United States Constitution, America never joined the League of Nations and never ratified the Treaty Of Versailles, it would not be until 1921 when the USA would sign a separate Treaty with Germany and its defeated allies. On April 29th 1919 the German delegation arrived in Versailles under the leadership of the Foreign Minister Ulrich Graf Von Brockdorff - Rantzau, on May 7th the enormity of the sanctions imposed by the victors including the so called " War guilt clause" was dictated to the German delegates, Von Brockdorff-Rantzau replied, We know the full brunt of hate that confronts us here. You demand from us to confess we were the only guilty party of war, such a confession in my mouth would be a lie. After learning the full extent of the sanctions to be imposed the German government swiftly issued a protest for what it believed to be unfair demands and a "Violation of Honour" and quickly withdrew from the proceedings, Germany's first democratically elected chancellor Philipp Scheidemann refused to sign the treaty and in a passionate speech before the National Assembly called the treaty a Murderous plan then exclaimed "Which hand, trying to put us in chains like these, would not wither? The treaty is unacceptable" then swiftly resigned from office.
This article briefly details the events that led up to World War 2 and in particular the battles that the brave men and women fought.
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