What were the weaknesses of the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 1

The problem was that everything was blamed on Germany. They were considered responsible for the damages and had to pay for it. Their overseas land and territories were taken away. They also had to reduce their army.This caused a lot of financial and economic problems in Germany. Their humiliation created bitterness that would grow over the next decades. This was an important cause of WW 2.

Answer 2

Enforcement. That's really the only thing that can be weak in any treaty.

It was a good idea, just not executed well.

The League of Nations was still recoiling from the terrible loss of life accompanying the first "World War", so they were too lenient on the madman Adolf Hitler, that...and that many people were afraid of the Soviet Communists far more than they were of the German Nazis.

So they let Hitler build up a ginormous army and brought crushing defeats on themselves, because they (League of Nations) were too pusillanimous to enforce what they wrote.

This problem was [sort of] rectified after WWII.
1. Despite Woodrow Wilson's plan for peace near the end of World War I, he failed to gain Congressional support for the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles was intended to be a peace agreement between the Allies and the Germans. However, once the negotiation of the Treaty, the Allies found they had conflicting ideas and motives surrounding the reparations and wording of the Treaty. The Treaty formally placed the responsibility for the war on Germany and its allies and imposed on Germany the burden of paying the debts of war. In addition to foreign opposition, Wilson couldn't even gain support for the treaty in the United States. Because of weaknesses in the treaty, domestic opposition, and failure to compromise, the treaty gained very little congressional support.

2. the Treaty humiliated Germany. The war-guilt clause forces Germany to accept sole responsibility for World War I. And although German militarism had played a major role in igniting the war, other countries in Europe had been guilty of provoking diplomatic crises before the war.

3.Russian government felt that the Treaty ignored its needs. In the Treaty, Russia was excluded from the peace conference, even though Russians had fought with the Allies for three year, and suffered higher casualties than any other country. There was also much dispute concerning the distribution of territory in the Treaty. The Treaty of Versailles established nine new countries, and changed many boundaries, and there was debate about the fairness.

4. if Wilson had been more willing to accept a compromise on the League, it is quite likely that the Senate would have approved the treaty. However, he was exhausted from his efforts at Versailles, and as a result, became more cold, aloof, and rigid than ever, and he refused to agree with any compromises. His exhaustion caused him to have a severe stroke in October of 1919, making him invalid for the rest of his life.

Answer 3

First of all, the Allies did not agree on it themselves. The USA in the end concluded a separate peace treaty with the Germans.

Secondly, the forced dissolution of the German army robbed the German government of a tool to keep order in an already chaotic post-war situation, and the disbanded army groups - with nowhere to go - turned into 'free corps', local armies controlled by their former commanders, now operating as independent war lords; which made an already bad situation even worse.

Thirdly, the Treaty gave away big parts of Germany's territory to newly established countries. This led to the forced expulsion of millions of Germans from their homes by the new Governments and to a refugee problem in Germany that dwarfs any of today's Immigration problems; again adding to the already chaotic situation in Germany

Finally, the Treaty forced huge and totally unrealistic damage payments on the Germans. These payments severally hampered Germany's chances for economic recovery and mostly created much resentment against the Allies. Something that Adolf Hitler later used in his rise to power and in his re-starting of the war in 1939.

Apart from the flaws of the Treaty itself was the fact - another weakness, if you will - that none of the Allies was in a position to enforce it, once Germany was back on its feet again. By the 1930s, the USA had decided not to get involved in any way in European affairs again, Britain had severely cut back on its army budget and was in no position to force Germany in any way and France only spent on defence fortifications and was mostly anxious not to antagonize Germany.

Answer 4

The weakness of the Treaty of Versailles were humiliation of Germany, ignoring of colonial interests and self-determination, and ignored the Russian Bolsheviks demands.