A German Delegate to the Treaty of Versailles, Essay Example

The treaty of Versailles is hailed as the agreement that led to the ending of the First World War in 1918, after Germany and its Allied nations suffered defeat in the hands of the Central powers led by USA and Great Britain. Although the actual armistice that led to the cease fire was signed on 11 November, 1918, the Treaty of Versailles; a culmination of the Paris Pease Conference was signed six months later on 28 June, 1919 (Manfred and Gerald 36).

Among the many controversial provision of the Treaty was the clause that compelled Germany to take sole responsibility of initiating the war. Articles 231-248 (War Guilt Clauses), forced Germany to surrender the conquered territorial regions, to disarm and to compensate some affected countries. This treaty was not honored and by the mid 1930 and prior to the Second World War, the entire document gad been widely flouted. This pact was ideally meant conciliate, appease and permanently weaken the Germans. In their actions, the Central powers harbored conflicting and often competing aims that later proved to be cause the later conflicts which culminated to the Second World War in 1939.

Hermann Müller

Müller was one of the German delegates at this treaty. He was born on 18 May, 1876 in Mannheim, Germany. From 1919- 1920m Müller served and represented Germany as the Foreign Minister. He then served as the Chancellor twice; in 1920 and from 1928-1930. Müller died on March 20, 1931 as a result of gall bladder complications (Nicolson 25).

Together with Dr. Bell, Dr. Miller as the Foreign affairs minister of Germany represented his nations to the Treaty of Versailles. Ultimately, the two became the signatory of Germany to this treaty albeit being isolates and disgraceful. Upon arriving at the peace conference Muller was not happy with the kind of suspicion that Germany was received at. He was more specifically angry with the “War Guilt Clause” which compelled the Germans to admit the sole responsibility to the devastating effects of the First Would War both in and out of Germany. He confronted the leaders of the “Big Three”, Clemenceau of France, Lloyd George of Britain and the US president Woodley Wilson. He was bitter because Germany was not officially invited to be part of the discussion in the peace conference. This immediately prompted German government to raise a complaint on what it termed as unwarranted demands by three nations and a violation of the German honor. The treaty was condemned the entire German political fraternity especially on the specific clause that said that Germany was the sole initiator of the war. He consequently termed the treaty as Diktat i.e. “take- it- or- leave- it” since there was no counter consultations cone prior to the drafting of the treaty (Demarco 9).

Muller vehemently declined to admit that Germany was responsible for the actions prior and during the world war one. Although he conceded that there were some wrongs committed by the previous Germany administration, he urged also for the uniform considerations of the wrongs committed by the other nations also. Instead of negotiating for the basing on the fourteen points given out by President Wilson, he tried to exonerate the charges leveled against Germany and said it was difficult to honor such a treaty which turned pout to be true in the mid, 1930s (Andelman 56).

Conclusion

Perceived as the representatives of a militarized brutal administration, Dr. Muller and Dr. Bell sat quietly on the main hall in Versailles and after signing the document gig crashes and crowd cerebration was heard from outside.

Work Cited

Andelman, David. A Shattered Peace. London: J. Wiley, 2008.

Demarco, Neil. The World This Century. London: Collins Educational, 1997.

Manfred, F and Gerald, D The Treaty of Versailles: A Reassessment After 75 Years Washington, DC: German Historical Institute, 1998.

Nicolson, Harold. Peacemaking 1919. London: Simon Publications, 2001.