Derek Jackson
Research Paper
The world wars of 1914-1918 and 1939-1945 are two of the darkest chapters in the long narrative of human history. The magnitude of death and destruction, as well as the depths of evil to which human nature sank during these two calamities, dwarfs that of anything previously recorded throughout history. Even today, almost seventy years later, humanity is still struggling to completely come to terms with the depths of evil to which human nature sank during these two catastrophes. Given the horrific destruction, was there any chance these catastrophes could be avoided? Since any quick study of European History will ultimately reveal a long history of constant warfare among the nations of Europe, it is reasonable to conclude that there would be a war at some point in the twentieth century. But, while World War I may have been unavoidable, World War II was not. The inevitability of World War II was only a direct result of the actions of the victorious Allied Powers, Britain, France, and America, following the conclusion of World War I. The Allied Powers, therefore, are ultimately responsible for the outbreak of World War II.
But why are the Allies ultimately responsible? After all, it is common knowledge that Germany, under Adolf Hitler, launched World War II by invading Poland on September 1st, 1939. Since Germany is the nation that actually initiated hostilities, why are the Allies still ultimately responsible for the outbreak of the war? To answer that question, we must look at the Treaty of Versailles, which formally ended World War I twenty years earlier.
While the Treaty of Versailles formally ended World War I, it carried within it the seeds of discontent that would plunge Europe into World War II a generation later. Drafted by the victorious Allied Powers of World War I, Britain, France, and America, Versailles’ main purpose was to “punish them [Germany] as the guilty nation responsible for destroying the peace,”...