WWII

[DeistPaladin]

Actually, the German general staff saw there was no way to win the war, and perceived there could be no peace while kaiser stayed, so more are less informed the kaiser that the kaiser is kaiser no more. The kaiser took the hint and abdicated. The GermanS peoples didn't build any fledglin democracy. Wilson indicted there could be no peace unless German government was democratic, so the German general staff consented to the manufacture of an instant democracy to order.

Hm, perhaps the history I studied in high school was wrong. My understanding was a socialist coalition was in charge when the war ended.

Then again, perhaps as an American, I'm too quick to ascribe a new democracy to "the people rising up and overthrowing the former dictator."

On the other hand, the rape at Versailles is inevitable on account of the fact that it really was France that shouldered the bulk of the burden of fighting the Germans and made the largest sacrifice. The germans were absolute bastards in Belgium and occupied portions of France. They systematically burned historic libraries, dynamited French culture treasures out of spite, purposely dismentalled French factories to loot and to move to Germany, and destroyed French mines and other fixed assets as they retreated after the armistice to prevent French from using them after the war. The French wanted blood as reprisal. So let's not be to generous to the Germans with what are justifiable French deserts.

Again, this is another side of history I hadn't seen before. I'd thought it was the human casualties of war which was the motive for the harsh treaty. Understandable but soldiers die in war so that alone seemed a hollow motive to the pillage of a defeated nation.

Still, the harsh punishment of a people for the war crimes of the generals doesn't seem like just deserts to me. It's the crippling reparations in particular that I would have changed (or reduced). It destroyed the German economy and created the desperation of a people. The loss of territory or some reparations go with the territory of losing a war but when reparations are projected stretch so heavily over two generations, that's over the top.