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1919年凡爾賽條約的缺失在什麼程度上導致了第二次世界大戰的爆發？解釋你的答案。
於第一次世界大戰後，戰勝國召開了巴黎和會制定對戰敗國的懲罰。和會中，以英、美、法為首的「三巨頭」為德國制定了嚴苛的凡爾賽和約，但和約於政治、經濟及領土方面的安排不當卻在大程度上導致了第二次世界大戰。以下，將先討論和約對於大戰爆發的重要性。
政治方面，凡爾賽和約的嚴苛安排促使了往後希特拉的崛起，成為大戰爆發的重要成因。由於《凡爾賽和約》極度苛刻，不但限制德國陸軍人數至10萬人，禁止擁有潛艇及空軍，更需要承擔所有戰爭罪責，使德人對戰勝國產生強烈的仇視情緒。同時，威瑪共和政府簽訂喪權辱國的條約，使其一上台就得不到人民的支持。在此情況下，納粹希特拉打著推翻《凡爾賽和約》的旗號而得到人民的廣泛支持，更於1933年上台後逐步推翻《凡爾賽和約》，如於1935年單方面廢除條約中有關限制軍事的條款，重新實行徵兵制及建立海、空軍。再者，由於德國希望恢復強國地位，故積極進行擴張及侵略，如1939年侵略捷克及入侵波蘭，終使二次大戰於德國的侵略下爆發。可見，和約的嚴苛安排造就了希特拉的崛起，使1939年的二次大戰爆發。
經濟方面，凡爾賽和約對德國的經濟打擊造成了成德國的不滿，日後發動侵略，導致大戰的爆發。在巴黎和會中，列強漠視德國的還款能力，要求德國賠償330億美元的天額款項，結果大大拖垮了德國的經濟，例如1923年德國就未能債還款項，結果遭到法國和比利時聯軍進佔魯爾區，使德國人極為不滿。此外，凡爾賽和約使德國損失了超過10%的人口和領土，而阿爾薩斯、洛林等煤礦重鎮也交還予法國，加上失去所有海外殖民地，令德國經濟雪上加霜。此一惡劣的經濟環境成為了希特拉崛起的溫床，希特拉上台後為了改善德國國內經濟狀況，尋找「生存空間」，所以不斷擴張，例如於1939年吞併捷克，取得更多的領土和資源，最終二次大戰在德國的接連侵略下爆發。可見，和約在經濟方面的安排不當導致了日後二次大戰的爆發。
領土方面，凡爾賽和約在領土安排上的缺失也埋下了日後大戰爆發的伏線。雖然巴黎和會中，美國總統提出了「民族自決」的原則，允許同一民族的人民獨立建國及獲得自治，例如在凡爾賽和約允許波蘭獨立，不用再受到外族統治。然而，「民族自決」的原則存有重大的缺失。首先，德國作為戰敗國而被排除出「民族自決」的原則外，禁止與同一民族的奧地利合併，列強更把日耳曼人居住的聚居地割讓予其他國家，例如擁有300萬人居住的蘇台德區交予捷克斯洛伐克，結果導致了德國的強烈不滿，成為1938年重新吞併蘇台德區的藉口。此外，和約忽視了勢力均衡的重大原則，新成立的民族小國過於弱小，缺乏強大的經濟及軍事實力以對抗周遭的列強，令其成為往後侵略者的目標，例如1939年德國和蘇聯就輕易瓜分了波蘭，成為大戰爆發的導火線。可見，和約在領土安排上的缺失導致了二次大戰的爆發。
雖然極權主義的興起、經濟大蕭條的影響和綏靖政策也導致了二次大戰爆發，但重要性不及凡爾賽和約的缺失。
其一，極權主義的興起也導致了二次大戰的爆發，但重要性不及凡爾賽和約的影響。極權國家的侵略行動一步一步地將世界推進戰火之中，如日本於1937年入侵中國，使亞洲的戰事爆發；德國的擴張更直接導致大戰的爆發，其先於1938年吞併奧地利及蘇台德區，後於1939年吞併捷克，最終，大戰於德國突襲波蘭後爆發。然而，就因果關係而言，軸心國的形成乃受到《凡爾賽條約》的影響，因德國作為軸心國的核心國，拉攏意、日結成「柏林—羅馬—東京軸心」(1937年)，但納粹主義在德國興起正正因為凡爾賽和約的缺失所導致。因凡爾賽和約對德國極為嚴苛，令日後希特拉打著推翻《凡爾賽和約》的口號而上台，並於上台後積極發動侵略，以取回和約中失去領土，最終導致大戰的爆發。 可見，凡爾賽和約才是導致大戰爆發的最重要因素。
其二，雖然經濟大蕭條對於二次大戰爆發有一定重要性，但亦不及凡爾賽和約的缺失為之重要。1929年的世界經濟大蕭條一方面使英、法等民主國家陷入經濟困境，迫使其於1930年代採綏靖政策以滿足侵略國的野心。同時，也造成了惡劣了的經濟環境，有助德國和日本的極權主義者取得政權，並進行對外擴張以恢復經濟，最終，導致二次大戰於連串侵略下爆發。然而，就因果關係而言，美國的經濟大蕭條因凡爾賽條約而連累德國，致使希特拉上台。由於凡爾賽和約中要求德國賠款330億美元的巨額賠款，結果令德國需要依靠美國的借貸計劃，包括「道茲計劃」(1924年)和「楊格計劃」(1929年)，結果當經濟大蕭條一出現，美國撤回對德國的貸款，造成連鎖反應，令德國失業人數多達600萬人，造成了希特拉的上台和往後的侵略出現。可見，凡爾賽和約的缺失較經濟大蕭條的影響重要。
其三，綏靖政策是導致大戰爆發的因素之一，但重要性亦不及凡爾賽和約的缺失。英法兩國採用綏靖政策，以退讓﹑妥協的外交手段試圖滿足侵略國的野心，如1938年慕尼黑會議中英法兩國將蘇台德區割讓予德，卻造成反效果，增加其侵略的野心，於1939年侵吞併捷克全境，導致大戰的來臨。然而，就因果關係而言，凡爾賽和約的缺失為綏靖政策的出現提供了重要的心理基礎。由於英國認為凡爾賽和約對德國的安排過於苛刻，因此令日後英國傾向同情德國，認為德國只是取回其應有的權益，結果對德採取綏靖政策，例如德國於1935年重新實行徵兵制及擴建海軍時，英國不但未有制止德國，更與德國簽訂《英德海軍協定》，允許其擴建海軍。可見，凡爾賽和約的缺失較綏靖政策更為重要。
總括而言，凡爾賽和約的缺失導致了往後納粹希特拉的上台及侵略，在大程度上導致了第二次世界大戰的爆發。雖然有其他導致大戰爆發的因素，但此等因素的重要性不及凡爾賽和約的缺失重要。
To what extent did the defects of the Versailles Settlement of 1919 cause the Second World War? Explain your answer.
After the First World War, the victorious nations held the Paris Peace Conference so as to determine the punishments imposed to the defeated nations. In the conference, the Big Three, which was headed by Britain, the US and France, enacted the harsh Treaty of Versailles to Germany. However, the defects of the Versailles Settlement in the political, economic and territorial aspects to a large extent led to the Second World War. Below, the importance of the treaty in leading to the outbreak of war would be first discussed.
In the political aspect, the harsh arrangement of the Treaty of Versailles fostered the rise of Hitler and became one of the most important reasons leading to the outbreak of war. The Treaty of Versailles《凡爾賽和約》 was extremely harsh to Germany, it limited the number of soldiers to 100,000, restricted the owning of submarine and air force. Worse still, Germany was forced to bear all war responsibility and this sparked off Germans desire to take revenge to the victorious nations. At the same time, the Weimar Republic威瑪共和政府 signed the humiliating treaty, making it failed to obtain support from people since it rose to power. Under this circumstance, Nazi Hitler希特拉 gained huge popularity with his goal of overthrowing the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler gradually overthrew the Treaty after he rose to power in 1933. For instance, Germany unitarily abolished the clauses on restricting the military power in 1935. He reintroduced conscription徵兵制 and set up navy and air force. Worse still, in order to resume Germany status as a world power, she actively expanded and invaded. For example, Germany invaded Czechoslovakia捷克and Poland波蘭 in 1939 and this directly led to the Second World War. This showed that the harsh Treaty of Versailles prompted the rise of Hitler and led to the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939.
Economically, the Treaty of Versailles sparked the discontent of Germany with the great damage to economy. Germany later initiated invasions and led to the outbreak of a world war. In the Paris Peace Conference, the powers neglected Germany’s ability to repay debts and demanded her to pay a great sum of USD$33 billion. It greatly harmed the German economy. For instance, Germany failed to repay debt in 1923. As a result, joint army from France and Belgium invaded the Ruhr魯爾 and caused great dissatisfaction of Germans. Apart from that, the Treaty of Versailles made Germany lost more than 10% population and territories. Also, important industrial cities including Alsace-Lorraine阿爾薩斯、洛林 were returned to France. Worse still, Germany lost all of her overseas colonies and this worsened her economy. The poor economic situation became a breeding ground of the rise of Hitler. In order to improve the internal economic problems, Hitler initiated invasions to strive for ‘living space’ 「生存空間」 after his rose to power. For instance, he annexed Czechoslovakia捷克 in 1939 and seized more territories and resources. As a result, the Second World War broke out under numerous invasions. This showed that the defects of the Versailles Settlement in the economic aspects led to the outbreak of Second World War in future.
As for territories, the territorial arrangement of the Treaty of Versailles paved the way to the outbreak of world war. In the Paris Peace Conference, the US President raised the Principle of National Self-Determination「民族自決」 which allowed people of the same race to build an independent nation and got their autonomy. For instance, the Treaty of Versailles allowed the independence of Poland波蘭 and she did not have to be ruled by other races. However, huge loopholes existed in this principle. Firstly, as a defeated nation, Germany was being excluded from the Principle of National Self-Determination. She was banned from annexing with Austria which shared the same ethnicity. The powers even ceded the land where lived Germans to other places. For instance, the Sudetenland蘇台德區 which lived 3-million people was given to Czechoslovakia and this sparked the dissatisfaction of Germany. This became a pretext for her to annex Sudetenland in 1938. Apart from that, the treaty neglected the balance of power勢力均衡 of the world. New small and weak states were established and they lacked great economic and military strength to counterbalance the invasion of powers. They later became the targets of aggressors. For instance, Germany and Soviet Union easily divided Poland波蘭 in 1939 and this became a major incident leading to the outbreak of Second World War. This showed that the loopholes existed in the territorial arrangement paved way to the outbreak of another world war.
Although the rise of totalitarianism, effects of the Great Depression and appeasement policy also paved way to the outbreak of Second World War, their significance was less than that of the defects of the Versailles Settlement.
Firstly, the rise of totalitarianism led to the outbreak of Second World War but it had less significance than the defects of the Versailles Settlement. Aggressions of totalitarian states gradually pushed the world towards wars. For instance, Japan invaded China in 1937 and sparked off wars in Asia; expansion of Germany even directly led to the outbreak of a world war. She first annexed Austria奧地利 and Sudetenland蘇台德區 in 1938 and later got Czechoslovakia捷克 in 1939. Eventually, the world war broke out after Germany assaulted Poland波蘭. However, in terms of casuality, the Axis Powers were formed under the influence of the Versailles Treaty. Germany, as a core nation of the Axis, lured Italy and Japan to form the “Berlin-Rome-Tokyo Axis” 「柏林—羅馬—東京軸心」(1937). However, the rise of Nazism in Germany was directly due to the problems brought by the Treaty of Versailles. Treaty of Versailles was extremely harsh to Germany and led to Hitler rise of power. This allowed Hitler to rise to power by promoting his aim of overthrowing the treaty. After his rose to power, he actively initiated aggressions so as to get back the lost land from the treaty. A World War was thus occurred. This showed that the Treaty of Versailles was the major factor leading to the outbreak of war.
Secondly, the Great Depression contributed to the outbreak of the Second World War but had less significance than the defects of the Versailles Settlement. Great Depression in 1929 on one side caused some democratic states such as Britain and France to be fallen into economic crisis and forced them to adopt the appeasement policy綏靖政策 in the 1930s to satisfy the aggressions of invaders. At the same time, it created a poor economic environment which facilitated totalitarists such as Germany and Japan to grab the political powers. These countries adopted foreign expansion to recover the economy. At the end, Second World War broke out under numerous invasions. However, in terms of causality, the American Great Depression could get Germany involved and promote the rise of Hitler because of the Treaty of Versailles. As the Treaty of Versailles demanded Germany to repay a huge indemnity of USD $33 billion, Germany needed to rely on the loans of the US, such as ‘Dawes Plan’「道茲計劃」(1924) and ‘Young Plan’ 「楊格計劃」(1929). As a result, when the Great Depression occurred, the US retreated the loans granted to Germany. A chain effect occurred and the unemployed population of Germany rose to 6 million. This paved way for the rise of Hitler and the occurrence of the invasions later. This showed that the defects of the Versailles Settlement were more important than the effects of the Great Depression.
Thirdly, the appeasement policy was a reason leading to the outbreak of world war, but it was less significant than the defects of the Versailles Settlement. Britain and France adopted the appeasement policy which used the diplomatic ways of giving in to satisfy the ambition of aggressors. For instance, in the Munich Conference慕尼黑會議 in 1938, Britain and France ceded the Sudetenland蘇台德區 to Germany. As a result, an adverse impact was created and the ambition of aggressors increased. They annexed the whole of Czechoslovakia捷克 in 1939 and led to the outbreak of war. However, in terms of cause-result relationship, the problems of the Treaty of Versailles provided an important psychological foundation for the appearance of appeasement policy. As Britain believed that the Treaty of Versailles was too harsh to Germany, Britain tended to sympathize Germany and think that she was just getting back the benefits Germany deserved. As a result, appeasement policy was adopted to Germany. For instance, when Germany reintroduced conscription徵兵制 in 1935 and expanded the navy, Britain did not stop her. Instead, the Anglo-German Naval Agreement《英德海軍協定》 was signed with Germany and allowed her to expand her army. This showed that the defects of the Versailles Settlement were more important than the appeasement policy.
To sum up, the defeats of the Versailles Settlement led the later rise of Hitler and numerous invasions. It is to a large extent led to the outbreak of Second World War. Although other factors also contributed to the outbreak of a world war, they are less important than the defects of the Versailles Settlement.
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