Millions perished and countless cities razed to ground and mankind witnessed the war and conflict in a design that was previously unknown to humanity, the First World War changed the way people perceived war and death. There are still conflicting theories as to what actually triggered the war and what could have prevented this greatest tragedy in human history, but there are no two opinions about the fact that WWI paved the way for another equally devastating Second World War in just a couple of decades.
Historians suggest that although the circumstances that led to the First World War were monumentally ambiguous due to the involvement of almost all the Empires of the worlds, however the way it was ended was pretty much controllable.
The treaty of Versailles that officially ended the First World War, brought celebrations and jubilation across Allied Europe but wreaked psychological havoc on the defeated nations. The most prominent nation that was humiliated to the core according to some historians was Germany. The famously known ‘clause of guilt’ article 231 of the treaty, brought shame and humiliation to the Germans by forcing Germany to accept the full responsibility of initiating the war. World leaders feared that Germany could regain its military might and economic stability in no less than a decade and could potentially start another world war. To counter this fear or paranoia, world leaders put huge war debts on Germany along with strict restriction on the number of troops and acquisition of weapons.
It was not the so called ‘Final Solution’ or call for the mythical ‘Third Reich’ that gave Nazi party the edge and boost in German politics, rather it was this humiliation and disgust brought on German people by the treaty of Versailles that led to the rise of Nazi party.
Hitler championed the restoration of German honor and glory, something that massively resonated with the common Germans. It was pretty obvious that Germany was not solely responsible for all the death and destruction during the First World War, but it was singled out and punished rather harshly to make a point. But this decision proved to be a monumental mistake on part of the world leaders and led to another war with much more gruesome consequences for the future of humanity, the Business Insider reports.
It took Germany 92 years to pay back the war debt imposed on her by the world leaders. Modern Germany is clearly leading the European Union with an upright stature anxd a visible dominance. It is hard to believe that less than a hundred years ago this nation was humiliated to the core and many intellectuals thought that Germans could never stand up on their feet for centuries, clearly they were wrong.