There were high hopes from many that the Treaty of Versailles would bring about a lasting peace in the world and that World War I would be “the war to end all wars.” However, that proved to not be the case. There were several reasons for the treaty’s ultimate failure. The first reason was that Germany was not allowed to send representatives to Paris when the treaty was being negotiated. Because Germany had not been involved in the treaty’s negotiations, Germans felt like they had been treated unfairly in many ways and were very resentful (Goff et al., 2007).

A second reason for the failure of the treaty was the so-called “war guilt clause,” in which Germany had to agree that it was solely responsible for the war and the loss and damage caused by it. Germans did not believe this to be true and felt humiliated. Philipp Scheidemann, the leader of the German government, refused to sign the treaty because of this, but the Allies were unyielding. The Allies said that if Germany didn’t agree to assume all responsibility that the war would continue. Scheidemann resigned rather than agree to sign the treaty. The new leader of the German government, Gustav Bauer, had no choice but to agree to the treaty’s terms (Graebner & Bennett, 2011).

The third reason that the Treaty of Versailles failed was the extreme reparations Germany had to pay. Some of the Allies agreed with the Germans that the reparations were unduly harsh, but France’s leader George Clemenceau insisted on them. France and Germany had been at war before, and the French were wary of another war with Germany. Clemenceau wanted to weaken Germany by imposing heavy reparations. Germany could not afford such costly reparations, and they were taking a toll on its people. Germany’s economy after the war became more unstable and inflation was extremely high. Many Germans were starving. Germany also had to give up some of its land and population, including its colonies in Africa and the Pacific which brought in trade and its protectorates in the Ottoman empire (Graebner & Bennett, 2011).

Because of Germany’s poor economy and the deep resentment and humiliation that the Germans felt for the treaty, the stage was set for a nationalistic leader to take advantage of the situation and rise to power. Unfortunately, that leader was Adolf Hitler. He would ultimately lead Germany into another world war (Goff et al., 2007).

The fourth reason for the ultimate failure of the Treaty of Versailles was the failure of the newly-formed League of Nations. The League of Nations was formed to arbitrate international disputes and keep the world at peace. There were several challenges facing the League, including territorial disputes (the Aaland Islands and Upper Silesia), border skirmishes between countries (Greece and Bulgaria), a civil war in Turkey and, ultimately, another world war (Graebner & Bennett, 2011).

One of the primary factors that made it difficult for the League to form a lasting agreement that would prevent another war was that it did not have strong enforcement capabilities, specifically the ability to send in military troops to enforce its sanctions. It could also impose economic sanctions, but it could not enforce them. Another factor was that the most powerful nation in the world, the United States, did not agree to join. Many in the United States wanted to pursue an isolationist policy and not get involved in another country’s problems. Even though the League was strongly supported by President Woodrow Wilson, the U.S. Senate would not ratify the Treaty of Versailles (which established the League). Finally, the goal of the League of Nations was to have all nations join, but at its peak, the League had only 58 members. Many countries never joined and others only had short periods of membership (Goff et al., 2007).