Binding: Paperback
Description: Signed on June 28, 1919 between Germany and the principal Allied powers the Treaty of Versailles formally ended World War I. Problematic from the very beginning even its contemporaries saw the treaty as a mediocre compromise creating a precarious order in Europe and abroad and destined to fall short of ensuring lasting peace. At the time observers read the treaty through competing lenses: a desire for peace after five years of disastrous war demands for vengeance against Germany the uncertain future of colonialism and most alarmingly the emerging threat of Bolshevism. A century after its signing we can look back at how those developments evolved through the twentieth century evaluating the treaty and its consequences with unprecedented depth of perspective. The author of several award - winning books Michael S. Neiberg provides a lucid and authoritative account of the Treaty of Versailles explaining the enormous challenges facing those who tried to put the world back together after the global destruction of the World War I. Rather than assessing winners and losers this compelling book analyzes the many subtle factors that influenced the treaty and the dominant at times ambiguous role of the " Big Four" leaders: Woodrow Wilson of the United States David Lloyd George of Great Britain Vittorio Emanuele Orlando of Italy and Georges Cl menceau of France. The Treaty of Versailles was not solely responsible for the catastrophic war that crippled Europe and the world just two decades later but it played a critical role. As Neiberg reminds us to understand decolonization World War II the Cold War and even the complex world we inhabit today there is no better place to begin than with World War I and the treaty that tried and perhaps failed to end it.
Title: The Treaty Of Versailles: A Very Short Introduction
Author(s): Neiberg Michael S. (Chair In War Studies Chair In War Studies Us Army War College)
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc
Barcode: 9780190644987
Pages: 144 Pages, 10 Halftones
Publication Date: 3/25/2019
Series: Very Short Introductions
Category: Treaties & Other Sources Of International Law