WI: Versailles Treaty no.2: Germany treated softer than OTL

The main criticism of the infamous Treaty of Versailles seems to be that it was harsh enough on Germany to greatly anger them, but not harsh enough to prevent them from becoming a power again. This half of my WI asks what would happen if Wilson's 14 points were adhered to more than OTL resulting in a less harsh treatment for Germany.

As for the actual terms of the treaty, I'll leave that to your discretion, but it seems possible that Germany might be allowed to negotiate terms with the Allied Powers and come out with Alsace-Lorraine as their only major territorial loss. Poland would still be created, but without the Polish Corridor cutting off East Prussia and no free city of Danzig being created. War reparations might be fixed at a much more bearable amount and the Anschluss with Austria might even be OK'd

What do you folks think might have happened from such a scenario?
 

wormyguy

Banned
The Treaty of Frankfurt was incredibly lenient, given how the Franco-Prussian War started and ended, and it didn't prevent revanchisme one iota. The only peace that would be "soft" enough that there would be little to no German resentment would be one that restored an effective status quo ante bellum, and that's simply not happening.
 
ok .. 4th time this week..


Germany was the upstart in WW1.. it fought the best.. it held the line on its own.. Germany didn't start WW1 and i wish for gods sake that it was finally written into the history books.


ok.. next point.. A-H was ill prepared for the demon it unleashed and ultimately scummed and was torn asunder for it...

now to the meat of the matter..

more favorable terms...

would be status quo.. or at the least stripping colonies and allowing anchsluss to occur in 1919 - early 20's.

what would that achieve?


a united German nation.. it wold strip some of the right wing from he political scene..

of course you still have the communist specter in the background that could throw a monkey wrench into the works at any moment.



Here is the problem..

Germany was way to strong and nationalistic for the age.. it was like the 20 ton semi coming down the road to run your made in France car over.

WW2 was inevitable.. too much anger and disappointment remains esp after almost any western treaty. If your goal is to avoid the luncacies of WW2 with only militaries going at it.. then fine.. but your still going to get a WW2 once Germany gears up.. its pissed and it wants vengeance for a war it should have won on its own...


The rest of Europe kept Germany down and fractured for hundreds of years then pisses and moans when it rises to bite it in the butt .. feh and fooo.. gets old.. Germany was screwed.. the logical reaction was what took place minus the racial genocidal idiocy.

at the minimum .. you want to avoid WWII ..

German central Europe needs to be one nation. unfortunately for modern Poland .. Prussia doesn't get chopped up.. ( but at the same time being polish-german is encouraged.. sorry poland..

the second part of the equation.. France needs to understand that Napoleon is dead and they need to stay in France.

I never understood why everyone went to German lands for kinds and queens for their respective nations but at the end of the day the German people are the evil vile of the planet..

ww1 .. germany should have won early
wwII i hate nazis and no matter what the need to loose for humanities sake.




now try the search button or at least go 2 or 3 pages back and read.. this topic is rehashed once ever other day
 
The only peace that would be "soft" enough that there would be little to no German resentment would be one that restored an effective status quo ante bellum, and that's simply not happening.

This.

I suppose that if they actually wanted to limit resentment, they could try punishing in the West but giving in the east. Like Austria can join Germany, give former Russian Poland and some of the Baltics to Germany, but at the same time they lose AL and have a large amount of repartitions to pay. But fat chance of that happening.
 
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