I fixed the Treaty of Versailles! (Face Reveal)

INFO:

The Treaty of Versailles is one of the most controversial peace agreements in history. Both sides have valid gripes with the peace but many believe it was too harsh on Germany. Today, I am trying to fix the Treaty of Versailles. What if the treaty of Versailles was fair? I fixed the treaty of Versailles!

Timestamps
0:00 My thoughts
7:35 My goals
13:10 Events throughout the Treaty
19:18 Belgium
25:22 France
30:45 Poland
41:11 Lithuania
46:53 Latvia
48:39 Part 2-Coming Soon?

#history #ww1 #greatwar #treatyofversailles #peacetreaty #alternatehistory #ww2 #hoi4 #ck3 #victoria3 #eu4 #germanhistory #frenchhistory

[kylezdancewicz]

Completely partitions Luxembourg
“This might be a little harsh on Luxembourg”

[sgvufhh]

Why does he look so disgusted when he looks at the camera.

[tylerinot]

Suggestion : What if the Byzantines repelled the Arab Invasions

[NotRealOoccaTrust]

Why did I actually think he was going to be an old bearded man with an orange background

[rmartinson]

To be fair to the Germans during the war, they actually didn't have a solid endgame planned for how spoils and land would be distributed. They really didn't have any kind of endgame planned for any of it actually, which is a little surprising considering the Prussian's usual penchant for intensive planning. The territorial claims you cited as the German plan for post-war reparations and concessions is a combination of several proposals put forward by elements within the German Imperial hierarchy, none of which were eve officially agreed upon with the exception of Brest-Litovsk. And even then, there was intense confusion over how far the new borders would extend, because the specifics of who occupied what in the Brest-Litovsk treaty were already outdated by the time it was signed. Plus there are some indications that the treaty which was signed was not actually intended to be the final draft, but that someone rushed it out so they could have SOMETHING signed, which left the German authorities scratching their heads at how the treaty didn't match up with the reality on the ground, nor with what they'd actually hoped to accomplish with it, hence the way it was "disregarded" in order to recognize more land as independent of Russia (which had likely been the closest thing they had to an actual plan before someone jumped the gun with Brest-Litovsk).

As for French teritorial concessions, that was all purely hypothetical, and was one of several evolving proposals being floated inside the German high command during the war. It was the harshest though, so people latched onto it after the war to present it as THE German plan for Europe, despite the fact that it was never firmly agreed on and was in competition with several other proposals. The same is true for Belgium, which you sort of addressed, as well as for Africa, where there was a lot of disagreement over how much to take, and what Mittelafrika should even look like (or whether it should even exist). Then there was the Austrian question, which played into the confusion over Brest-Litovsk, since the death of Franz Joseph and the abysmal performance of the Austro-Hungarian military during the war threw the entire post-war map of Europe into question. What territories (if any) should be ceded to Austria-Hungary? Would there even BE an Austria-Hungary to cede territory to? Had their poor performance been enough to justify reneging on early-war agreements in regards to their claims in Poland? The reality was that neither side had any clear idea of what they wanted the map to look like when the war ended. The only point of absolute certainty was that France wanted Alsace-Lorraine back. Everything else was up in the air and up for debate for all parties until ink was put to paper at Versailles.

[dushmanmardom]

One sidenote about Kashubians: majority sided with Poland... but when Poland came, most regretted it. Polish parliamentary committee even noted, that ages of germanisation did not make the Kashubians sympathise with Germany as much as Polish army did in one year.

[ChancellorMarx]

The problem with Germany's borders, especially with France, is that France has had a territorial state for several centuries and Germany has had one for a few decades. It is therefore difficult to determine who has the right to what, since until 1815 France was not faced with a major power in the Rhine area that could prevent the annexation of German territories. In the end, the only solution for peace would be the Saarland solution. So democratic votes in which the people are allowed to decide for themselves and nothing is forced on them by emperors or politicians.
Still an interesting video with well developed ideas

[EnclaveStormXL]

What if the Congress of Vienna was more harsh (1814)

[achaeanmapping]

"Let's make the Treaty of Versailles more fair!"

Proceeds to make the most imperialist treaty imaginable:

[trappy]

"what if the treaty of versailles was fair"
>proceeds to cause the Dutch to become the most fiercely anti-entente nation in the region
good job man

[trotfox]

I have some doubts about the effectiveness of Versailles in determining any borders east of the Vistula. If I recall correctly those borders are mainly decided by the Polish Soviet War and the Russian Civil War, not the Paris Peace Conference

[The-Army-Snake]

How could giving away Dutch and Luxembourgish land even be remotely justified? They didn’t participate in the war, it’d be ridiculous to expect them to cede that much land and is just an insanely unrealistic ask.

At that point you’re practically pushing the Dutch into fascism and painting the entente as imperialists who are just concerned with expanding their power. How can anyone trust the entente if they’re going around and forcing their way on neutral countries?

[mr.d]

*Then Hitler wouldn't need to lie when he said it was harsh.*

[thevettegetsitwett]

Pretty biased considering Germany offered several far better and more fair peace deals to the Russians who continued refusing them until their soldiers just stopped fighting at all. Germany could have taken all those resource rich areas from the French after the Franco Prussian war but did not as they wanted a friendly France but did not get that. That was germanys error not crippling France after the war. Back to the world war Woodson points were clear and Germany agreed to peace based on these points. Then all those Germans who should have been allowed to join Germany as they wanted to. Places with a German majority should have become part of Germany and it’s weird that Germany gets bigger after a war but they would lose their colonies, pay reparations and most importantly have lost their Allies. Perhaps Germany would not have been so hostile had the points been followed that people will belong to the country that makes the most sense instead of just drawing lines on a map and making new borders. We seen how great those random lines on maps worked out in the Middle East, thanks a lot France & Britain for that btw.

[ovca]

I don't really think, that it's fair giving Belgium land of Netherland just because they were neutral and Germans chose to not invade them. It's almost like beating up neigbgour's kid after his father beat you up

[justagreekhistorian]

Now I see, your profile picture is just you with a beard hahahaha Also I must say, your voice sounds so happy like I always imagined you smiled during the recordings, it's so weird looking at this lmao
As per the treaty, I mostly agree except for the parts where Belgium expands into the Netherlands, that seems a bit weird considering the Dutch were neutral during the war? But other than that, pretty good

[anonymousstock]

As a point of military strategy, this plan creates a strong position for the Entente, particularly France and Poland, so I'd say the strategic goals of an Entente victory are met. While there are some contentions I have over the western borders, particularly in regards to the Netherlands, I consider the proposal reasonable enough in the interest of Belgian reparation and French security for it to be considered fair.
My main skepticism comes from the Polish conditions, or more just in the way you presented them. The Silesian division is fine for the outermost subdivisions, but the transfer of the middle division into Poland, bar the obvious industrial and military benefits, is a tenuous prospect for incorporation into a Polish state wholly, so a further division may have been in order. The Posen transfer is reasonable and your points well justified, so I have little contention on that point and the same, surprisingly to me goes for the Polish strip, bar Mecklenberg which I consider mildly overstretching as a claim. The meat of my issues with this proposal come in the styling of the Polish control of these territories as being more humane than the alternative, particularly in the bit discussing how Poland would not have engaged in German deportations or cultural repression. Regardless of the origins of the German settlers, their presence in the region should not have been swept under the rug so casually. If a group existed that did not wish to be ruled by the Poles, there would be animosity between the peoples, and in such case of escalation, the government of Poland would have to respond through either crackdowns or deportation for national security if nothing else. Furthermore, I find it unlikely that Poland would have the inclination to rule with a light hand following the centuries of German domination, so it's far from unlikely that a similar nationalistic sentiment would spring up and use Germans as a primary target for a common enemy to promote national unity. In sum, it just feels like a significant change of tone from the western borders that seemed fairly reasoned, if a bit controversial, to some segments of the Polish section that gave an impression of "Germany bad in past, Poland should be big, Germans should kick rocks, Poles better rulers". I recognize this may be an unintentional aspect of the segment, or simply my own perspective on it, but I felt I should voice it anyway.
Lastly, I found the idea of the USPL initally unrealistic, but on second consideration it seems if not likely than at least reasonable, and it is an interesting idea to pursue. I do consider the Eastern borders to be a source of contention with Belorussian and Ukrainian ambitions in future, so I believe it would be more realistic to have either the greater USPL or a more cohesive Intermarium, but not both together.
Overall though, I did enjoy the vid and look forward to the next one. Good job 👍

[tomas.blitzgod]

Add Bushy Eyebrows to your Profile on YT so it looks like you in 50 years lol, btw great vid

[markshakespeare]

When discussing Versailles, the Author mentions that the vast majority of German losses were non Germans. He fails to draw the same conclusion with Brest Litovsk as the vast majority of Russian losses were non Russians

[utilisateurdegoogle]

To cut a long story short: Everybody's unhappy