The Versailles Peace Treaty failed to distribute or apportion the blame for causing World War I properly.  By the War Guilt Clause, the settlement put it on Germany that she was solely or entirely responsible for the outbreak of the World War I and all the losses incurred by the Allied Powers.  This left the Germans very bitter because even the Allied Powers had contributed to the outbreak of the war and therefore the Germans wanted to revenge. This undermined efforts towards promoting international peace.

The Versailles Peace Treaty of 1919 failed to disarm other powers.  As already noted, Germany lost her navy, air force and the number of soldiers was reduced to only 100,000 soldiers.  While Germany was disarmed, the victorious nations did not disarm themselves and were now a threat to Germany.  Consequently, in the 1930s Germany embarked on re-armament programmes so as to defend herself, thus resulting into military competition that eventually led to the outbreak of World War II by 1939.

The treaty failed to cater for German’s economic interests because it over exploited her which led to the collapse of the German economy. On top of the loss of her overseas colonies like South West Africa (Namibia) to South Africa, Tanganyika and part of Cameroon to Britain as well as Togo and part of Cameroon to France, Germany was asked to pay a very high war indemnity or fine of 6.6 billion pounds.  This was too much for a country which had just been at war when even her industries were destroyed.  It therefore left the Germans bitter with the allied powers. This bitterness eventually forced Germany to provoke the Allied Powers into World War II by 1939.

The Versailles Peace Treaty of 1919 was dictated onto the Germans to sign which caused discontent, hence undermining efforts towards peace.  It was Britain, France and USA who arranged this treaty and dominated the major issues in the settlement. The treaty therefore caused discontent because the Germans were not called to the discussions and they therefore regarded it very unfair.

The Versailles Peace Treaty of 1919 undermined the Weimar Republic. This was the newly republican government that had been established in Germany in 1919 following the abdication and subsequent escape of Kaiser William II to Holland in 1918. It was therefore this Weimar Republic that accepted the harsh terms of the Versailles Peace Treaty of 1919 on behalf of the Germans. Consequently, it was blamed to have concluded the fighting too early and accepting that Germany was a weak and defeated nation.  It therefore lost popularity among the Germans and it started getting serious opposition. This made it very weak which eventually led to its collapse by 1933.

The Versailles Peace Treaty of 1919 created several independent states that later became a problem and this was a major failure. It created Poland, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.  This increased on the number of states in Eastern Europe. This consequently increased on the boarders thus creating many tariff points to cross.  This later created trade problems.

The treaty failed to check on the German re-armament programmes. While the Versailles peace treaty disarmed Germany, it did not put up measures to stop Germany from re-arming herself in the later years yet this was highly expected.  Consequently, in the 1930s Germany under Adolf Hitler started re-arming herself to the level of the Allied Powers. When this was done, Germany became very aggressive which threatened international peace again and eventually led to the outbreak of World War II in 1939.

The treaty failed to cater for Italy and Japan. It should be noted that Italy and Japan had fought with the Allied Powers against Germany up to 1919 when she was defeated with her allies. However, according to the Italians the rewards given to their country by the Versailles peace treaty were not commensurate to the efforts they had put in during World War I. For example, no single German colony was given to Italy yet Britain and France took over Tanganyika and Togo among others respectively.  The same was true with Japan. Italy and Japan therefore became very bitter and therefore they later decided to form an alliance of the Axis Powers (Italy, Germany and Japan). This revived the alliance system in Europe which eventually sparked off World War II in 1939.

It led to the rise of Fascist or dictatorial regimes in Germany and Italy.  In Germany, Adolf Hitler de-campaigned the Versailles Peace Treaty of 1919 and therefore he received massive support from the Germans which enabled him to take over power from the Weimar Republic in 1933.  In Italy, Benito Mussolini was given support because of his criticism of the unfairness of the Versailles Peace Treaty to Italy. This assisted him to over throw the liberal and democratic government and he established a dictatorial regime in Italy in 1922. These two leaders became very aggressive which undermined peace in Europe and eventually sparked off World War II in 1939.

The Versailles peace treaty of 1919 failed to ensure lasting peace in Europe because it led to the outbreak of World War II in 1939. The treaty sowed seeds of World War II because countries like Germany and Italy wanted to undo or change the settlement which they considered unfair. For example, Germany later invaded Poland and Czechoslovakia which had German nationals that had been included in those countries by the Versailles peace treaty. This was interpreted as aggression and the Allied Powers therefore decided to declare war on Germany in 1939.

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