The Conference of Versailles and the Potsdam Conference

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The Conference of Versailles (1919) and the Potsdam Conference (1945): a comparison
Introduction
The process of peacemaking gained much impetus in the 20th century following escalating conflicts that led to WWI and WWII. As such, the peace conferences of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles and the 1945 Potsdam Conference are important to understand the changing dynamics of international relations. These Conferences defined an era where peacemaking was associated with creation of new international orders following inter-state wars. The peace conferences established gains and losses resulting from war, legitimized war outcomes and reaffirmed the international norms and conventions (Wennman 3). Nonetheless, the agreements associated with the conferences merely represented the short-term views of peace from the victors’ point of view and not dissuasion from using armed forces to bring long-term peace. This is a comparison essay between the Conference of Versailles (1919) and the Potsdam Conference (1945).
Conference mandate
The Conference of Versailles was signed during the WWI period, whereby Germany agreed to accept responsibility for the war escalation. This conference was an attempt to end the War and bring peace especially into Europe. Although the parties did not get all they wanted in the Conference there was agreement on the need to halt any more war efforts. Consequently, Germany suffered the loss of some of their territories while their armed forces were disbanded and they were to pay for reparations. Even though the Conference set the terms for the end of the Great War, France, Italy, United Kingdom and the United States dominated proceedings.
Germany’s surrender and the subsequent occupation by the allied forces meant that the countries had to decide the fate of Germany after WWII. The Potsdam Conference was convened to reach agreement on how to deal with Germany. Even though, the general consensus was to have the country remain united, there was division into different territories under the allied forces. The setting up of borderlines to define Germany’s border with the Poland and territories under the Soviet Union were similar to efforts in the Conference of Versailles. As such, in both cases, Germany lost out territories under the peacemaking agreements especially under the Conference of Versailles (Magana). In the 1919 Conference the country lost land to France, Poland, Belgium, Denmark and Czechoslovakia.
Potsdam Conference (1945) also had similarities with the Conference of Versailles, since there was a need to determine the question of Germany and bring peaceful coexistence among European countries. As such, it was necessary for the Conference meeting to lay out the policy to be adopted for the countries affected. Equally, the major players in the global political scene dictated the terms of agreements associated with the conference, Britain, the U.S and the Soviet Union the negotiated terms for the end of WWI, and conference continued discussion form the Yalta Conference which happened in the same year (U.S. Department of State).
German, reparations and the conferences
The Conference of Versailles further highlighted on the need to create the League of Nations as well as peace treaties to deal with the deserted enemies. Hence, the Conference helped to draft terms on the issue of war prisoners, and the decisions of the four major world players as well as Japan were subsequently ratified by the other countries at the Conference. Given that the other countries accepted the conditions identified as well as the Treaty of Versailles, It emphasized the role of Europe as a major player in international relations. However in the case of Germany the scale back on their armed forces meant that they suffered indignation of having to accept responsibility for the war, and this created resentment among Germans who felt that the conditions were excessively punitive to the country (Sharp 22).
In the Potsdam Conference the question of Germany was also of interest following the surrender of the country and the triumph of the Allies. Even though there was no escalating violence in Germany after WWI, the post war peace process also called for cooperation similar to the Conference of Versailles. There was agreement that there was need for reparations, but it was less certain how this would be carried out and the extent to which Germany would pay. On one hand the British and the Americans favored payment to their banks, but the Soviet favored payments to offset for losses incurred during the conflict. Under both conferences the agreement was for the victors demanded reparations form Germany as part of the peace settlement (Williams 166). In essence, both conferences highlighted on repatriations with regards to Germany but differed on the manner in which to carry this out.
Dissatisfaction with outcomes of the conferences
The defeated countries during WWI were discontented with the outcome of the conference of Versailles, since there were not provided with the opportunity to participate in the conference. Under the agreements they were to accept the treaty terms without question. Germany seemed to have suffered more loss from the Treaty of Versailles. Equally, under the Potsdam Conference the vanquished accepted the terms unilaterally, but the war guilt- part only affected Germany in both cases. In the words, the case for settlement in German was decided to contain Germany even when the Germans did not benefit directly form the terms of agreement. Nonetheless, Germany had no viable political leadership during the Potsdam Conference meaning that they were less likely to protest against the terms of agreement compared to 1919.
In the conference of Versailles, none of the parties felt satisfied with the outcome of proceedings. Dissatisfaction with the provisions may have led to the rise of National Socialism in Germany as the country set to regain its lost glory (Sharp 25). Protests by Germans against the agreement were futile, but the country went on to amass a stockpile of weapons and get aggressive in territorial expansion of Europe. In essence, this highlights the perils to taking into account the interest of all the people while signing peace agreement. It is not possible to bring everyone on board to agree the right framework to govern the peace process.
On the other hand, in the Potsdam Conference there was agreement that German wou...