Treaty of Versailles Trial

Treaty of Versailles Trial

Prosecution Lawyer

Opening Statement:

Your honor and members of the Jury, we are here before you today to prove that the Treaty of Versailles is little more than a country’s thirst for revenge and the furthest step from peace we may ever have. This so called “Treaty,” punishes a country that never started the War in the first place. Germany was merely drawn into the war and became a powerful enemy in the process, and yet this treaty seems to ignore this blatant fact. Germany is being punished as if it was the sole aggressor in the war, and this was certainly not the case. The Treaty of Versailles is demanding billions of marks, half of Germany’s industry, half her territories, and her political subjugation. In other words under The Treaty of Versailles Germany would not be able to pay off her reparations for over a hundred years. These are absurd and unfair demands from this treaty. You call this “peace”, but how is crippling a country peace? I ask you, “Is this fair?” Is it fair to blame solely one country for the world’s mistake? Thank you.

Questions

Clemenceau

To start off, I’d like to ask Mr. Clemenceau up to the stand. This thirst for revenge as stated earlier is from none other than this man, Georges Clemenceau. Mr. Clemenceau comes before you members of the jury today not for peace, but for revenge. Now, Mr. Clemenceau. My first question:

Do you truly believe what you hope to accomplish at the Paris Peace Conference is what one would call a “Fair Punishment,” considering that Germany was not the sole aggressor in the war? And that she deserves everything she gets?

Is it really fair to blame one country for something that involved nearly 70; even when they weren’t the ones who started the war and were also among those countries which suffered the most losses?

Woodrow Wilson

-Germany surrendered the war based on your 14 points, is that correct? (Yes) And you believed in your fourteen points, is that also true?...