One of the main causes of the Second World War was the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty angered the German people for many reasons. The first is that it was a 'Diktat' (Dictated Peace) as Germany had no say in the treaty. Germany was forced to agree to the terms of the treaty whether they liked them or not. The German people thought the treaty was unfair, and over time, most people in Europe thought it was unfair, and when Hitler broke the treaty many years later, he was appeased, since most people thought the treaty was wrong anyway. Another reason is that the treaty said that the Rhineland would become a demilitarised zone. This meant that Germany could not put any military troops into the Rhineland, which was bordering with France and Belgium. Germany were defenceless if France decided to invade them, something they did in 1923 when Germany couldn't pay the reparations they had to for that year. Reparations were another part of the Treaty of Versailles. At the end of the war, lots of land had been destroyed all over Europe, especially in France. The treaty said that Germany had to pay for the reparations by paying regular instalments. The war had damaged them and their economy, and they could not afford to pay the reparations. The problem of reparations was eventually solved by the Dawes plan, and Germany were able to pay France again. Another term of the treaty was that Germany had to disarm. This angered the German people, as they would have no army to defend themselves against attack. Their disarmament was supposed to be the first step to world disarmament, but no one else would disarm. The Treaty of Versailles was a large factor in causing the Second World War since it started many chain reactions that all went to war. It was the wrong end to a devastating war, and it didn't settle any disputes, only created more hatred between countries.