The peace treaty that birthed a century of chaos — oops.
At the end of WWI, the treaty of Versailles established the conditions for peace in Europe. The aim for the victorious powers was to make Germany pay reparations, and to guarantee a future without war. Yet a decade later, the denunciation of 'Versailles' became a powerful lever for the nazis to obtain power as these reparations would mark the beginning of the humiliation of the German people, and nurture a feeling of having been bestowed a hopeless future. In the 20 years that follow the end of WWI, the issue of reparations and responsibility will effectively poison international relationship. The treaty negative impact goes well beyond WWII as the new European borders it implemented led to many conflicts during the twentieth century. This documentary shines a light on the causality between the decisions taken with the treaty of Versailles, and the ensuing events of the century.
Editing
Chilling juxtaposition of 1919 optimism and 1939 reality.
Production
Rare archival footage that makes textbooks weep.
Director
Isabelle Gendre
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The 'war guilt' clause (Article 231) was actually just standard legal language — but German translators made it sound like total moral condemnation, accidentally weaponizing it for Nazi propaganda.
The documentary's 2019 release deliberately echoes contemporary nationalist backlashes against 'globalist' institutions — the filmmakers knew exactly what they were doing.
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