On November 11, 1918, the Germans finally ended World War I by signing an armistice after many casualties. At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, the “Big Four” met to deliberate and decide what the terms of peace would be for the defeated Central Powers. The peace treaty produced for Germany was the Treaty of Versailles, which Germany had no choice but to sign even though the punishment was harsh and deserved. The Treaty of Versailles took away Germany's conquered lands, much of its army, and stipulated that Germany had to compensate the Allied powers for the damage caused. The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and its Allies for causing all loss and damage suffered by the Allied and Associated Governments and their citizens as a result of the war forced upon them by the aggression of Germany and its allies. Germany and the other Central Powers received all the blame for World War I. But they could not have lost the war without fighting the victors. Before World War I, countries around the world exuded so much nationalistic pride resulting from modernization and colonization. The more colonies they acquired and the more industrialized a country became, the greater its power. Britain was the first country to truly industrialize, but Germany quickly caught up and also created a large navy. Russia supported Serbian Slav nationalism, and Germany supported Austria-Hungary. France and Germany almost went to war over colonies in Africa, in 1905. Tension between the countries was there, causing alliances to form between Germany and Austria. The Triple Entente was also formed between France, Russia and England. The idea... middle of paper......but it reached other European powers. If they won the war, they would overcome previous European powers such as France and Great Britain, and emerge victorious. All countries that took part in the war fought because they wanted to protect the power their country had at the time and did not want to fall due to the rise of another. Since the goal of the war was really to prevent other countries from gaining more power, Germany wasn't entirely wrong in how it fought against the Allies. The Treaty of Versailles was reasonable in the sense that Germany had to face the consequences of its actions. . And it is understandable that the Allied Powers won the war to be the ones to inflict the punishment. However, the Allied powers also took part in the war. So they won and they couldn't win the war without contributing to it.