The Treaty of Versailles was presented by the allied powers, and was clearly devastating for Germany. Throughout World War I, Germany strove to be an authoritarian power, and France suffered as a result. Following Germany’s loss, France was in the position of power over Germany, and fully took advantage of this opportunity by limiting their access to land and weakening their military.
Following World War I, France’s aim was primarily to weaken Germany’s power as much as possible. Because Germany equated land with power, the Treaty prevented Germany from, “construct[ing] any fortifications either on the left bank of the Rhine, or on the right bank to the west of a line drawn 50 kilometres to the East of the Rhine,” and restored much of Germany’s land to France (Treaty of Versailles, Article 42). Because Germany placed so much emphasis on acquiring land, the Treaty of Versailles certainly aimed to prevent them from having a future as a powerful nation.
The Treaty of Versailles also placed severe limitations on the German military. The allied powers hoped that this would sever the power that Germany previously held, and force them to completely rebuild their armies.
The Treaty of Versailles was very harsh, and had the potential to take all the power away from Germany. This was important to the allied powers, especially France. In that sense, because Germany had taken so much from France during the war, the Treaty served as France’s revenge, and they were eager to take as much power away from Germany as possible.