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Auf den Beginn des Zweiten Weltkrieges reagierten die Archivare des französischen Außenministeriums mit kühlem Realismus. Angesichts der Tatsache, dass man auf der anderen Seite des Rheins seit zwei Jahrzehnten gegen das "Diktat von Versailles" zu Feld gezogen war, lag es auf der Hand, dass die am Quai d'Orsay verwahrte Original­urkunde des Friedensvertrages vom 28. Juni 1919 vor jedwedem Zugriff deutscher Eroberer in Sicherheit gebracht werden musste. Noch während der Mobilisierungsphase im September 1939 wurden darum ältere Pläne der Bestandssicherung aktiviert und die Pariser Friedensverträge zusammen mit anderen zentralen Unterlagen in geheime Depots an der Loire verlagert.

Woman, portrayed as Democracy, holding woman's hat that has weapons and airplane part of design. Hat apparently from hat box labeled 'Versailles Millinery.', Drawings; Color images, 35 x 26 cm., Title taken from cartoon. Illus. in: Nonpartisan Leader, January 20, 1919, cover.

The Treaty of Versailles imposed conditions upon Germany that led directly to the collapse of its currency and economy. The United States was directly involved in, and essential to, the economic recovery of Germany following World War I. The political and security concerns prevented Germany's neighbors from taking a lead in the recovery effort, which, along with the strong economy in the United States led to American leadership of the recovery effort. There were two major undertakings led by the United States, first the Dawes Plan which balanced the German budget and stabilized the currency, and second the Young Plan which attempted to establish a final amount of reparations that Germany was required to pay. Throughout this process, the United States maintained control over European war debt and additional loans to Germany, which gave the United States influence over the global economy. This came to an end during the Great Depression, as the United States began to extricate itself from the global economy.