„The Treaty of Versailles was a fair and reasonable peace”. To what extent do you agree with this statement?

Treaty of Versailles was issued in 1919, following German demand for armistice in 1918. It was designed by victorious Britain, France and the USA. Each of these powers had different view as to how the final treaty should look. Finally, French prime minister – Clemencau, imposed his harsh vision of suppressing Germany militarily and economically. The Treaty of Versailles contributed to internal political, economic and social disturbances within Germany in the years 1919-1939. Thus, the long-term effect of the Treaty was Hitler’s rise to power. Therefore, the Treaty of Versailles shook the balance of power within Europe and eventually led contributed to the outbreak of war in 1939. Although the Treaty of Versailles sought fair treatment and punishment of Germany, it turned to be far from reasonable as it failed to forsee the long-term impacts of harsh treatment of Germany.
Fairness of the Treaty may be questioned by looking at Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles, which blamed Germany as the sole contributor to the World War 1. Yet, it is merely a simplification of the pre-war complexities of international politics that mounted up to the outbreak of World War 1. Both Britain and France can be viewed as contributors to the outbreak of war as they were the major actors on the international scene in the years 1971-14. Colonial rivalry between Britain and France, nationalism and the system of Alliances involved more countries than only Germany. On the other hand, it was Germany that first invaded Belgium in 1914.Still, it seems impossible to arrive at a conclusion that Germany is entirely to blame in the space of just six weeks from the end of the war, as it has been affirmed by enforcing Article 231 in the Treaty of Versailles.
Economic implication of the Treaty of Versailles were disastrous for German economy. This contributed to the emergence of political tensions, which reflection is 1923 invasion of the Ruhr by the French.  The Treaty imposed on Germany reparations of 6600 million pounds. This idea was mainly an idea of French, who sought revenge for humiliation of 1871 when they lost Alsace-Lorraine. Such reparations were too high to meet German standards, considering the fact that in 1918 Germany was already strained economically by British Naval Blockade. This contributed to the growing inflation that finally reached hyperinflation in 1923. Friedrich Ebert abandoned the Gold Standard. Therefore, he printed vas amount of money to pay the army and civil servants. Eventually, the money became worthless. Internal economic problems contributed to the fact that in 1923 Germany was unable to pay the reparations. As a result, French Prime Minister Poincare, decided to invade the Ruhr, which was German industrial area. Invasion inhibited the economic viability of the region and further aggravated the French-German relations. In long-term, the economic hardship that developed in Germany resulted in rise of support of political extremism pointed against the treaty of Versailles. Moreover, economic decline of Germany stemmed from territorial changes imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. In 1919 the Saarland started to be administered by the French under the League of Nations. Also, Upper Silesia went to Poland, which regained its independence. As such, German industrial potential was lost. This was a shock to German society, considering the fact that in following the following the unification of Germany in 1971, until 1914 Germany was major industrial power. On the other hand, it was German hypocrisy to claim the Treaty unfair when considering the fact that in 1917, Germany imposed even harsher terms of Russia in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk that deprived Russia of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Nevertheless, Treaty of Versailles imposed economic restrictions that were unreasonably high, as they exceeded German economic capacity. This was unreasonable as it led to polarization of society and rise of NSDAP party. Still, this judgement can be mitigated in the light of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk that Germany imposed on USSR. 
In conclusion, the Treaty of Versailles turned to be more fair than it was reasonable. It failed to forsee the long-term effects and turned to be a force that led Europe down the war in 1939. The Treaty Was created for the benefit of victorious powers-Britain, France and the USA, not for the purpose of collective security. This weakness was exploited by Hitler who was successfully undermining the Treaty until 1939.