> He understood the consequences of punishing Germany too severely and was pressing for a more just settlement.

While I agree it was short sighted to punish Germany in a financial sense, I still disagree that the western allies are to blame for the rise of Germany. The rise of Germany in WWII had more to do with:
- Germany's sense of victimhood
- Germany's desire for a greater Geman state
- Germany's mistunderstanding of how WWI ended. They thought it was a stalemate, but it was a German defeat
- a charismatic, sociopathic, racist leader