Yes, pdq, I would agree that it was the punitive French actions against Germany at the Treaty of Versailles that made WWII inevitable and led to France's greatest historical defeat, among other considerably worse things. They should have known better.

I think the USA's wisdom in helping to re-build Germany and Japan after WWII was pragmatically aimed at one basic objective: confronting and containing the Soviets. They were already planning for the next great confrontation whilst cleaning up the wreckage from the last one. ;-) That is what military empires do. Some of the advanced German technology (and personnel) proved very helpful to both the Americans and the Soviets as they armed to face off against one another.