Treaty Of Versailles Essay

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The Treaty of Versailles Effect on the Nazi Movement
The Versailles settlement of 1919 ended the bloodiest war the world had seen. In this treaty ending World War I, Germany was forced to make economic and territorial reparations to the Triple Entente which consisted of Britain, France, Russia, and the United States of America. Several years of total war hindered the ability of Germany to pay what was demanded of them by the Treaty of Versailles. Germany was hit the hardest by the demands of this treaty during the interwar period. When answering how the Nazi party came to rule in Germany, one must look at foreign policy in respect to the Versailles Treaty during the Second Reich. Economically, due to the settlement at Versailles, Germany would be hit by massive inflation as well as a crippling depression under the Weimar Republic. This made many people distrust the newly created Weimar Republic. Socially, Germans generally blamed the government, as well as the Treaty of Versailles for the hard times that they suffered after the First World War. This social environment gave rise to the Nazi movement and many other parties that opposes the treaty and the Weimar Republic alike. Politically, instability and chaos plagued the Weimar Republic giving rise to many different political parties including the National Socialist German Workers’ Party. Thus, the rise of the Nazi party in Germany was due to economic hardship fostered by the Treaty of Versailles, a fractured political system, and social unrest during the interwar period.
The “war to end all wars,” came to an end when the Treaty of Versailles was signed by Germany and the Allied Powers. It was a peace agreement between the countries of the Allied Powers and ended Germany’s in...

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...Republic was marked by failure. The inflation in 1923, caused in part by the Versailles settlement, drove people away from democracy and towards Nazism. Socially, the Nazi movement had taken root with many conservatives as a way to unify and oppose the treaty. Books and literature written by Nazi leaders such as Hitler himself were propaganda to the movement and allowed for the party to solidify its goals. Politically, the republic was fractured and messy allowing for many parties to rise and fall out of favor. The early Nazi movement was based off the popular notion of oppression created by the Treaty of Versailles. Thus, the Treaty of Versailles fostered a political and social environment for the Nazi Party to grow and eventually seize power. It is ironic that this treaty ended the “war to end all wars,” while also inadvertently started yet another world conflict.

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