The Treaty of Versailles’ punishments exhausted Germany’s already weakened economy, which ultimately caused the Weimar Republic to collapse under the weight of such hardships. After Germany signed the treaty, it faced a multitude of harsh consequences, mainly wanted by France and Great Britain. The effects of these consequences are illustrated in ‘Clemenceau the Vampire’ from the German newspaper Kladderadatsch, published July, 1919 (Document B). In this cartoon, Georges Clemenceau, the French prime minister at the time, is portrayed as an ugly vampire biting a woman’s arm as she lay in a bed decorated with cast-aside weapons. This woman represents Germany, which viewed itself as a victim of French cruelty, for Clemenceau had strongly advocated for Germany to pay $33 billion in …show more content…
An image from Slump! A Study of Stricken Europe Today (Document H) depicts this economic crisis. It is captioned “Berlin’s Slump Centre, No less than 100,000 unemployed workers draw the dole each week at the Neukoelln unemployment office in Berlin”, and illustrates a wide street tightly packed with citizens waiting outside an unemployment office for their government benefit. German citizens were becoming more and more restless with their country’s situation, and this restlessness quickly developed into desperation as the Weimar government was unable to address the economic crisis properly. The Nazi Party, under Adolf Hitler, promised to overturn the Treaty of Versailles, resuscitate Germany’s economy, and restore national pride. These assurances appealed to many Germans who were unhappy with their current moderate government, who gave their support to the Nazi Party in hopes of relieving their country of its shameful state. This led to Adolf Hitler’s explosive rise in popularity and, eventually, his appointment as Chancellor in 1933; and his power only further grew after the President’s death in
In late 1923 and early 1924 the German economy seemed to experience a mild period of economic stabilisation and "prosperity". In November, the government issued a new currency and ensured that tight restrictions were imposed. The economy was further stimulated by loans principally from the USA. However despite all this there simultaneously, was increasing numbers of unemployed persons. A well cited example of this is the coal mining industry where the introduction of more efficient machinery meant that one in four miners lost their jobs. No doubt that increased unemployment meant that the German population grew increasingly discontent with the Weimar government and this is the beginnings of the swing towards more radical political voting. Hitler knew that he had to have attractive political policies in order to attract a greater pool of voters, looking for alternative parties, and he recognized a possible solution to this was to attract the attention of the farming and rural community. The Nazi Party took this opportunity quickly and campaigned hard to win over the votes of the farmers and rural workers by promising tax reductions, cheaper electricity and a promise to rebuild the farming industry. "The peasants, the Nazis said, were of true German blood and their life was the true German life. They had shamefully been neglected by the Weimar Republic." Hitler told the people of the land that under a Nazi Government, rural people would be the most important people in Germany. The rural Germans were on the brink of bankruptcy, constituting approximately 11 Billion marks by 1932. The Nazi's promise of a return to rural prosperity was too good for them to resist. Yet this adoption of the rural Germans also proved useful in another sense because it allowed the Nazi party to use the Jewish people as a scapegoat towards the problems faced by the rural Germans.
The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, marks the day that WWI descended into armistice. However, the involved countries reached an agreement as to the events following the war on the 28th of June, 1919. The famous Treaty of Versailles was known for its role in ending war. But it was not known for being a double-edged sword, as the ending of war came with the consequence of causing future war. The Treaty consisted of uncontested biases due to Germany's unconditional surrender. The Allies held a gun to Germany's head, with their trigger finger tense. Each article of the Versailles Treaty only made Germany more restless, until 1933 when Hitler produced his own gun and pointed it at the Allies. The Treaty had a series of unproportional effects upon Germany and its people. It caused a rift between the two sides because of the alliances that it formed, brewing tension. The punishments enforced upon Germany were unrealistically huge and it increased the wish among the Germans for the nullification of the Treaty. Finally, the accumulated hatred amongst the people gave birth to potential for a revolution. The Treaty of Versailles is, therefore, an indirect cause to World War II, because of the alliances it caused, the punishments it enforced, and the hatred it developed.
World War 1 was a deadly battle with millions dead, but do you ever wonder what caused world war 2? There are many causes for world war 2, but the item that caused an impact on the war the Treaty of Versailles. World war 1 started on August 1914 and ended on November 1918 it lasted for 4 years and 3 months. World War 2 lasted for 6 years with even more people dead and injured. So how did the versailles treaty help cause world war 2. The treaty of versailles punished Germany too harshly in four key ways: Territorial losses, showing how Germany is weak, and vulnerable, making the Germans pay, and the germans also wanted to destroy the treaty.
The Wall Street Crash and the Recession in Germany Were the Salvation of the Nazi Party
World War II, the war for survival, shaped the history and landscape of the twentieth century permanently. As such, many wrote about the troubles and trials they had faced due to this war and in particular the actions of Germany. Excerpts taken from Sebastian Haffner, Christabel Bielenberg, and Leni Riefenstahl all help us understand the effect Germany had on it’s citizens, as well as foreign powers. While Haffner and Bielenberg denounce the Nazis, Riefenstahl writes in favor of them, thus demonstrating the discord in the nation at the time.
World War Two was the most devastating conflict in the history of humanity. It crippled many nations and caused millions of people to die. One of the major causes of this disastrous war was the Treaty of Versailles which ended the First World War. This treaty was destructive towards the Germans. Germany had to pay large amounts of reparations to the Allied nations at the end of World War One resulting in a Great Depression in Germany. Additionally, the Treaty of Versailles’ war guilt clause forced Germans to admit full responsibility for starting the war. Furthermore, to gain the support of the German populace, Adolf Hitler adopted an effective propaganda campaign. Adolf Hitler employed a successful propaganda campaign to gain the support of the German people combined with the Treaty of Versailles harsh economic and political sanctions ignited World War Two.
Anthony J D’Angelo once said, “Reality doesn’t bite, rather our perception of reality bites.” D’Angelo is saying that it isn’t the truth that affects us, it is the way we look at, perceive, and take in truth that changes how what we think about it. When the Treaty of Versailles was signed and presented there was multiple reactions from the German people, the way they perceived the Treaty is what led to their reactions. While both perception and reality played an important role in the making of the Treaty of Versailles and the reaction to it, it was the perception of reality and how this changed how people thought that played a far more important role in the fail of the treaty.
The Treaty of Versailles, one of the most controversial international agreements(“D.1. The Treaty of Versailles."), had been negotiated between January and June of 1919 (History. Staff). Although it was negotiated between January and June, the Treaty of Versailles was officially signed on June 28, 1919 (Hashall) at Versailles, a suburb of Paris (Benson). This treaty involved Germany and all allies of World War I (Benson). The peace agreement was established to aid in the termination of World War I.
November 11, 1918: End of World War I. On November 11, 1918, World War I ended with the signing of the armistice between the Allies and Germany. The armistice agreement marked the end of hostilities in the Western countries, bringing a stop to four years of war. The signing of the armistice created space for negotiations and ultimately led to the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.
In 1931-1933 there was about a 27 percent unemployment rate, but just 5 years later in 1938, unemployment was at an all time low of 2 percent. People could reliably get jobs due to constant war, shown through unemployment rates over the interwar years. What’s more is the people didn’t have a choice, the Nazi party banned unemployment and every man had to take up a job, and if they didn't, they’d risk going to prison. The only people in Germany who couldn’t work were non-Germans, as they didn’t have German citizenship. This environment of wartime factories and manufacturing destined Germany to grow as a country, innovation was bound to happen, and so it did.
After the terrible causes of World War I, Germany was stuck in the ruins. They were still trying to rebuild and recover from the war. The Treaty of Versailles, along with the Great Depression severely affected Germany. The unemployment lines increased, and food was scarce. Money was a huge hassle too, the factories were all closed and the savings were completely wiped out. Due to all these economic is what made Hitler’s rise to p...
A controversial question 96 years later is whether or not the Treaty of Versailles was really fair to the Germans. To understand whether or not it was, we need to know where the treaty was created and under what circumstances. Another thing is what the terms created were that the German government had to follow were. Then, after we know all the facts we can determine whether or not it was truly fair. The treaty was initially created to keep peace in Europe, yet that wasn’t what it did. Without the treaty of Versailles World War 2 may never have happened, or at least it wouldn’t have happened because the Germans were angry.
The Justification of the Treaty of Versailles At the beginning of this week, after months of negotiation between the ‘Big Three’, two German representatives arrived in France to sign the treaty sign the Treaty of Versailles, stating that Germany is blame for the Great War. The question is why have the Germans given in and signed the treaty and can the treaty be justified? The Germans were in an impossible position and had to sign the treaty. They basically had no choice as they were incapable of restarting the war again.
The 1929 Great Depression was not the primary catalyst of the collapse of the Weimar Republic, rather it compounded the economic, political and social issues faced by Germany. Economic recovery achieved superficially following the 1923 hyperinflation meant Germany’s weak economic framework could not withstand the impacts of the Great Depression. Consequently, the economic turmoil exposed flaws in the Weimar constitution leading to a political crisis. The Great Depression exacerbated deep social distress and psychological disillusionment amongst the German public enabling extremist parties to seize power from the democratic government. Evidently, the Depression heightened the multiplicity of underlying problems that ultimately brought the demise of the Weimar Republic.
World War 1 was considered to be one of the worst wars in those days. The war lasted from 1914 to 1918 for a total of about four years. The war began in Austria, and some names used for World War 1 are The First World War, The War to end all Wars, The War of the Nations, and The Great War.