French

They were stripped of territory, arms and were required to make reparations (payments for war damages). The Treaty of Versailles, which was signed with Germany, punished Germany severely. The German government agreed to sign the treaty only after the victorious powers threatened to invade. Many Germans particularly resented the clause that forced Germany to accept responsibility for causing World War I. World War I seriously damaged the economies of the European countries.

The Weimar Republic first began after the devastation Germany experienced in World War 1. Germany needed an organized government to recover money, land, and respect from the other European countries. The Weimar Republic proved to be the answer, and although it first came under intense dislike and scrutiny, it later led Germany into economic prosper. Although it overcame one crisis, it could not survive the second crisis encountered in 1929. The population’s intense dislike for the system led to the crisis the Weimar Republic experienced from 1919-1923.

In January 30, 1933 the Jewish population of Europe stood over nine million, until that April that the Nazis had gotten full power to put some of their ideas into action. The Nazis believed that the Jews causes’ religious turmoil and that they caused the great depression. Jews were banished from government jobs, a quota was being established banning Jews from universities, and a boycott of Jewish shops started. In 1935 the Nuremburg Law was passed and this classified the Jews as German “subjects” instead of citizens. Intermarriage between Jews and non-Jews was out-lawed, there was also shops displaying signs reading “NO JEWS ALLOWED.” The Polish Jews were being taken and dumped at the Polish border in 1938.

Germans felt like they had suffered as much as everyone else during WWI and could not accept that they were being blamed for the war. The Treaty of Versailles was also responsible for the destabilization of the German economy. “The burdensome reparations, coupled with a general inflationary period in Europe in the 1920s, caused spiraling hyperinflation of the German Reichsmark by 1923”. Combined with the effects of the Great Depression, this period of hyperinflation undermined the stability of the German economy and caused massive unemployment. So, when political parties made promises to restore German territory and power after such a

The aggression began at the end of the First World War, when the Treaty of Versailles was signed and Germany was forced to pay a lot of money to France for the reparations of the obliterated cities. Their country (Germany) had to be divided in two parts, and they also had to limit their army to 100,000 men. The French army occupied the Rhineland, and the Sudetenland was also taken away from them. They couldn't say anything at the time, as they were held responsible for the war by the countries involved… but this increased friction between the countries. The Treaty of Versailles was a really important trigger because Hitler used the revocation of this pact as one of his main points to gain votes during the election of 1933.

This helped Hitler because many Germans resented this clause and he could use this to his advantage by protesting Germanys innocence to the masses at Nazi rallies. Another important factor is the reparations clause. This is an important factor because it stated that Germany had to pay £660 Million for the war and when Germany couldn't pay the instalments led to the French taking over the Ruhr region of Germany which in turn led the government ordering a strike. This strike meant Germany didn't have any money to pay the allies. To solve this problem the government printed more money but without the economy to support it caused massive hyperinflation and the first German depression.

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.

They weren't allowed to build up their army or weapons. Because they owed so much money, it wasn't long before the currency became worthless due to hyperinflation and France invaded the Ruhr. The unfairness of the treaty caused bitterness in Germany, and Hitler always blamed the collapse of the country on, among others, the "November Criminals", the men who signed the armistice that ended the war. The treaty created the conditions for Hitler's rise to power, as he promised he would put this unfair treaty right and make Germany great again. However, at the end of the war, Adolf Hitler was one of the millions of unemployed and worked for the government as a "V-man", spying on opposing parties.

Instead of lasting peace, the Treaty of Versailles contributed greatly to the cause of World War II as it caused humiliation and anger within Germany. The pent up emotions eventually led to the rise of the Nazi Party and Adolf Hitler, who were angered by their loss in territory, military restrictions, economic reparations, and the war guilt clause. The stipulations of the Versailles Treaty were aimed to bring down Germany and make it as weak as possible. One of the solutions the the victors came up was to take territory away from Germany, resulting in the country losing more than forty percent of their coal producing areas. They took away the Polish Corridor, parts of East Prussia, parts of Denmark, as well as Lorraine-Alsace (Doc A).

World War I laid the foundations for the political and economical crisis that was soon to follow. Even before the end of the war, Allies claimed reparations from Germany, whose economy was destroyed. Wilson, after meeting with the Big Four, slowly began to accept the idea of reparations. Once implemented, the American banks were now beginning to profit greatly from loaning to both Germany and the Allies- Germany who had to pay their reparations and fix the infrastructure of the country, France whose infrastructure was destroyed and Great Britain, who had to pay back America for all the ammo and weapons they had bought. Germany entered a never-ending debt cycle- repaying the allies by taking out loans, then repaying the loans by taking out even more loans.