After the Treaty of Versailles was forced upon the Germans, there were several challenges the Germans had to deal with. Some examples of the cost of the war to Germany was the forfeiting or giving back of land, its coal mines productions were given to France for a 15 year span, and Germany had to limit its army to 100,000 men with its forces not allowed around the French border. In addition to all of this, Germany was forced to accept war guilt as having been solely responsible for World War I. This had a crippling effect on Germany as they did not believe they had really caused or had lost the war. The bitterness from humiliation as well as the poverty this treaty bestowed upon the people was too much for Germany. This would lead to World War II in later years. Adolf Hitler had a plan to handle these problems that the Germans faced as a result of the war. It is probably best described as National Socialism.
National Socialism is also known as Naziism. A system in which Hitler was referred to as Führer, there was a state control over the economy and production, and there was an agenda for national expansion. The Program of the Nazi party sought to change 3 major concerns in Germany to help their cause in making Germany a force to be reckoned with. The concerns were political, economic, and social.
The Nazi’s way of handling the political concerns was by removing anyone that was non-German from political positions. This would make it so that any laws or decisions made were made for the sole benefit of Germany as the citizen’s only loyalty would be towards Germany. They also sought to deport and non-citizens that would be any potential threat the the Nazi Agenda. Non-citizens were treated as guests and were subject to foreign la...
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...ontributed to the cause of World War II. The humiliation was just too much for Germany and it’s people.
I do not believe World War II could have been prevented. The damage was already done. By the U.S. joining in the war, it became known as a world war. In addition to that, the forcing of the Treaty of Versailles on Germany did not bode well with the Germans. They did not feel that they had really lost the war. And then forced to assume war guilt on top of downsizing it’s army, limiting it’s boundaries, and paying for war damages. It’s pretty evident that Germany would want to punish those that put them in such an impoverished state. The Germans were struggling due to the treaty. There is a saying that “a generation that takes a beating is usually followed by one that deals one.” Nazi Germany sought to deal punishment on those that punished them for the first war.
There is no excuse for the horrible things Nazi Germany did during World War II. But one can get a better idea how that war started by learning about how World War I ended. The Treaty of Versailles was created by the winners of World War I, like France, Great Britain, and the United States, to make peace. So how did it help contribute to an even worse war less than twenty years later? It was mainly because it was too hard on Germany’s territory, military, economy, and national pride.
The Treaty of versailles contributed to World War 2 by severely weakening Germany economically through
The Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I, affected Germany terribly. Pauley says that, “Virtually all Germans were equally convinced that it was an instrument to suppress, exploit, and permanently humiliate Germany” (37). The Treaty exclusively blamed Germany for the outbreak of World War I, forced massive reparations on the German economy, shrunk the German army, took away German colonies and returned Alsace-Lorraine to France, and did not allow Austria to merge with Germany through self-determination (Geary 14). The Weimar Republic, which only recently took over the German government, was blamed signing the Treaty. The German citizens were extremely enraged by the terms of the Treaty mainly because they were unaware of how poorly the war was going; German propaganda told them that Germany was winning on the
However, the main creators of the Treaty, the US, Italy, Britain and France, did not realize that the Treaty was potentially leading to the Second World War. The Treaty was very harsh to Germans, its main terms were Germany admitting to the blame for the First World War and changing territorial claims. A lot of land was taken from Germany and the economy became very poor because of the debt they had to pay to others. There were very little jobs, and food was very expensive as well as other services. It made Germans end up supporting Hitler a lot because he promised to ignore the Treaty shortly after coming to power. The Treaty of Versailles was too harsh and as a result did not keep the peace if was supposed to, much like the League of Nations which was created alongside the Treaty.
One reason the Treaty of Versailles was a cause of World War II was it destroyed the German economy. Germany lost a large number of territories, resources and they were forced to pay respirations. According to the map in Document A, Germany lost Alsace, Polish Corridor, Danzig and Lorraine.This led to a 40 percent reduction in Germany’s coal production.In addition to losing land and resources, Germany was forced to pay reparations. Document C shows Germany had 30 years to pay 132 billion gold marks. The stock market crash of 1929 placed Germany in an economic depression, and they couldn’t pay the respirations.
After the First World War, most of the world suffered a deep economic depression. One of the countries kept a tight control over the German economy. German frustration and resentment steadily grew. The people were looking for three things. The first thing they sought was a leader-someone to put Germany back on its feet. The second thing they wanted was a scapegoat, someone to blame for Germany’s poverty and depression. The third thing the people wanted was revenge against a world that, in the eyes of the German people, had insulted and wronged their country with World War I’s restitution and occupation of Germany. They chose their leader in the form of Adolph Hitler and his Nazi party. The Nazi party also gave them a scapegoat with its strong anti-Semitic beliefs. Hitler’s plan for revenge began a campaign to take over large portions of Europe. As Michel states in his book World War II, "The world was still recovering from the economic strain of WWI, it was the opportune time for Hitler to strike." Hitler had a good understanding of this and devised his plan around it (Michel 2). The German public during this time was fed much propaganda and a false sense of nationalism. This gave Hitler and the Nazi party absolute control. Although muc...
Second, Hitler's rhetoric created an idyllic vision of volksgemeinschaft, a community of the people. NSDAP policy reached past traditional class divides and appealed to voters first and foremost as citizens of Germany. Hitler welcomed (almost) all Germans, arguing, “We do not recognize classes, but only the German people, its millions of farmers, citizens and workers who together will either overcome this time of distress or succumb to it.” The NSDAP’s deceptively inclusive agenda centered on economic restoration, a common concern for German citizens. As Hitler quipped in his address, “It is an appalling inheritance which we are taking over.” The instability of the Weimar economy contributed to the rise of the NSDAP and, once in power, the
The Treaty of Versailles is a cause of World War II because of the restrictions it placed on Germany as the alleged sole aggressor of the war. The war reparation totaled $98 billion, and under Clause 231 Germany was forced to take the entire load onto her ruined economy and attempt to repay the debt starting with an initial $5 billion payment. In terms of military, Germany was limited to a 100,000 man army, with her navy stripped to the level of a coast guard, she was allowed no heavy artillery, no weapons of mass destruction and the border with France became a demilitarized zone for 15 years following the signing of the treaty on June 28 1919. Germany also lost all her territories in Africa and became a mandate of the Allied Forces, those living in mandated zones could participate in “self-determination” after the Allies taught them how to be a democracy (...
The treaty of Versailles was humiliating; it forced Germany to accept the full responsibility for the war. The treaty also commanded that no German troops could be stationed in their industrial heartland; it capped their military size for the country; it took away foreign holdings and forced Germany to pay reparations that were crippling. The treaty of Versailles paved the rise of Hitler and the Nazis just as the World War I did for the Communist revolution in Russia.
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the factors that led to the inevitability of World War Two. The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty that occurred as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that was held after Germany was defeated in World War One. The Treaty was put into action and required that Germany should accept responsibility for the war; of course Germany was humiliated by this. They were required to pay colossal war reparation payments. This was one of the main reasons the treaty had a severe impact on Germany; it crippled the German economy and critically reduced the living standards of the people. This made it virtually impossible for the German economy to function productively. The effects that the treaty had on Germany directly led to the rise of Hitler who he capitalised on German resentment at their treatment. He provided a focus for the German people and their desire to take back what they once had, and to restore their pride once again becoming a glorious nation.
At the end of World War One, Germany was required to pay a large sum of money to the Allies consequently resulting in the German Depression. The sum Germany had to pay was set after the Treaty of Versailles was enacted at approximately six billion, six hundred million – twenty-two billion pounds, (World War Two – Causes, Alan Hall, 2010). The large amount of reparations that Germany had to pay resulted in a depression and angered the Germans because they thought it was an excessive amount of money to pay, (World War Two – Causes) The Germans hatred of the Treaty of Versailles was of significant importance in propelling the Nazis to power. Germany could not pay their reparations and was forced into a depression, (World War II – Causes). The Treaty of Versailles deprived Germany of its economic production and its available employments, (World War II – Causes). The German Depr...
The Treaty of Versailles, signed by the Weimar Republic at the conclusion of WW1, introduced economic insatiability and caused a profusion of hardship. The idea of resorting to an extremist group promising better alternatives became an attractive option to many Germans. The Treaty of Versailles’ vindictive terms and unreasonable reparations (6,600,000,000 pounds) resulted in undesired economic circumstances. Unemployment rose to 25%, no less than fifty percent of school children were undernourished and annual meat consumption fell from 52kg to 26kg per person. In general, the German standard of living decreased dramatically. The terms of the hated treaty angered and frustrated people. Hitler, intensely detesting the November criminals1, promised to build a back powerful nation, the German public, in a state of disillusionment, responded positively to this claim and began to support the Nazi Party. Hitler’s ability to take advantage of the Treaty of Versalles and the hardship that it brought to the German nation contributed to Hitler’s rise to power and the collapse of the Weimar Republic.
The Treaty of Versailles, initially created to keep peace in Europe and ensure that another war like World War I wouldn’t happen again, had in fact, backfired and spiraled the world down into a deeper, bloodier battle. The treaty discriminated strongly against Germany, with the loss of territories, military restrictions, economic reparations, and the War Guilt Clause. It caused humiliation and anger within Germany, and led to Hitler and the Nazi Party coming to power. World War II was not only started by Adolf Hitler and Germany, but had a lot to do with the humiliation that Germany felt when the terms for the Treaty of Versailles were laid down. The harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles may be indirectly related to the cause of World War II, but nonetheless was a huge factor in starting the war.
The Nazi party is one of the most notorious political parties in history. It was a socialist
There were a number of heavy restrictions placed on Germany by the treaty; in particular the economic effects as a result of the reparations caused huge turmoil for the German people. John Maynard Keynes states “The reparations part of the Treaty of Versailles caused the collapse of currency and inflation in Germany and with these two events the German people’s savings were wiped out.” (Keynes, 1995, p. 73) The effects were further exacerbated by the Depression of the 1930s during which there was huge “unemployment, poverty and famine.” (Mayer, 1967, p.766) Consequently, the German people became tired of their weakness and suffering and began to strive towards power. The failure of the Weimar Republic to address the Treaty of Versailles became the main cause for the problems they were experiencing. “Many Germans, especially German nationalists, went as far as referring to the acceptance of the treaty as treasonous.” (Grunberger, 1964, p.59) Thus, Hitler offered promises that the current government failed to amend which were extremely appealing to the German people, stating “The German people liked Hitler’s Four Year Plan that called for slum clearance, housing programs, land reclamation, and construction of roads many problems that had been created by the Treaty of Versailles.”