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Impacts of the First World War
Effects of the Versailles Treaty on the Germans
Impacts of the First World War
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Following World War I, Germany found itself a crippled state with a nation of unsatisfied people, due largely to pre-war political conflict, domestic negligence during the War, and consequences of the Treaty of Versailles. For the next decade, Germany was burdened with many economic, social, and political woes. The nation had lost much of its land, including crucial mining regions, and its military was drastically reduced, marked by the demilitarization of the Rhineland. In addition to the crumbling of German pride after the War, the country was plagued by hyperinflation and unemployment. The people of the nation were beginning to lose faith not only in their government, but also in democracy itself.
Relevant History
Prior to World
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He had considerable influence and largely controlled access to his father. He was also a close friend of Kurt von Schleicher.
Otto Meissner/Meißner: He served as State Secretary, advisor to Hindenburg, and member of the “Camarilla” (1925-1934). He had significant influence over President Hindenburg, and he lived in the Palace of the German President with his family, which provided many benefits.
Wilhelm Groener: He served as Defense Minister, advisor to Hindenburg, and member of the “Camarilla” (1928-1932); at the end of WWI, he was Commander-in-Chief of the German Forces on the Western Front. Although his right-wing views were aligned with those of Hindenburg, he understood the need for a good relationship with workers in order to meet the high production targets for the military.
Clara Zetkin: He was an influential socialist, fighter for women’s rights, and founding member of the Communist Party of Germany in 1918. Zetkin was elected to the Reichstag in 1920.
Wilhelm Frick: He was elected to the Reichstag in 1924, where he associated with the NSDAP radicals led by Gregor Strasser. He would become the first Nazi Party member to hold high office with his appointment as Minister of the Interior of the state of
Exploring the Reasons Behind Public's Discontent with the Weimar Government There were a number of reasons why the German people were unhappy with the Weimar government. One of the main reasons for this was the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. The result of this was that Germany has to take the war guilt, Germany had to pay reparations of 6,600 million marks to the allies in particular France, Germany lost its colonies, it lost its air force & tanks, and its soldiers were restricted to 100,000. The Ruhr was demilitarised. Also they lost their colonies and its land was cut up such as the Polish Corridor and Alsace Lorraine.
The period after World War One was very politically unstable. Many different kinds of governments, such as fascism and communism, were coming up all over Europe. One country that especially faced this political fluctuation was Germany. After the war, Germany was forced into a democracy known as the Weimar Republic, but this government soon collapsed and Hitler’s fascism took over. There were various factors that contributed to the fall of the Weimar Republic, but three major ones were the lack of popular support for the government, the lack of efficiency and internal organization, and the competition of other, more conservative parties such as the Nazis.
In 1866 the Austro-Prussian War broke out between the two German states of Prussia and Austria. There had been conflicts between the two in previous decades, but Prussia, under the command of Otto von Bismarck, had sought a more lasting split. Under Bismarck’s control, conditions had been orchestrated to make war possible between the two and to ensure Prussia’s victory. Thus, when the opportunity was presented by the Duchies question, Bismarck took his chance and provoked a war. The war itself was over in seven weeks, with a Prussian victory, it was important as it symbolized the permanent separation of the two states. Though the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 had origins before Bismarck, Bismarck actively chose to prepare for and provoke a conflict with Austria in hopes of removing its influence from the German states.
The first war was a bit 'weird´ as Bismarck´s goal was to get Austria out of Germany but it was the start of a long plan, he teamed up with Austria and together they quickly defeated the Danish. The duchies of Holstein were to be controlled by Austria and the duchies of Schleswig were to be controlled by Prussia. This was to be a major decision to let Austria control Holstein. Bismarck overcame the barrier that was the threat of Austria. Bismarck was very clever in the way that he provoked war with Austria he complained that Austria was not running Holstein properly.
The German state was forged out of the fires of the Franco-Prussian war in 1871 by the Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Prussia was by far the largest and most dominant state of the 25 unified in the creation of Germany, with the King of Prussia automatically becoming the Kaiser (Emperor) of the German Reich. In 1888, Kaiser Wilhelm II ascended to the throne, obtaining absolute and total control of the country. However, there is still debate as to whether Wilhelm II exercised full control of Germany or if true power lay in the hands of others in the years preceding the First World War.
After World War I, there was a spiritual void left within the people of Germany. The outcome of the war had ripped the German society along the class lines causing great stress and tension among the people. The people of Germany had believed all along that they were winning the war, and therefore the news of surrender came as a great shock to them. To make things worse, the peace treaty established placed the entire fault of the war on Germany and left them responsible for paying for the costs of the war for all who were involved. This sparked a conflict between the middle and working classes in society. Then, the depression followed, creating even more unhappiness among the people. With all of this unhappiness because of the class divisions and the depression, the Nazi...
The German nation was born in January 1871 at the Palace of Versailles. Many factors have been noted by historians as to what led to the eventual unification of Germany such as; economic and industrial factors and the role of Otto Von Bismarck. A debate that has emerged over German Unification is whether it was united by ‘coal and iron’ or ‘blood and iron’; this looks at whether economic or political factors were the main driving force behind unification. In this essay I will explore these factors and gain an understanding of how these factors contributed to German Unification and come to a decision as to whether it was a nation unified by economic
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...
Germany experienced a lot of economic changes after Germany was split into East Germany and West Germany. Initially, West Germany was established as a federal republic but was established as it’s own independent nation in 1955. Many events happened in West Germany from the 1950s to the 1980s before Germany became one nation again. There were events such as “oils price shocks, generous social programs, rising deficits and loss of control.” East Germany’s economy was strong due to the Soviet Union’s reliance on Eastern Germany’s production of machine tools, chemicals and electronics. It became appealing to reunite with West Germany when the value of East Germany’s currency became “worthless” outside of it’s country because Eastern Germany was relying on the Soviet Union’s demand (Marketline).
Political structure at that time led to Bismarck's success in war. With the untimely death of the Danish King, Christian VII, both Schleswig and Holstein refused to recognize the dynastic succession of the Danish King Frederick VII and appealed to the Frankfurt Assembly for recognition of Schleswig-Holstein as an independent German state, free from the Danish crown (doc2). With the declaration of an all-German war on the Kingdom of Denmark by the Frankfurt Assembly, Prussia immediately prepared a small military force to fight for the independence of Schleswig and Holstein (docs3,4). Prussia's aid proved victorious with the Danish defenses easily besieged (doc5). The English heard about the success of Prussia and of their preparations for an invasion of Jutland.
In addition, having lost the war, the humiliated Germans were forced by the Allies to sign the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 that officially ended World War I. According to the harsh terms of the treaty, Germany had to hand over many of its richest industrial territories to the victors, and was made to pay reparations to the Allied countries it devastated during the war. Germany lost its pride, prestige, wealth, power, and the status of being one of Europe's greatest nations. (Resnick p. 15)
Richard Bessel’s article stresses the political structure of Weimar Germany as the cause of its failure. Its structure was flawed in numerous ways, all of which contributed to its inevitable failure. First of all, the problems within Germany due to the First World War were massive. This caused economic, political and social problems which first had to be dealt with by the new Weimar government. The loss of the war had left Germany with huge reparations to pay, and massive destruction to repair. In order to gain the capital needed to finance efforts to rebuild, and repay the Allies, the economy had to be brought back to its prewar levels. This was not an easy task.
'Nazi Germany ' represented the period from 1933s to 1945s, which played an important role in prosperous German history and the modern European history. After Germany participated in First World War in the first half of the 20th century, the whole society was glutted with unemployment, poverty, hunger, inflation and moral corruption. The public couldn’t feel the republican democracy benefits.
World War II was one of the most deadly wars we know in history, having as many as sixty million casualties, most of whom were civilians. It impacted a lot of countries, almost all the world, which is why the name is given. This war impacted many countries in the world, and damaged almost all of the countries involved greatly. It also led to the downfall of Western European countries as world powers, leaving it to the Soviet Union, and the United States. The war started in 1939 and ended in 1945, with the invasion of Poland and the Axis surrender, respectively. It changed the economy and the growth of big countries, including Germany, Great Britain, United States, Japan, Russia and France. Aside from this, Jews were greatly influenced too. They were damaged, but then gifted.
One factor with somewhat minimal impact in the unification of Germany, however one still worthy of mentioning, was cultural cohesion and social change. During the nineteenth century the Romantic movement developed throughout Europe and in Germany it took the form of celebrating the German heritage and promoting cultural pride. Romantics such as Friedrich Ludwig Jahn glorified the rich history of the German peoples. Through literature and art romantics expressed the idea of Germany as “an organic folk community wrapped in a cloak of tradition” They strived to create a homogenous identity for all Germans. Another force with widespread social impac...