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.
The Rise of the Nazi Party Hitler’s rise to power was the result of many factors, but Hitler’s ability to take advantage of Germany’s poor leadership and economical and political conditions was the most significant factor. His ability to manipulate the media and the German public whilst taking advantage of Germany’s poor leadership resulted in both the collapse of the Weimar Republic and the rise of Hitler and the nazi party. During the early 1920s, Germany was struggling with economic instability and political uncertainty. Germany, after being defeated in the Great War, was forced to sign the unforgiving treaty of Versailles, which the Weimar Republic was held responsible for. This brought forward feelings of fear, anger and insecurity towards the Weimar Republic.
In conclusion, The Treaty of Versailles was unquestionably the reason why World War II started. The Treaty was unreasonably vicious to the Germans by forcing them to give up valuable territory. Also, the Treaty restricted the number of troops Germany was allowed to have. Finally, the Treaty of Versailles imposed severe reparations on Germany that just angered the Germans. This bold treaty gave rise to Hitler who ignored the soldier restrictions and immediately stopped all reparation payments.
There was hunger and famine in the streets, people were poor, and in need of a great leader to guide them through. When Adolph Hitler rose to power in 1933, it was due to his strong feelings about overturning the treaty, and making Germany ‘great’ again. The Treaty of Versailles did a good job of casting a shadow of revenge ove... ... middle of paper ... ...ue to this intimidation and fear, and mistrusted Britain and France so he signed the ‘Nazi-Soviet pact’ with Hitler – the final major reason that WWII broke out. Also, as the allies started to realise the scale of wrongs Hitler was committing, after letting them grow – they couldn’t just stop him in his tracks like it was possible to do had they not appeased, he was too strong, and they let him gain strength. Appeasement meant that attacking with force would make for a full scale war –with two strong sides.
This new power was Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party. In the year 1929 their was a large depression in the country of Germany. This depression was made up of power struggle and economic distress. The people of Germany no longer trusted the democratic government that they once knew. This allowed Adolf Hitler, the great speaker that he was, to persuade the German people to bring him and his Nazi party into power.
Historians argue that this and the international fallout that resulted most notably with the United States were simply too powerful to avoid war at all. The ramification of the Treaty sent the German economy into a severe depression and planted the seeds needed to sprout revenge and uprising such as the world had never seen before. Estimates for the costs of the war for the Allied Powers fluctuated between ten billion and one hundred billion dollars. Ultimately, the Allied Powers settled on the astronomical sum of thirty-three billion dollars which the German government was mandated to pay but simply did not have the funds to do so. In addition to paying reparations, Germany had to severely limit military spending and personnel, relinquish land previously gained in the World War, and was barred from having any air force at all.
Many historians, including Mckibbin and Taylor, believed that the depression was the turning point for Hitler and the nazi party. Germany's economy after World War I had been built on foreign loans, especially loans from the United States, and on world trade, which was also based on a system of loans. Thus when the depression hit, the German economy collapsed. By 1932, 6 million Germans were unemployed. The German people and lost all hope in the Weimar republic, and started looking for a radical change, brought forth party radical parties...the communists and the nazis.
Old certainties were now questioned. Everything, it seemed, was up for grabs. At Versailles in May 1919, the “fair peace” that Germans had been hoping for was not forthcoming. She lost large parts of her territory; was burdened with Reparations – the amount of which had not been determined – and the treaty included the infamous “war guilt” clause, which said that Germany was wholly responsible for the war and all ... ... middle of paper ... ... To conclude, “fear of socialism” did produce some support for the Nazi movement, particularly in the “elites” of German society. Most Nazi support however, came from their ability to capitalize on the weaknesses of Weimar democracy, such as its association with the Treaty of Versailles.
The failure of the economy, extreme nationalism and the fragile government of Germany in the 1920’s and 30’s could also be seen as the reason for Hitler’s success(Wepman 98). The end of W.W.I left Germany in economic debt, suffering to survive. The Treaty of Versailles blamed Germany for the war and required them to pay for all the reparations. With many unemployed and homeless, the country was in economic ruins(Heck 120). To try and end their suffering, the German government printed more money, which in turn caused inflation and more problems.
He wanted to abolish the treaty and all of it terms. Consequently the Treaty of Versailles helped to cause the Economic depression, in Germany. Meaning that the treaty and the economic depression were both linked together strongly, because the treaty told Germany to pay reparation bills, around £6600 million to the countries they damaged during World War 1. Which meant that Germany did not have much money left for it. This caused the start of the economic downfall, among other issues.