...In the treaty of Versailles, which followed the German loss in WWI, the victorious powers forced severe terms on Germany. Germany, under the treaty of invasion, is forced to sign the treaty. Among other supplying, Germany receives the responsibility for the war and agreed to make big payments (“Hitler Comes”).During the early 1930s, the mood in Germany was uninviting. The worldwide economic depression had hit the country especially hard, and thousands of people were out of work. Still fresh in the minds of many was Germanys humiliating defeat fifteen years earlier during WWI. At 6:30 pm on the evening of 4/20/1889, he was born in the small Austrian village of Braunau AM inn just across the border from Germany Bavaria. As a young boy, he idolized...
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...that Hitler was a product of Germany’s authoritarian culture, and the Germans failed to develop a democratic tradition because they preferred a stronger state led by a powerful individual. Historical View #5 suggests that German support of Nazism was an emotional response to the crisis-state; Germans were disoriented with the economic crisis, and similar to View #1, sought firmer leadership. The Treaty of Versailles doomed the Weimar Republic because the German administration was unable to fulfill the treaty’s unrealistic demands for reparations, which ruined their domestic economy and fostered a strong authoritative leadership that would defend Germany against the terms and impoverishing effects of the ill-advised treaty. The Treaty of Versailles was intended to guarantee the Allies (and neighboring countries) peace and safety; however, the Allies neglected to recognize that the harsh demands of reparations would drive Germany into the hands of a dictator. Virtually the whole nation repudiated the Treaty of Versailles; it was introduced to promote peace, but instead stripped Germany of her self-determination and potential prosperity, leading to a domestic rebuke of its onerous terms. Additionally, President Wilson’s following Fourteen Points were also considered to deny millions of citizens their...
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...said "This [The Treaty of Versailles] is not a peace. It is an armistice for twenty years". World War 1 was caused by the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, the future emperor of Austria-Hungary. Serbia financed the assassination which lead to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia. Each country's allies declared war on each other eventually leading to a global conflict. The Great War involved 32 countries killing over 8 million soldiers. After four years, the Treaty of Versailles ended the War-to-end-all-wars on June 28, 1919 in Paris, France. The Allies argued about the punishment Germany should receive. France and England wanted...
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...To what extent was the Treaty of Versailles a cause of WWII? Treaty of Versailles was the main trigger that sparked the start of the most devastating war in human history. Due to its enforcement and terms, it caused the ideological fascist movement after WWI, German’s patriotism, and the violent expansion of Germany’s economy which violated terms of the treaty, ultimately resulting to World War II. After WWI the ideology of the Fascist movement became influential in Germany in reaction to the harsh terms of the Versailles Treaty. Fascistic views of political violence, war, and imperialism as a means to achieve national rejuvenation were appealed to the citizens (Wikipedia, 2014). This was in response to the Treaty of Versailles. After WWI, Germany was on a road to repair, but they were handicapped, and weakened by the terms of the treaty (History Learning Site, 2000). They had no major military or strong industry to support the growth of the country (Hikman, n.d.). The people were angered and infuriated by the ruinous effect of the Treaty. Hence, the nation realised that in order to regain the national strength, Germany would need to take on board a new form of political system that was iron-fisted and disregard anything but the restoration of pride (English Online, n.d.). This brought the rise of Hitler, the Nazi Party and Fascism. Adolf Hitler was a radical advocate who fought to overturn the harsh Treaty and restore Germany to her former glory (English Online, n.d.)....
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...With nearly eleven million people killed between 1934 and 1945, one might ask what could be responsible for that amount of devastation. The answer, however, is quite simple. One man is the leading cause of all those lives lost: Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Regime. Germany was in an exceedingly unpleasant state after the loss of World War I. The Treaty of Versailles had forced them to take full blame for the war, and with it came an overwhelming amount of debt. The French wanted to dismember Germany to make it impossible for them to renew war with France. The loss of World War I was still sharp on many minds, and the economic depression was in full effect. The Weimar Republic was Germany’s new form of government that replaced the German Empire....
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...Churchill’s predecessor believed in appeasement and diplomatic means when dealing with Germany, choosing not to believe that Germany had “made up its mind to dominate the world by fear” already. Unfortunately, by the time Great Britain, France, and Italy, had no choice but to knowledge this, plunging into WWII was their only chance of stopping Germany and Adolf Hitler’s reign of terror. There were many instances where one would hope that the international community would step in. The League of Nations was created by the Treaty of Versailles. However this organization did not react to earlier similar aggressions. For example,Italy attacked Ethiopia in 1935. Haile Selassie was the emperor of Ethiopia at the time. He approached the League of Nations and asked them to defend them with military sanctions. They did nothing. Selassie’s response was that “God and history will remember your...
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...Introduction The purpose of this essay is to investigate and explain how the Treaty of Versailles affected the German economy. I find this subject relevant since it is a big event in European history. During the years after the First World War Germany had a lot of debts and faced a lot of reparation costs. Even though the meaning of most of the peace treaties was to encourage the world economy, re-build cities and maintain peace, not a lot of these goals were fulfilled. Background The First World War was a military conflict that included a lot of countries around the world. The war started at June 28, 1914 and lasted until November 11, 1918. The war was played out between the great power countries and they were divided in to two parts, the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary and Ottoman Empire) and the Entente (Russia, Great Britain, France and USA). When the war ended in 1918, negations began to try to come up with solutions to all the problems and crises that had been caused by the war. All the countries involved in the war gathered in France in 1919 to start the peace negotiations. An important treaty written during these negotiations was the Treaty Of Versailles. It was signed by Germany and the Entente.1 The Demands Germany was seen as being head responsible for the upcoming of WW1 and had caused the most damage to other countries; therefor the Treaty of Versailles included numerous demands that Germany had to obey. France got permission to occupy the coal-mines in Saar...
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...refereed it because of the Treaty of Versailles which most of the people agreed one that it was too unfair for Germany and that their anger was going to appear sooner or later. The people thought it will create fascism. Some historians saw that the failure of The League of Nations was also another factor. The Treaty of Versailles was the origin of all the problems that occurred to ignite the WWII. The treaty of Versailles was originally done to spread peace between countries and cool down the aggression that was spreading all over Europe. The treaty was believed to be an agreement between the winning sides of World War 1 powers. They were meeting up to decide what they were going to do with the losing allies of the war. They were mainly Germany and Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire. It was supposed to make Germany literally a neutral country because of all the power it was abusing which was beginning to affect the whole balance of power in Europe. The power that Germany was beginning to acquire was going to have a negative effect on all the European countries that had power and didn’t want it to be loosened at all. As with Germany rising to more and more powerful state, that would mean they would have to start powering up their armies which will cost them more money that they didn’t have at the moment. All of Europe wanted Germany to feel guilty because they were the ones who really started WWI. The whole world was against Germany because they were really...
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...The Rise of the Nazi Party in Germany After the end of the First World War, many actions were taken which indirectly lead to the rise of the Nazi party in Germany. Many of the events include the Treaty of Versailles, problems the government of Germany came across, the "stab in the back” theory, and the depression. This paper will talk about these events which occurred and how they correspond to the rise of the German Nazi party. One of the agreements at the Treaty of Versailles was that the industrial heartland of Germany, the Saarland, was to be worked by the Germans for the benefit of France for 15 years (http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/versailles.html). With the Saarland gone it would prove more difficult for the Germans to supply iron & coal to their industry and armed forces, as the main product of the Saarland was iron and coal. This clause had a duel effect as it made German rearmament less likely; it also made repayment of reparations less likely. The effective removal of the Saarland from German industry made the Weimar Republic's position in Germany weaker. From the very start, the Weimar republic faced opposition from both sides of the political spectrum. There was potential for the reintroduction of a monarch, or even a communist state, and several attempted revolutions occurred. The public blamed their problems on the Treaty of Versailles, and in turn, blamed the government that signed it. The new government had inherited a difficult situation. It was inevitable...
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...The treaty that had ended World War I, the Treaty of Versailles, not only surprised German citizens, but humiliated them as well. The treaty ceded lands of Germany to multiple countries, including France, Belgium, Denmark, Lithuania, and Poland. With these lands in control of other countries, Germany lost a good amount of their land, population, and economic force. The treaty also demilitarized former parts of Germany. For example, German forces in the Rhineland (today’s western part of Germany) had to return to Germany to protect France from possible invasion. The loss of land, including Saar and West Prussia, took away rich farmland and industrial strength away from Germany, which was needed during a critical time. A Stock Market crash in...
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...turmoil left behind from WWI. According to the article “The causes of World War II” on sunysuffolk.edu there was an economic collapse and Germany started getting a strong military and disobeying the Treaty of Versailles. Germany was not happy and felt they were being treated harsh and unfair because of...
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...The Weimar Republic and Democracy World War 1 had an immense effect on the world. One result of the war was the Versailles Peace Treaty, which took a great toll on Germany. This treaty, and the war itself, served many negative consequences and deeply affected the political climate of the new found Weimar Republic. With the conclusion of WWI, Germany needed to form a peace treaty with the Allies and therefore were obligated sign the Treaty of Versailles. When the Allies announced the conditions of this treaty, the Germans were shocked – it was even worse than what the most cynical expected; there was all around opposition. However, as a losing nation they knew their hands were tied and they did not have much, if any, arguing power. Although Germany was not included in the treaty negotiations, the delegation was allowed to state its opinion. One demand of the treaty was for Germany to acknowledge that they alone were guilty of causing the war. “Such a confession in my mouth would be a lie” (Brockdorf-Rantzau 9). Germany was willing to admit that they contributed to tragedy in the war, but refused to take full blame for this would simply lead to more destruction in Germany’s future. The German delegation’s goal was to not upset the Allies further, but to instead try to gain some support from them and lessen the severity that they felt the conditions included. “I believe we should proceed to restore those parts of Belgium and Northern France... we cannot accomplish it without...
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...APPEASEMENT OF GERMANY After seizing power in Germany, Hitler set in place an ambitious foreign policy that aimed to undo the effects of the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler wanted to: * re-take control of the territories that it had lost at Versailles, such as the Rhineland * re-arm its military forces - something forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles * expand its borders to provide Lebensraum (living space) for its population * unite all the German-speaking people of Europe under the control of Nazi Germany * Hitler was prepared to gamble that the other European powers would be reluctant to go to war to stop him. WHAT WAS APPEASEMENT After 10 million deaths in the First World War, many countries were determined to prevent any future conflict. In the 1920s the League of Nations tried to follow the idea of collective security: * the idea that countries acting together could discourage aggression and, if necessary, act together to stop aggressors. * This was not very successful as it proved hard for all the countries in the League of Nations to agree on a common policy. As a result a second idea was considered. Appeasement was a policy adopted by Britain during the 1930s. * This policy developed from the growing belief that some countries, especially Germany, had been unfairly treated in the peace settlement of 1918-1919. * When they began to demand aggressively that some terms in the Versailles treaty be scrapped...
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...“The mid-twentieth-century era of a dictatorship is a highly disturbing chapter in the history of civilization. The key development was not only the resurgence of authoritarian rule but also the rise of a particularly ruthless brand of totalitarianism that reached its full realization in the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, and Japan in the 1930’s. Stalin, Hitler, and Japan’s military leaders intervened radically in society and ruled with unprecedented severity” (McKay, History of World Societies, p. 907). Hitler came to power in 1933 in Germany. There are a few reasons why Hitler came to power from his incredible speaking to his many promises. Germany had just been through a war and had lost. With the ending of the war the Treaty of Versailles was a step toward establishing order. “More harshly the Allies declared Germany (with Austria) was responsible for the war and had therefore to pay reparations equal to all civilian damages caused by the war” (McKay, History of World Societies, p. 863). The government opposed and protested this Treaty, but there was no alternative. With this treaty in effect, living in Germany was very hard. The people of Germany were poor and needed someone to lead them out of this depression they had fallen into. Hitler promised to restore hope and to solve the problems of the depression. To Germans at the time Hitler made sense, uniting everyone. With Adolf Hitler came his National Socialism movement. National Socialism was shaped by Hitler’s beliefs in...
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...question of Germany getting back its coal producing Saar region – a region just south of independent Luxembourg, and about as big. The treaty that had ended World War I, signed at Versailles, had entrusted the Saar region to the League of Nations and an occupation by France, and a plebiscite was to decide the region's future. A little over two thousand people (0.4 percent) in the Saar voted to join France; nine percent voted to remain under the League of Nations; and ninety percent voted to join Germany. Hitler responded by saying he was proud of the German people. He announced that Germany had no more territorial claims against France (in other words no claim on Alsace and Lorraine) and he spoke of hope that the decision regarding the Saar was a decisive step on the road to gradual reconciliation with Germany's former enemies. Instead of moving closer to reconciliation, as the year progressed Europe moved closer to war. In 1935 Britain announced an increase in armaments, and the French increased conscripted military service from one to two years because of a shortage of young men of draft age. Hitler said he was responding to the failure of other European powers to disarm and to the Soviet Union having enlarged its military forces. He announced to the world that Germany was rearming, that he was establishing military conscription, enlarging Germany's army to thirty-six divisions and increasing Germany's airforce. Germany's rearmament was in violation of the Versailles Treaty, which...
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