What was the short term significance of the Treaty of Versailles on the emergence of political parties from 1919-1920?

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What was the short term significance of the Treaty of Versailles on the emergence of political parties from 1919-1920?

The Treaty of Versailles (ToV) was signed in 1919, marking a monumental shift in both society and politics against the backdrop of intense public dissatisfaction, something which all the contempory sources agree on, despite disagreeing on the degree to which society was affected.

The ToV initially united society in its rejection and protest of the treaty. This can be seen in a photo taken in 1919, showing this unity through the sheer volume of people and class, as the bowler hats of the upper class and flat caps of the lower freely mix, highlighting how this issue erased ingrained social boundaries. As a primary source photo, we can rely on it to give an accurate and unbiased view, however that view is limited to that particular moment in time. It was published in a British newspaper and from this we can infer its purpose; to inform the British public of the German sentiment and to show the treaty was harsh on Germany, although its author is unknown, given the British sentiment at the time, we can assume this was published in a liberal newspaper and aimed at those who sympathised with Germany. It is also partially supported by the other sources which show how the treaty affected German people, and even opposing views agreed on the effect on Germans. This source gains credibility as it’s supported by Feuchtwanger who states “The defeat of 1918 hit the German public with brutal suddenness”. We can infer from this that the brutal suddenness would cause the people to become aware of all proceedings and be immensely interested in the progress of the treaty, as can be seen in the picture.

The first major split was the communist uprising in 1919, which ended in a massacre. This can be seen in the communist publication by an unknown author, showing the working class of Germany left destitute by the treaty mourning over a figure that represents the people’s freedom under communism. The source calls the people of Germany “the Living Dead”, a reference to the brutality of the Freikorps and the dangerous state of affairs, which is supported by the source showing freikorps violence. This cartoon is in a communist paper, however given they would be aware of the situation, it’s more likely its purpose was to shock Germans as part of propaganda to sympathise with them and thus gain support through this highly emotive cartoon. But it does make an interesting point as the people represented are communists, all of whom are destitute; a key theme in communist propaganda, whereas right wing articles feature power, showing the different support bases, in particular how the right had powerful allies, whereas the left didn’t. This source has blatant left-wing bias, but can be relied upon to show the fears of the left and infer there was something to be feared from the right and that it was only a matter of time before something terrible happened. This is confirmed by Andelman who shows how “unarmed civilians had become the enemy”, and is supported by Williamson who states “The government was shocked by the Brutality of the Freikorps” and as such ensures this source is indeed reliable in that respect. Williamson raises a good point in that he shows that the Freikorps acted with the blessing of the Government, showing that the communist uprising wasn’t as peaceful as suggested, as the government had to use the right to quell them and prevent anarchy. As a result, we can rely upon some aspects of the source, but not others due to the nature of its message.

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The Freikrops was composed of disillusioned ex-soldiers. They had few problems; enjoying full governmental and military support, so much so, the head of the army said, “there can be no talk of making Reichswehr fight Reichswehr”, showing how much support they had and due to their experiences in the war had little scruples in killing communists as shown in the source; a photo from the revolution, in which it is clear these men are not Reichswehr due to their uniform, but rather Freikorps quelling communists, showing their free rein. They ...

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