The impact of the treaty of Versailles on Germany

These problems resulted in disillusionment and animosity entering German politics. In 1922 they fell behind with reparations repayments and had to suffer the humiliation of French troops entering the Ruhr to secure payments. The Weimar government was unable to reasons, it hadn't the means to react in any feasible way: a government endorsed strike led to the deaths of 100 workers, shot by the French.

The treaty led, either directly or indirectly, to a situation in Germany where the people felt let down, they wanted to blame someone. It led to economic problems and a lack of food or jobs. These in turn lead to further economic problems, and eventually to the German hyperinflation of the mid twenties. 

German reactions to the Treaty of Versailles

The Allies had hoped to make Europe more stable by making Germany weaker. This was not how the Germans saw it. They were very angry. Reasons for their resentment included:

• the treaty was a diktat. Germany was threatened with war if she did not accept it.

• the treaty was meant to be based on Wilson’s Fourteen Points. One of these was self-determination, but the loss of German lands in Europe meant that many Germans were now being ruled by foreigners, e.g. Germans in the Sudetenland (now part of Czechoslavkia).

• the Germans had been very proud of their army and navy. These were now made powerless. Germans felt humiliated. They were especially angry when it later became clear that countries like Britain and France had no intention of disarming.

• being blamed for starting the First World War. Germans felt this was very unfair because other countries were also involved in the start of the war.

• the effects of reparations, which were crippling. The loss of some of Germany’s main industrial areas made it even more difficult for her to pay the reparations. The government tried to solve its problems by issuing more money but this simply led to inflation, which in turn led to massive unemployment. Germany failed to keep up her reparation payments to France who, in 1923, made matters worse by deciding to ‘help herself’ by invading the Ruhr, Germany’s most important industrial area. Germa.n workers went on strike in protest. All this disrupted the German economy even more. Inflation worsened, with money becoming worthless. Many Germans blamed all this on reparations and the Treaty of Versailles.

The German people were angry about the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. They never accepted them and wanted them reversed. Hitler would later be the politician who would promise to do this.