The aims of the Treaty of Versailles were:
- To punish Germany and get revenge
- To weaken Germany, so it couldn’t threaten any other countries
- To reward and compensate Allies
- To preserve World Peace
HITLER’S RISE TO POWER
After Emperor William 2nd abdicated in 1918, Germany became a republic. It’s new government ruled from Weimar instead of Berlin until 1933 , Germany was known as the Weimar Republic, it’s first President was Frederich Elbert a socialist. In 1925 he died and Field Marshall Von Hindenburg took his place. Unfortunately he was already 78 years old.
In 1932 it was the next general election, this was when Germany was in an economical crisis with huge inflation and high unemployment. Hindenburg was elected again with Adolf Hitler, leader of the Socialist (Nazi) Party in 2nd place. The Nazi Party won the most votes in the Reichstag (Germany Parliament) and so Hindenburg appointed Hitler as Chancellor in January 1933. By April the Nazi Party had complete control over Germany.
When Hindenburg died in 1934, Hitler set out to get revenge for the humiliation brought to Germany when they signed the Treaty of Versailles. He wanted Germany to become a powerful empire called the 3rd Reich that would dominate Europe.
Why did Hitler get elected?
Germany 1923 – early 30s – The depression
- High Inflation
- Money was worthless
Woodrow Wilson lent Germany money to pay back reparations.
U.S.A 1929 – The Wall Street Crash
- Prices fell
- People rapidly lost money and shares
- Led to World Depression
In 1933 the Depression was at its worst, over 12 million people were unemployed, 85,000 businesses failed, so the U.S.A wanted their money back from Germany.
Germany was now depressed they had no money there was no light at the end of the tunnel.
Hitler promised to restore order and bring discipline. He offered jobs, and his excellent speaking qualities gave people hope.
HITLER’S 5 STEPS TO WAR
1936: Hitler invaded Rhineland which was a demilitarised zone due to the terms of The Treaty of Versailles. Hitler had no problems as Britain, France or U.S.A did nothing, this made Hitler want to push his luck further.
1938: Hitler met with the Austrian chancellor Kurt Von Schuschnigg and made demands. With the German troops threatening his country, Schuschnigg resigned in favour of Artur Von Seyss-Inquart, leader of the Austrian Nazi’s. He invited Germany to Unite with them and on 13th March 1938 this was declared, despite it being forbidden by The Treaty of Versailles.
September 1938: Neville Chamberlain, British Prime Minister visited Munich and signed an appeasement. He stated “peace in out time” This appeasement gave Hitler Sudetenland, part of Czechoslovakia.
March 1939: As Hitler had part of Czechoslovakia he wanted the rest so now he invaded the whole of the Country.
In 1939 France and Great Britain declared “If you invade Poland, we will declare War on you!”
Hitler didn’t listen as in September of that year he invaded Poland:
Hitler had made a deal with Stalin. If they both made a joint invasion of Poland, then they would split Poland equally between them. This Pact gave Hitler freedom, so he invaded. After Hitler’s men had done the hard work, Stalin’s troops (The Red Army) swooped in for their part of the bargain. Stalin’s invasion was purely to avoid disagreement with Hitler.
This meant WAR!
HITLERS TREATMENT OF MINORITY GROUPS
Hitler was born in Austria in 1889, he always liked painting, so he decided to apply at a college of arts in Vienna, he was sure he would get in but he was rejected, over the next few yeas he went from soup kitchen to soup kitchen. He painted on streets and generally suffered.
All around him there were people, He would spend days observing them this is how he developed his hatred of Jews.
He eventually got interested in politics, and when he got appointed as chancellor he wanted to persecute all Jews.
In 1935 he set up the Nuremberg laws which deprived the Jews of all their rights of citizenship, giving them the status of objects in Hitler’s Reich. The laws made it forbidden for Jews to marry or have sexual relationships with Aryans (blonde hair blue eyes, Germanic heritage).
The laws include:
- Protection of German blood and honour
- The Reich citizenship law
- Protection of genetic help of the German people
These laws caused confusion as to who was a full Jew, so these diagrams were produced. (next page)
White Figs: Aryans
Black Figs: Jews
Shaded: Mischlinge (mixed race)
These laws eventually outlawed the Jews completely.
The persecution of the Jews got even worse. On November 9th 1938, known as the Night of Broken Glass, an attack was organised on Jews throughout the German Reich.
All over Germany, Austria and other Nazi controlled areas, Jewish shops and stores had their windows smashed and contents destroyed. Hundreds of Synagogues were smashed and burned while local fire departments just sat and watched.
About 25,000 Jewish men were sent to concentration camps and brutally killed. After this event, and many talks between Governments it was agreed, that Jews should be eliminated from economic life in the Reich.
Hitler’s words were “ hence today I believe I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator, by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord”
Over a total of 7 years, 6 million Jews, Gypsies, Homosexuals and coloured people were sent to concentration camps to be killed.
Hitler felt Jews, homosexuals and coloured people were a threat to the German race. He wanted a pure race – an Aryan race – blonde hair, blue eyes, white and of Germanic heritage.
Hitler used propaganda. He had his Nazi Party, and their techniques successfully conjured up enormous public support.
He had thousands of followers, and before long, thousands of people had the same hatred for Jews, homosexuals, Gypsies and coloured people.
SERVICES AND FACILITIES CURRENTLY AVAILABLE IN THE VILLAGE
At the present day Penley consists of:
A church – St Mary’s Magdalene Church
A public house – The Dymock Arms
A shop – soon to be closed
A Former petrol station which now only trades cars
A secondary School – The Maelor School
A Primary School – The Madras
A new hospital in the development Process
An Industrial Estate with:
Mothergoose Nursery
Dolphin Response Co. Ltd
Sky Scene Group Ltd
Regency Playhouses and Timber Products
Safes UK Ltd
Surefit Wood Products Ltd
Fibre Flora Ltd
Penley Concrete Products
R B Maintenance Services
The Right Sort Mailing Co
D & J Tarpaulins
Electro Control Systems
Coloured Linen Hire
Melmet
Elegance Natural Skin Care
Wade Engineering
As you can see there is really no significant facilities which would put any village on the map.
THE NEEDS OF THE VILLAGE
The Main problem in Penley, quoted by Wrexham Borough Council is “ lack of sense of place or local identity.” This mainly caused as the village is linear and largely nature.
The problems include:
- The poor sense of arrival and departure and arrival
- Little community / amenity space and no nodal points.
- Lack of colour and intrigue
- Weak boundaries which result in the village core spilling onto the road
- Too much visual clutter
- Un attractive and inadequate street furniture
- No effective hard and soft landscaping
- A general portrayal of neglect
This shows that the village generally needs to become pedestrian friendly and more attractive
How can we achieve this?
- Reinforcing gateways and introducing features of interest
- Improve setting of buildings of visual interest
- Create positive physical and visual linkages between sites
- Renovate areas, improve boundaries and landscaping themes
- Create spaces for public enjoyment by using redundant sites
- Reduce levels of clutter by improving signage and lighting and removing redundant items
- Introduce consistent and locally responsive street furniture
- Inject visual interest into the environment with public art
All of these will take time, money and effort, but the needs the Penley community need satisfying now!!
MY PROPOSALS
I have chosen to develop an activity park. The park will include:
- A community Centre/ club house
- A Golf Course
- A car park
I have chosen to develop this as looking at the needs of Penley as a Village, it has no community or Amenity Space and generally a cluttered village, it needs to be pedestrian friendly and less redundant, It needs a sense of admiration and an attraction to make Penley stand out on the map.
I thought a Community Centre would bring the Community closer together in a friendly environment and also allow clubs to be held to attract outsiders. The club house will be a perfect place to relax and have a drink after a game of Golf.
The Golf course will attract many visitors to the village, and as they will notice the Memorial of the Hospital, refugees, and soldiers they will know how much of an important part Penley played in World War II. It is a 9 hole, par 3 Golf Course which is ideal due to the actual size of Penley. It will make Penley more attractive as the green grass spreads over a wide area, and hopefully make Penley a more popular place.
The gardens are the most significant part of my development. I felt gardens would be appropriate as in the needs of the village it stated Penley has lack of colour and intrigue, and has a general portrayal of neglect.
The needs of Penley do continue after this, but as the funds haven’t yet reached these, I hope my development will at least give Penley the status of an Upward Moving Village.
MY MEMORIAL
The gardens in the centre of my development are my memorial. The centre of my garden is a bandstand, where on days of memorial , bands can play, speeches can be made and people can gather to pay their respects.
Surrounding the Bandstand will be 4 raised pedestals with poems/verses engraved. These will be:
Who are these men with aged faces,
Who silently count the empty spaces?
These are the men who gave their all,
Who fought for their country for freedom for all.
These are the men who saw young men die,
The price of peace is always high.
Who are these men who in the midst of pain,
Whispered comfort to those they would not see again?
These are the men whose hands held tomorrow,
Who brought back our future with blood tears and sorrow.
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'Veteran’s my friends-I will remember them.
Under cover of night, They're paid to fight
For what is good, and wrong and right.
Somebody didn't make it home today.
They leave their families, and their wives
Kiss the kids, and risk their lives
Somebody didn't make it home today,
They work each day, out on their own
But as of tonight, a new star has shone
Somebody did'nt make it home today.
So with your family, shed a tear
Hold them close, it's what we fear
Somebody did'nt make it home today.
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Distant memories of loved ones
whisper in a mind
Songs of joy and laughter
no more fill the air
With honour in one's heart
they die beneath a bullet
Glorified a soul
to heaven is it's flight
With Honour many fall
But also-with honour~ thousands stand tall
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They try to do what's right
When everyone else does wrong
They're the ones who stand and fight
Against those who do us harm
They don't ask for thank you's
And they don't ask for fame
But have you ever taken time
To even ask their name?
Those who fight for your lives
No matter what the cost
Their blood has spilled for you
No matter what you do
They give their lives for you
God bless the fallen few
God hold them and love them
Bless them and protect them
And keep then the fallen few
I felt theses are appropriate as these verses tell us of the people who fought for out future and I feel my development is a part of Penley’s future.
Bordering the memorial garden are benches dedicated to the soldiers, refugees, doctors and nurses, who contributed to the work in World War II. These will have brass plaques instilled into them.
The memorial Garden will brighten up the area and generally make it more attractive as they will have an abundance of roses, shrubs, fragrant flowers, evergreens, trees and bushes.
There will be a gravel path that will take visitors around the garden so they can admire the garden and pause for thought. Bordering the path will be a curb of memorial bricks, with the fee of £20 visitors can have their name engraved in one of these bricks. Some of this money will be put into a fund to help veterans and the rest will be used to help with the upkeep of the Memorial Garden.
Not many people know the History of the Polish hospital, it seems to be a forgotten past hopefully this garden will make people think……….make people remember!!
