Which of these was the most important reason for the rise of Hitler?

I believe that the treaty of Versailles was an important reason for Hitler’s rise to power.

The terms of the treaty of Versailles were as follows.

Germany had to agree that it was responsible for starting the war. The Germans hated this because they believed that they were not the only culprits.

The German army worried all the allies especially France so the treaty cut it down to a level way before pre war levels. The germens particularly hated this because their armed forces, especially their navy, were the pride and joy of the country. The amount that the Germans resented this part of the treaty is evidenced when we see that the sunk their own fleet at Scapa Flow rather than turn the ships over to the allies. The German army was limited to 100,000 men, conscription was banned, Germany was not allowed armoured vehicles, submarines, or aircraft, the navy could only have six battleships and the Rhineland was demilitarised.

The Germans also had to pay a reparations figure of £6,600 million to pay for the damage it had caused. Germany complained heartily about this and also said that they couldn’t pay the money because all the rich areas of Germany were being lost to other countries. If the terms had not being revised the reparations wouldn’t have been paid until 1984.

Germany lost very much of there land and these land went to Britain France Belgium Denmark Poland and Lithuania. The loss of the land meant that there were Germans living in different countries, which is a ...

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To see how the Germans felt we have this quote.

“Today in the hall of mirrors in Versailles the disgraceful treaty is being signed. Do not forget it. The German people will, with unceasing labour, press forward to re-conquer the place amongst nations to which it is entitled. Then will come the vengeance for the shame of 1919.”

How much the German people hated the treaty is shown in these quotes.

“The immediate effect of the signing of the treaty was a blaze of indignation in the German press and depression among the German people.”

“The peace treaty which Germany signed in 1919 is unfair. It must be cancelled. The land, which it took away, must be reclaimed and France must be destroyed.”

The effects of the treaty were being forgotten in 1920. Strasemann was the chancellor and he was peace loving. In 1923 Germany fell behind with the reparations so France invaded the Ruhr coalfields in Germany. Instead of fighting the workers just stopped working so the French opened fire. America resolved this with the Dawes plan which said that America were going to lend Germany 800 million gold marks to pay the reparations. Afterwards the Americans wrote the Locarno agreement, which said that Germany would not make war on it eastern borders. This was also known as the Locarno Honeymoon. In 1926 Germany was finally allowed into the League of Nations.

1929 was a catastrophic year. Strasemann dies and the Wall Street crash happened in this year. The Weimar republic was a fledgling democracy so it had no chance of surviving the crash. Britain had a democracy for three hundred years and struggled to survive. There were three million people unemployed in Britain and six million unemployed in Germany. When people are desperate they turn to extremists. Hitler used the treaty as a scapegoat and said that he would reverse it. He also said that if the Weimar republic had not signed the treaty they would not be paying reparations so the people would have jobs. The suited the people because they didn’t want to blame themselves. Hitler then flew around the country spreading his message. He was able to do this because he had the backing of the rich because he said he would stand up against communism.

This is what one person said about Hitler.

“From the witness box Hitler condemned the November criminals, the politicians who made peace in November 1918 and the peace settlement.”

“ First the Nazis revived talk of the stab in the back and betrayal through the treaty of Versailles in 1919.”