The Versailles treaty became the core of Germanys problems post WW1. The Weimar Republic had signed the treaty of Versailles’ and so was seen as the cause for Germany’s restrictions, loses of land, power, army and respect. The treaty of Versailles was an agreement contact wrote by Britain, America, France and their allies in the direct aftermath of World War 1. The ‘blame cause’ meant that Germany lost major pieces of its land to Poland, France, Belgium, Denmark and to them being proclaimed ‘free’. Germany also had she army demilitarised to 100,000 men and no tanks or navy of air force. All these restriction left Germany open to attack and meant that the German people loathed the government, which signed the treaty. But on top of these already humiliating terms the Weimar republic had agreed on after losing the war, Germany had to pay £6600,000,000 in reparations for the war. Money that Germany didn’t have!
Germany was now the deep depression of 1923.
But this terrible situation began to be resolved in 1925, as stressmen became head of the Weimar republic and German chancellor. He put into action the Dawes plan after inflation had risen so high the German currency had become worthless and no- one could afford food any more because it had become so expensive. This Dawes plan also meant that Germany could pay back reparations in payment they could afford. Through the Dawes plan and stressmen signing the Locarno treaty, Germany was back on its feet earning money again, no longer in threat of attack and let into the league of nations.
Life was back to normal. But during this time a small party was rising up in the background, the nazi party. Adolf Hitler made his 1st attempt to seize power in ‘ the beer hall putsch’; he failed and was jailed and sentenced to 6 years.
Germany was back on track until 1929 when a greatly damaging event took place. The Wall Street crash. All of a sudden the whole world was in deep depression inflation sky rocketed and even the wealthy country of America, where the even took place had to call back all its loans so it’s people didn’t stave and become unemployed too vastly. But Germany was hit even worse with its loans from America called back the economic structure of Germany collapsed. It could no longer afford reparations and with stressmen dead there was no one left to pick up the pieces when Germany fell apart again. Step forward Adolf Hitler once again, releases from prison after just 9 months.
Para 4
His party believed in extreme ideas, such as blaming the Jews for all Germanys problems. But when they first went for power during the stressmen years. But when a country is not in an extreme situation, there is no need for extreme right wing ideas like those of the national socialist German workers party. Hitler became further and then stood forward in Germany after the Wall Street crash. With inflation, unemployment and depression reaching an all time high during 1929-1932, Hitler started his campaign, blaming all Germanys problems on Jews/ homosexuals/ communists/ pacifists/and all those which did not meet his standards of normality and ‘German’ all these scape-goats were discriminative and racist etc… but combined with his hatred for the treaty of Versailles he found common ground with the rest of the country.
Hitler soon took advantage a broken country, he drilled his ideas in the German people, by using mass propaganda, his extremely powerful speeches and enforce his beliefs with his own personally army the storm troopers. Hitler promised to destroy the treaty of Versailles, make Germany wealthy and respected again to give back Germanys power to the people. His part had earned 07 seats in the Reichstag after the Wall Street crash. And as unemployment then rose as did support for the nazi party. It was not only help for the people that Hitler needed but also from the president Hindenburg and his main advisers: von Schliecher and von Papen. None of these important figures in Germany trusted Hitler and his ideas though. But as both von Schliecher and von Papen had been chancellor and failed to keep majority, they began to use Hitler and his support to their advantage or so they thought. Von Papen knew that the only way he could become chair of cabinet in the Reichstag was by joining with Hitler, and convincing Hindenburg that they could control him, once he was chancellor by keeping nazi majority down. And so against his better judgement Hindenburg made Hitler chancellor in 1933. he and his party took full control of Germany a few yrs later.
By Shannon Mannion – Moran
