Firstly this essay will look at one of the peoples´ view. This was the ‘stab in the back theory´. The German people thought that there nation had been ‘ stabbed in the back´. If this expression is normally used when something is killed. This means it gives the idea that German hopes were killed. This was as they though that the Germans were winning the war. This idea was there because of government propaganda. The people only heard of German victories at war in newspapers. This probably was to keep the nation morale up and to try and prevent a revolt. The German people were already angered by the signing of the Armistice so when they found out that not only did Germany loose the war but they would also be punished they must have been furious. This point can relate to source one. This is as they thought it was shameful and in source 1 it says ‘ ….. then will come revenge for the shame of 1919´.
Secondly this essay will look at the predicted content of the Treaty of Versailles. This was that they were all hoping that the Treaty of Versailles would be mainly based on the American President´s , Woodrow Wilson, fourteen point plan. This fourteen point plan did not aim to punish Germany in any manner. It was designed to prevent future war. This was what he wanted as America had no need to punish German.( Reasons already stated ). This idea was probably put across to the German people to try and get the government off the hook. It would try to be saying ‘ look it is not that bad ‘. The government probably also thought that they were getting off lightly. When the actual treaty was signed and the German people found out that it was not at all based on Wilson´s fourteen point plan they would have been angry. This is as they would be punished for what seemed to them as they had done nothing wrong. This point can again relate to source 1. This is as the German people must have thought if the punishments are so severe why are the German government signing the treaty of Versailles? It says the ‘….disgraceful treaty..´
The anger must have been building up. Firstly they lost the war which came as a shock. Then they had to be punished for it and found that the punishments were a lot more harsh than expected.
Next this essay will look at another reason why the Germans were so angry about the treaty of Versailles. This is as they thought that as the war was lost they would be punished and be in peace. This however did not happen. Germany were at peace with other countries but it was a dictat ( dictated peace ). This meant that the allies were still in control of the situation. This would crush German pride. This is as it gives the feel that they are under control by another country. They might as well be part of someone else´s empire. Again the fact of government propaganda comes up again. The public probably thought that they could be dictating the peace instead of being under control. This point relates to source three on the sheet. The source is showing the devil with his cronies ‘gloating over the treaty of Versailles. The figure are called greed, revenge and lust for power´. The devils cronies are meant to be each representative from the allies. It is trying to say that the allies are not satisfied with just punishing Germany. They have to have more. They are so greedy they created a dictat in which they are in control.
Next this essay will look at one of the specific areas in which Germany were punished by the treaty of Versailles. This was their military loss. Germany were punished in terms of loosing out militarily a lot. This essay will only pick out two points to help relate to the amount of punishment. Firstly the German army was restricted to only a hundred thousand soldiers.. Also Germany were not allowed to have an air force. Both these points meant that Germany were very vulnerable to attack. This helped the allies as they knew that Germany would not be able to launch a successful attack on a country. Also they knew that they could easily attack Germany if they needed to. Another piece of evidence suggesting a dictat. Also having a small army dented Germany´s pride. We know that Germany like to have a big army as one of the major long term causes of the first world war was the arms race between Britain and Germany. There would also be a lot more unemployment in Germany. This meant less tax payers which would not contribute to the reparations that Germany had to pay. The government may also have to raise the taxes making the government less popular with the people.
Another specific area in which Germany lost out is territorially . Germany lost many places to other countries due to the terms and conditions laid out by the treaty of Versailles. This essay will only concentrate on three main points to give an overview of the situation. Firstly Germany lost 13% of its overall land to other countries. This would cause a problem and make the Germans unhappy as they would be less powerful. Also this would cause a lot of unrest with the non - native Germans. These are the German people living in other countries lost by Germany due to the treaty of Versailles. This point is supported by source 2. It shows a protest march ‘.. By Germans living in areas to be lost by Germany ‘ . I know this due to the caption and in the picture you can see a sign. It says ‘ We non- Native Germans protest ‘. Also Germany lost a lot of their industry. This is as many of their most productive areas of mining was taken away. For example the Saar coalfields. Altogether Germany lost 16% of their total industry. One of the areas lost was Alsace - Lorraine which was home to many German people. All of this would not help Germany financially or in terms of the military. They would loose out financially as they would loose there income from the industrial regions lost. Also they would loose the taxes that would have been paid by citizen living in other countries which belonged to Germany. They would loose out in terms of the military as they could not rely on citizens from other countries to fight for them. Altogether Germany lost 6 million people.
This essay will now look at another aspect of punishment that was laid out by the treaty of Versailles. The above two paragraphs gave points about how Germany lost money financially. This would be a major issue when you consider that Germany had to pay reparations . The figure was set at around 100,000,000,000 marks. With all the loses Germany had suffered people began to ask the question if Germany could afford. The people would be unhappy through high taxes. Germany had lost a lot of their industrial provinces and there was high unemployment. This did not help Germany financially. There was no taxes from other countries so Germany were worse off. The German would feel particularly humiliated and angry through this point as they felt that they alone were not responsible for all the costs of the war effort. Also they would be under constant humiliation as they would always feel as they owe something. They also would not have a chance for their economy to grow as they couldn´t invest. This would dent their pride as they would not be known as a powerful country.
The final area in which Germany were punished did not harm them financially, territorially or militarily. This factor is that Germany had to accept all responsibility for starting the war. This is known as war guilt. Everybody knows that it was not Germany alone who started the war but Germany had to accept. This would again dent Germany´s pride as they would be known as the people who started the war.
This essay has given many points on why the Germans were so angry about the treaty of Versailles. You can understand why the Germans were so upset by the treaty of Versailles. This essay has felt that one of the most important aspects were the people´s expectations. If the people did not expect the Germans to win then they wouldn´t be so surprised. Also they shouldn´t have expected the fourteen point plan. This essay feels that the most important point was the fact about a dictated peace. This gave them the feel of being under control. Even Wilson thought this was important as he said ‘ It must be a peace without victory….only a peace between equals can last. Only a peace the very principle of which is equality and common participation in a common benefit ‘. ( Speech to senate, 22nd Jan. 1917 ) . Overall Germany lost 13% of its land , 6 million people, 16 % of its coal industry, 15 % of its agricultural industry 48% of its iron production. Reparations were set at £ 6.600 million.
