Explain the effects of the Treaty of Versailles? How these Treaty of Versailles facilitated the rise of Hitler?
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In 1919, a defeated Germany was presented with peace terms by the victorious powers of World War I. Germany wasn’t invited to negotiate and was presented with a stark choice: sign or be invaded. Perhaps inevitably given the previous years of mass bloodshed German leaders had caused, the result was the Treaty of Versailles. But from the start, the terms of Versailles caused anger, hate, and revulsion in parts of German society. Versailles was called a diktat, a dictated peace. The German Empire from 1914 was split up, the military carved to the bone, and huge reparations demanded.
The treaty caused turmoil in the new, highly troubled Weimar Republic, but, although Weimar survived into the 1930s, it can be argued that key areas connected with the Treaty contributed to the rise of Adolf Hitler.
Versailles was criticized at the time by voices among the victors, including economists such as John Maynard Keynes. Some claimed Versailles simply delayed a resumption of war for a few decades, and when Hitler rose to power in the 1930s and started a second world war, these predictions seemed prescient. In the years after the war, many commentators pointed to the treaty as if not making war inevitable, at least being the key enabling factor. Others praised Versailles and said the connection between the treaty and the Nazis was minor.
Yet Gustav Stresemann, the best-regarded politician of the Weimar era, was constantly trying to counter the terms of the treaty and restore German power.
The 'Stab in the Back' Myth
The Germans had offered an armistice to their enemies, hoping negotiations could take place under the "Fourteen Points" of Woodrow Wilson. However, when the treaty was presented to the German delegation, with no chance to negotiate, they had to accept a peace that many in Germany saw as arbitrary and unfair. However, the signatories and the Weimar government that had sent them were seen by many as the "November Criminals."
For some Germans, this outcome had been planned. In the later years of the war, Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff had been in command of Germany. Ludendorff called for a peace deal but, desperate to shift the blame for defeat away from the military, he handed power to the new government to sign the treaty while the military stood back, claiming it hadn’t been defeated but had been betrayed by the new leaders. In the years after the war, Hindenburg claimed the army had been "stabbed in the back." Thus the military escaped blame.
When Hitler was rising in the 1920s and '30s, he repeated the claim that the military had been stabbed in the back and that surrender terms had been dictated: Can Versailles be blamed for Hitler's rise to power? The terms of the treaty, such as Germany's acceptance of blame for the war, allowed myths to flourish. Hitler was obsessed with the belief that Marxists and Jews had been behind the failure in World War I and had to be removed to prevent failure in World War II.
The Collapse of the German Economy
It can be argued that Hitler wouldn't have taken power without the massive economic depression that struck the world, including Germany, in the late 1920s. Hitler promised a way out, and a disaffected populace turned to him. It can also be argued Germany’s economic troubles at this time were due to Versailles.
The victors in World War I had spent a colossal sum of money, which had to be paid back. The ruined continental landscape and economy had to be rebuilt. France and Britain were facing huge bills, and the answer for many was to make Germany pay. The amount to be repaid in reparations was huge, set at $63 billion at the time, later reduced to $33 billion and finally $28 billion.
But just as Britain's effort to make American colonists pay for the French and Indian War backfired, so did reparations. It wasn’t the cost that proved the problem since reparations had been all but neutralized after the 1932 Lausanne Conference, but the way the German economy became massively dependent on American investment and loans. This was fine when the American economy was surging, but when it collapsed in the Great Depression Germany’s economy was ruined as well. Soon 6 million were unemployed, and the populace turned to right-wingers.
It’s been argued that the economy was liable to collapse even if America’s had stayed strong because of Germany's problems with foreign finance.
It also has been argued that leaving pockets of Germans in other nations via the territorial settlement in Versailles was always going to lead to conflict when Germany tried to reunite everyone. While Hitler used this as an excuse to attack, his goals of conquest in Eastern Europe went far beyond anything that can be attributed to Versailles.
The treaty caused turmoil in the new, highly troubled Weimar Republic, but, although Weimar survived into the 1930s, it can be argued that key areas connected with the Treaty contributed to the rise of Adolf Hitler.
Versailles was criticized at the time by voices among the victors, including economists such as John Maynard Keynes. Some claimed Versailles simply delayed a resumption of war for a few decades, and when Hitler rose to power in the 1930s and started a second world war, these predictions seemed prescient. In the years after the war, many commentators pointed to the treaty as if not making war inevitable, at least being the key enabling factor. Others praised Versailles and said the connection between the treaty and the Nazis was minor.
Yet Gustav Stresemann, the best-regarded politician of the Weimar era, was constantly trying to counter the terms of the treaty and restore German power.
The 'Stab in the Back' Myth
The Germans had offered an armistice to their enemies, hoping negotiations could take place under the "Fourteen Points" of Woodrow Wilson. However, when the treaty was presented to the German delegation, with no chance to negotiate, they had to accept a peace that many in Germany saw as arbitrary and unfair. However, the signatories and the Weimar government that had sent them were seen by many as the "November Criminals."
For some Germans, this outcome had been planned. In the later years of the war, Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff had been in command of Germany. Ludendorff called for a peace deal but, desperate to shift the blame for defeat away from the military, he handed power to the new government to sign the treaty while the military stood back, claiming it hadn’t been defeated but had been betrayed by the new leaders. In the years after the war, Hindenburg claimed the army had been "stabbed in the back." Thus the military escaped blame.
When Hitler was rising in the 1920s and '30s, he repeated the claim that the military had been stabbed in the back and that surrender terms had been dictated: Can Versailles be blamed for Hitler's rise to power? The terms of the treaty, such as Germany's acceptance of blame for the war, allowed myths to flourish. Hitler was obsessed with the belief that Marxists and Jews had been behind the failure in World War I and had to be removed to prevent failure in World War II.
The Collapse of the German Economy
It can be argued that Hitler wouldn't have taken power without the massive economic depression that struck the world, including Germany, in the late 1920s. Hitler promised a way out, and a disaffected populace turned to him. It can also be argued Germany’s economic troubles at this time were due to Versailles.
The victors in World War I had spent a colossal sum of money, which had to be paid back. The ruined continental landscape and economy had to be rebuilt. France and Britain were facing huge bills, and the answer for many was to make Germany pay. The amount to be repaid in reparations was huge, set at $63 billion at the time, later reduced to $33 billion and finally $28 billion.
But just as Britain's effort to make American colonists pay for the French and Indian War backfired, so did reparations. It wasn’t the cost that proved the problem since reparations had been all but neutralized after the 1932 Lausanne Conference, but the way the German economy became massively dependent on American investment and loans. This was fine when the American economy was surging, but when it collapsed in the Great Depression Germany’s economy was ruined as well. Soon 6 million were unemployed, and the populace turned to right-wingers.
It’s been argued that the economy was liable to collapse even if America’s had stayed strong because of Germany's problems with foreign finance.
It also has been argued that leaving pockets of Germans in other nations via the territorial settlement in Versailles was always going to lead to conflict when Germany tried to reunite everyone. While Hitler used this as an excuse to attack, his goals of conquest in Eastern Europe went far beyond anything that can be attributed to Versailles.
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The treaty of Versailles was the Treaty that was signed on 28 th June , 1919 .
The Treaty was decided by Woodrow Wilson , the President of U.S , George Clemenceau , the Prime Minister of France and Lloyd George , the Prime Minister of Britain .
The treaty was not a peaceful treaty as it was dictated against the defeated nations.
TERMS OF TREATY
The treaty declared Germany guilty of agression.
Germany was required to pay 33 billion dollars as war reparations .
Germany had to supply huge quantities of coal to the Allies.
Germany had to demilitarize the Rhine Valley.
Germany lost Alsace Lorraine to France .
Germany lost Eupen-et-Malmedy to Belgium .
She lost Schwelsig to Denmark .
She had to reduce her military .
She lost all her colonies and pre-war territories .
RESULTS OF THE TREATY
The treaty gave rise to the Second World War .
It was not a peaceful settlement .
The League of Nations could not do anything to stop Germany in the Second World War.
Hence Hitler could easily rise and develop Germany and entered into the Second World War.
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