How Did Germany Lose The Treaty Of Versailles

Already disheartened by the major embarrassment they experienced when they were defeated in World War I, Germany was only further degraded by the Treaty of Versailles. Germany was forced to take full responsibility for the devastating war and had to pay immense reparations for it. In response, the entire country took a turn for the worst, with their economy in shambles, significant territorial losses, and their military a mere fraction of its original size. Germans felt they had been mistreated and ignored by the rest of the world, as well as by their new government. Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party exploited this resentment towards their government, using it as a perfect opportunity to rise to power. Hitler and the Nazis drew the support and
adoration from the German people by healing the county’s economic depression, appealing to their nationalistic ideologies and providing scapegoats to blame for their hardships. The people of German quickly grew to adore Hitler as he repaired their broken economy.
One of the many agreements in the Treaty of Versailles was huge reparation payments Germany had to make to all the countries on the Allied side. This drove their economy so far into the ground that they ran out of money before completely paying off their debt. The situation was only made worse when they increased the amount of money they printed, causing severe inflation. With their currency worth nearly nothing, Hitler had shown through as a beacon of hope for the nation. Much of Germany was so deep into poverty that middle-class citizens found that they “had to sell their most precious belongings for ten [million] inflated marks to buy a bit of food or an absolutely necessary coat,” (Doc 6). This document should be approached with caution, as the author, Lilo Linke, was personally affected by Germany’s situation. Hitler saved their economy, saving lives as well by releasing countless people from poverty. This easily won Hitler the support of
Germans. Hitler significantly reduced the unemployment rate in, as well, after becoming chancellor in 1933. According to Bruno Heilig, in 1931, over seven million German men and women were out of work, which made up nearly one third of the population (Doc 5). This article could be biased, as the author was from Austria, who had always been close with Germany. As time progressed, the rate of unemployment dropped rapidly. The statistics in Document 4 shows that by 1938, there were only 429,000 people without work in the country. This document can be trusted, because it is a table of facts, meaning they cannot show bias. This newfound abundance of jobs can be greatly credited to Hitler’s going against the Treaty of Versailles and rebuilding Germany’s military. His great determination showed that Hitler truly was a “savior from economic and social disaster,” (Document 1) for Germany. Hitler gained support by appealing the Germans’ strong sense of nationalism. In his book, Mein Kampf, he wrote that “the state’s best defense will lie not in its weapons, but in its citizens… filled with supreme love of their fatherland and fanatical national enthusiasm” (Doc 2). He saw how proud of Germany its citizens were, and capitalized on it, knowing they would do anything to protect it. Hitler excited citizens by speaking of restoring Germany’s honor and “raising it again to the proper rank among the European family of nations” (Doc 1). He built upon this nationalistic attitude by once again taking control of the land that had made up the German Empire before the Treaty of Versailles. Proving he was “the unifier of the German people,” (Doc 1) he took back Sudetenland, Prussia and Austria, as well as other territories. It should be taken into consideration that this document was written by a Prussian nobleman while Germany held control of Prussia.
It was apparent how much people appreciated that Hitler brought all of Germany back together under one government in the picture in Document 7.
The photograph depicts Hitler being greeted by a large group of Germans outside a dry goods store. They are all decorated with some sort of Nazi memorabilia, cheering for the man they viewed as a hero. This love for Hitler and Germany was only further exemplified by the Nazi Party Nuremberg Convention written about in Document 8. The event consisted of enough people to exceed the limits of Zepplin Field gathering to celebrate Hitler and National Socialism. Equipped with “innumerable swastika flags flutter[ing] on the evening breeze,” people erupt in “applause that rises from 150,000 spectators and that lasts for minutes” (Doc 8) after a speech was given, saying Hitler was sent by God to guide them. It should be taken into account that this document was taken from a German newspaper that was most likely censored by Hitler to be biased to towards the
Nazis.
Hitler quickly gained Germany's trust after blaming their hardships on specific groups. Most affected by the nation’s bad economy were the middle class citizens, who were all living in poverty, at the time before Hitler. Hitler saw this, and convinced them that the Jews and Socialists, who were still wealthy, were to blame. Due to his own personal vendetta against these groups, Hitler unleashed an abundance of resentment on innocent groups. He also placed much of the responsibility for their troubles on the Allied Powers. They took away so much after defeating Germany in World War I, and this brought people together in bitterness, under Hitler’s rule. Many people shared the same point of view as Kurt Ludecke, who said “who he spoke of the disgrace of Germany, I felt ready to spring on any enemy” (Doc 3) in regards to how angered he was by the country’s situation. This document could be seen as biased, since it was written by a Nazi Ambassador, who obviously favored Hitler. People were eager to seek revenge on the groups that had wronged them, and bring Germany back to its original glory. This gave the whole nation one common enemy that they could work to destroy together.
Overall, Hitler was able to gain support from Germany by saving their economy, playing off of their nationalistic attitude and using scapegoats to provide one common enemy. He created millions of jobs, reducing poverty in the nation greatly. He unified all German people by bringing them all under his rule. He brought about an excitement to fight by blaming one specific group for all of their troubles. In addition to all of this, people were drawn to Hitler because of his passion. He spoke so expressively about the hardships Germans were facing and made them believe he cared deeply for them. Most people found comfort in this and chose to give him their support in exchange.