How Did The Treaty Of Versailles Affect Germany

The affect that the Treaty of Versailles had on Germany The affect the Treaty of Versailles had on Germany is truly eye opening and amazing. “Viewing Germany as the chief instigator of the conflict, the European Allied Powers decided to impose particularly stringent treaty obligations upon the defeated Germany.”1 After the treaty was in place Germany had experienced very difficult times economically and politically. From the reparations they owed to the land that was compensated, Germany struggled to get off the ground. Germany also gained some very positive experiences from the treaty. They improved the living conditions, established some political order, and women had gained more rights. While most people would assume that the Treaty
of Versailles only had negative effects on Germany, it actually had both positive and negative effects. The Treaty of Versailles was created to officially end the First World War between Allied and Associated Powers and Germany. The treaty was intended to punish Germany heavily and hold them responsible for the war. The treaty was formed by the group the Allied Powers that had came together during the war. That group consisted of Woodrow Wilson (United States), David Lloyd George (Britain), Georges Clemenceau (France), and Vittorio Emanuele Orlando (Italy). Woodrow Wilson’s “Fourteen Points” had a great affect on the creation of the treaty. Wilson called for a “League of Nations” in his “Fourteen Points” which was created and is better known today as the United Nations. The ironic thing however is that even though Wilson proposed for this “League of Nations”, the United States was actually not a part of it. Wilson’s goal for his work “Fourteen Points” was, “…our task is no less colossal than this, to set up a new international psychology, to have a new atmosphere.”2 Germany had an extremely tough time taking responsibility for the war. Germany was forced to pay reparations for the war and the total amount was unknown at the time. So basically Germany had to sign a blank check. If Germany would of not have agreed to the treaty Allied Armies would have came into Germany and occupy the country. They did not want that at all so they were basically forced into signing the treaty. Some Germans would describe the treaty as, “pitiless dismemberment,” “enslavement,” “the creation of helots.”3 Adolf Hitler hated it just as much as any German there was, “Above all, he regarded the peace as a tragedy for Germany, the country for he passionately attached, until his death in 1946.”4 As you can see, Germany was not happy about the treaty and rightfully so. The German economy struggled mightily to get off the ground and running after the treaty.
“…the political leadership of the republic was notably old and stuck in a political mind-set that proved unable to deal with the new problems presented by the post-World War I Era. The economy, though retooled for peacetime faster than anyone could have imagined, proved highly unstable, with a few intermittent years of expansion interspersed with severe crisis. The collapse of international commodity prices, mediocre rates of productivity, and high levels of unemployment even in good years placed severe constraints on every government and made miserable the real-life circumstances of millions of Germans.”5
The stock market crash in America during 1929 greatly affected the economy in Germany because they heavily relied on American Capitol. German banks crashed once American banks started to call in their loans. Germany was the most deeply affected country during the Great Depression. “…fully one-third of the labor force was unemployed.”6 Germany had entered a Depression just like the United States. The Depression led to great political conflict within the republic. Germany had been experiencing some very difficult times and when there is a difficult time usually there is political disagreement. Germany was in the heat of disagreement during the Depression. Every political figure fought and argued and never could get anything done. Each party had ideas on how to solve their economy issue but each seemed to fail. However, one person in particular failed worse than any other had yet. President Paul von Hindenburg of the Reichstag appointed, Heinrich Brüning, as chancellor.”Divided on every key financial and political issue, the Reichstag fractured into an unworkable instituition. President Hindenburg invoked article 48 of the Weimar Constitution, which allowed the chancellor to govern by decree.”7 The Reichstag could not make its mind up on any major problems, so Hindenburg kept invoking article 48. “Brüning, then, had a free hand to follow the deflationary path that he believed would lead Germany out of the Depression. He sharply curtailed government spending by significantly reducing social welfare benefits and firing and cutting the salaries of civil service workers. Such policies only increased the disaffection of large segments of the population and did nothing to revive the economy. If anything, they worsened the economic situation.”8 At this point the German people had absolutely no more trust in the Weimar system. The republic seemed to be much split and almost corrupt to a point. Something in Germany had to change. New political parties had formed within Germany and those parties were gaining popularity. “The new parties on the extremes, The Communists and Nazis, did it better than anyone else because they were less hobbled by tradition.”9 The Germans had been tired of the same old, traditional style politics. It was simply not working for them anymore and they knew something had to be done. This is why the Nazi party had become very popular within Germany. The ironic thing about the German people liking this new Nazi party is that many of the Germans supported antiwar organizations, artists, and signed antiwar petitions. However, “…many Germans, right, left, and center, were attracted by spellbinding image of powerful men ready for combat.”10 Of course if they loved the image of men ready for combat, the Germans would rave in support for the Nazi party. The rise of the Nazi party in Germany had many affects to the republic that was falling apart. Along with the Nazi’s rising, women started to become a bigger role in Germany. Women had finally gained the rights to vote, and this changed a lot. Instead of the parties just aiming at men, women were now included in voting. You could imagine that this would be a different style that the parties would have been previously used to. Many of the parties were worried about what women were about to bring to the table. “Social Democrats were especially worried about they saw as the religious and conservative inclinations of women.”11 Women had also won seats in the Reichstag before it started to decline. They held quite a few seats but those numbers also started to decline. “But in municipalities women won representation and found avenues for their talents and abilities in the expanding social welfare realm of the republic. Women worked as welfare inspectors, child and family counselors, and health officers.”12 Women’s role in Germany after the treaty had become huge! They were much needed everywhere just to help pull Germany out of the hole that they had been thrown in. Along with women becoming a bigger role, living conditions were also improved immensely in Germany after the Treaty of Versailles. Improved living conditions would boost the moral and motivation of fellow Germans. With the motivation and high morals more would get done, more people would start to get along better, and everyone else could live a happier life. “New public housing offered better-off workers and white-collar employees the chance to move out of old tenements into modern, clean apartments with indoor plumbing, gas stoves, and electricity.”13 You could imagine what it would mean to these people to be offered this new, fabulous housing. When you are in a new house or apartment you are usually pretty happy, and when you are happy you want to work and make your country better. This is exactly how these Germans felt. They knew their country was experiencing horrible times but they had to make the best out of it by providing some sort of asset. The Germans were experiencing something very positive with the improved living conditions. One might argue that Germany had experienced nothing positive from the Treaty of Versailles.
I firmly believe that that person who believes nothing positive happened is wrong. If you look at the experience that Germany gained from having to deal with being in such a huge hole, it is simply amazing that they were able to pull out of it and do something. The Treaty of Versailles was extremely brutal on Germany and to be able to drag itself out of the hole it was in incredible. Germany’s economy went into a Depression, exactly like the American Great Depression, and Germany had experienced the worse of it by far, since Germany was so dependent on American stocks. German was able to rise above the Depression just like America eventually. It took great backing from the German people to rise above the Depression. Along with rising above a terrible economy, women made their mark. Previously women had no rights in Germany. To gain rights for women in Germany at a very difficult time is quite the deal. Women became essential to the rebirth of a powerful nation. Without the help of women in Germany, there would have been no way that Germany could have become a power in Europe again and maybe the world at that time. Germany had experienced a lot of negative from the Treaty of Versailles and it might outweigh the positive that happened, but Germany was still able to withstand the blow and get back up on its feet. The positive experiences Germany gained let them rebuild into a nation that could fight another world
war. Germany was very upset with the Treaty of Versailles as it was unfair and brutal. The Treaty had wreck their economy and made it basically nothing. It also caused huge political conflicts within the republic that led to major fighting in the country. Germany also experienced positive events that led to climb out of the hole. There was the creation of new political parties that varied from the traditional parties that existed in Germany. One of the new parties that were created was the Nazi party, whom took over the reign in Germany after the treaty was enforced. It took some time for the Nazis to take lead, not directly after the treaty. Women also became a vital role in the makeup of the new look Germany. Improved living conditions provided something for the Germans to be excited about and get their mind off of how terrible the country was doing at the time. Germany had experienced both positive and negative events after the Treaty of Versailles was enforced on the country.

Bibliography
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Slavicek, Louise Chipley. The Treaty of Versailles. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2010. http://books.google.com/books?id=LHA3f2zIvTUC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, ed. Holocaust Encyclopedia. s.v. "Treaty of Versailles, 1919." http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005425 (accessed on May 2, 2013).
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