Immediately after the end of World War 1, Germany was forced to sign the treaty of Versailles on 28 June 1919 by American allies who had immerged victorious. The Germans hated the treaty so much for having laid on them extremely harsh political and economic conditions. The three allies never invited Germany to the peace treaty. All that Germany did was sign a document for which it was not privy to. Germans over reliance on American debts and the subsequent depression all occurring as a direct result of the treaty led to the rise of Hitler to power. Hitler was a gifted orator who took advantage of the highly volatile emotions of the discontented German people. A look at the implications of some of the terms in the Versailles Treaty can help demonstrate how the seeds of discontent were sown leading to the rise of Hitler to power.
Geographical ramifications of the treaty weighed heavily on the Germans. Some of the clauses under the treaty required that German cede some of its territory to countries like France and Denmark. These territories included Alsace and Lorraine for France, and parts of Schleswig for Denmark. Moreover, some of the land was seized from Germany and used to set up countries to enhance ethnic balance within the region. Poland was not left behind for a huge chunk of sea side land was allocated to it by the allies. The vast piece of land or the Polish Corridor isolated Germany from the rest of Prussia. Furthermore, all the foreign lands belonging to Germany were taken away by the allies to become their colonies until such a time as when they would be able to completely govern themselves. It is estimated that Germany lost a staggering six million subjects and more than a million square miles of land (Peter, 2001).
Financially, the Versailles treaty crippled Germany’s economy. Allied countries heaped all the blame for the First World War on Germans. Thus, the treaty directed the Germans to compensate the allies for the losses they had incurred during the war. The monthly reparations to be made by the government of Germany amounted to over £ 6.6 billion. One must not forget that Germany had spent almost all her wealth during the war and imposing such amount of money on its taxpayers as compensation led to so much resentment against allied forces by the citizens of Germany. This meant that Germany would find it difficult to reconstruct its economy that was already cash stripped. In addition, the taking away of some of the land and colonies belonging to Germany by the allied powers meant that Germany had lost vast sources of raw materials. Land ceded to France, Poland, Denmark and others made Germany lose important sources of income. The ailing economic situation of Germany was compounded by the heavy casualty she had suffered. Close to 1.7 million Germans lost their lives during this war. Moreover, around 4.2 million of its people were seriously wounded. This had serious implications on Germany’s labor force (Herbert, 1978).
It followed that the government that was in place during the implementation of the treaty failed to comply by signing as it thought that the terms spelt out by the treaty were unrealistic. This government was automatically forced to resign by the allies and the next government that took power had no choice but to comply. The Germans felt that those who signed the document had betrayed Germany by stabbing its people on the back. The fact that it was the politicians who signed the treaty led many Germans to believe that it was they who lost the war and not army or people the people of Germany. Following the outcome of these events, most Germans were unwilling to give any support to the Weimer republic. Instead, due to these and other reasons, people conspired against it. This was the root cause of the famous Munich Putsch and Kapp Putsch uprisings.
Under the terms of the treaty, the former Kaiser was to be brought to trial. However, the Dutch government refused to comply with the requirements stipulated by the treaty. However, this drastically reduced any chance of Germany ever becoming a monarchy again. Consequently, the treaty isolated Germany more than ever before thereby creating a situation within which Hitler would propagate his theory of a superior Aryan race in his bid to unite the people of Germany. No allied country could trust Germany on political issues. Nevertheless, Germany would forge relations with countries like the Soviet Union that needed economic partners.
The treaty which was meant to contain the occurrence of a war of such magnitude did pretty much the opposite. The terms under the treaty so much humiliated the Germans from the moment of its signing onwards. They badly felt the need for a leader who would bring their honor back. In a nut shell, the treaty required that Germany accept responsibility for the war, compensate the allies for damages to a tune of £6.6billion, and reduce the strength of its army to 100,000 men. Moreover, Germany was to have no submarines, air force and was to have no more than six large ships. In addition, Germany was to cede most of the land surrounding it apart from being split into two parts by Poland. Finally, Germany was to give away all her colonies.
Under Wilson treaty, Germany was to get fair treatment, however the allies refused to compromise and this left Germans with so much bitterness and resentment. Hitler blamed the situation on inefficiency and weakness of the current government and he attempted to overthrow it without success. Life had become so difficult for Germans due to 1929 depression (Claudia, 2006). The people of Germany were so discontent with the stipulated terms and Hitler took advantage of this situation to persuade them to support him. He blamed foreigners for woes of Germany especially the Jews. He argued that Germany could become strong once again if a superior race of Aryans was to run its state affairs. To increase loyalty among citizens of Germany, he took to teaching the doctrine of Nazism to children at an early age and inculcated the same into the school curriculum and in every sphere of German life. Hitler’s journey to power started in 1932 when aristocrats in Germany due to fear of communism made him into a chancellor whom they would supposedly manipulate with ease as he dealt with communism menace for them. From this point onwards, Hitler subjugated every opposition to his power and he eventually did away with democracy and became an outstanding dictator paving way for world war two.
References
- Claudia, S. (2006). Hitler’s Face: The Biography of an Image. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
- Herbert, W. (1978). Der Fuhrer: The Life & Times of Adolf Hitler. Secaucus, NJ: Chartwell Books, Inc.
- Peter W. (2001). The Hitler Virus: The Insidious Legacy of Adolf Hitler. New York, NY: Arcade Publishing.