From the very beginning, the Weimar republic encountered resistance from both sides of the political spectrum. The new government was the body that signed the Treaty of Versailles, and to many, that was a betrayal. The consequences of Versailles were severe to Germany, and many were looking for someone to blame, the government was the ideal scapegoat. The treaty had territorial, financial and political impacts within Germany, which severely divided the country. The signing of the Treaty of Versailles could be seen as undermining the Weimar
On the 30th of January 1933. Adolf Hitler was appointed as Chancellor of Germany. Prior to this event, there were several causes of significant relevance; this included the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in June 1919, Hitler’s political activities as leader of the Nazi Party, the Great Depression, and the growing popularity of the Nazi Party. As well as this, some very significant consequences came from this event, including; Hitler’s assumption of dictatorial powers, the improvements he made to the German economy, his persecution of Jews and other minorities, as well his aggressive acts towards opposing and surrounding countries. These consequences were significant for many reasons, particularly due to their impact on society, allies and the opposition, as well as inducing the beginning of WWII.
To what extent did the failings of Nazi economic policy contribute to the defeat of Germany in the Second World War? There were several different factors that all had an impact on the defeat of Germany during the Second World War and the extent of which the failings of the Nazi economic policy contributed can be argued. The meagre state of the economy, through insufficient planning, did put strains on the government and this limited the full potential of the army, the production of weapons and high demand for labour. No doubt, the economy did hinder the progression of the war however I believe that there were more significant factors that contributed to the defeat of Germany. Hitler’s strategy incompetence, the Allied bombings and losing the Battle of The Atlantic were all also important factors in the defeat of Germany.
2. Outline and explain the historical context, i.e. key events associated with Weimar Germany, during the years 1918-1924. The Treaty of Versailles is possibly one of the key causes of grievance in post-war Germany, and a significant contributor to the rise of the Nazi Party. The Treaty itself forced several requests on Germany, the main ones were: War reparations- 226 billion marks, later reduced to 132 billion marks (Hemsley, t. 2008); The
Hitler used propaganda, elimination of the opposition, and a cult of personality to gain the support and trust of the German people in a time of economic crisis to his benefit and the rest of the world's loss. Single party states arise from a crisis, and Germany was suffering from a very large one at that time. The end of World War I in 1918 had left the economic state in shambles, and the loss struck the German people hard. Furthermore, the Treaty of Versailles the following year resulted in the demilitarisation and many cuts from German land and territory. Hitler criticized the carving up of Europe by the "Big Four" (the US, UK, France and Italy), stating that the Germans were the "master race".
Finally, it is suggested the party’s attitude to these questions is illustrative of the way in which economic ideas in the public sphere are inevitably conditioned by the political interests of the politicians who promote them. I The Britain of the 1930s is generally known as an era of ‘slump’ at home and ‘appeasement’ abroad. Indeed, at the time, these issues - perceived economic decline and alleged willingness to truckle to dictators - formed the main bases of the Labour Party’s attacks on the National government. Economic and foreign policy were, moreover, intrinsically connected. G.C.
This essay will look in particular at the Treaty of Versailles and will analyse the details of the Treaty outlining how it was the root of the crisis experienced by Germany and Europe at the beginning of the interwar period. It will also touch on how a national economic crisis filtered through to all levels of society. In the main this essay will ignore political justices which this Treaty tried to retribute and focus instead on the consequences of the Treaty for Germany and for Europe and its wisdom. To understand the crisis is best to begin with Woodrow Wilson’s ‘Fourteen Points’ speech on January 8, 1918, it was based around the topics which the foreign policy advisor, Edward House thought would be most prevalent should peace negotiations arise. On October 5, 1918 the German Government responded to this fourteen points and requested peace negotiations, and on November 5, 1918 the Armistice was signed with the conditions Germany would withdraw from any invaded lands, returning them, all that remained were the finer details of Wilson’s fourteen points to be ironed out.
5. Research: a. How did Germany’s economical post-WW1 situation affect the Nazi’s rise to power? Germany’s loss in WW1 and blame for WW1 left Germany in a terrible state both politically and economically. WW1
The Weimar Republic looked to be collapsing from the beginning. All the events that finally led to the ending of democracy in Germany were seemed to be caused by the Treaty of Versailles. The loss of the war for the Germans was a huge turning point as it was seem that the Allies wanted to crush Germany. They were unable to pay the reparations, as extremists from both the right and left wing found the war guilt clause unacceptable. When the Germans had lost World War I, had a huge impact back in Germany.
A historical event would be Hitler’s rise to power. The three mains causes the treaty of Versailles, the failures of the Weimar democracy and the economic situation all contributed to Hitler’s rule. There were many consequences from Hitler’s rule, the main consequences were the effects on groups of people, Hitler’s growing power and anti-Semitism. A major cause that resulted in Hitler’s growing power was the treaty of Versailles. The 1919 treaty of Versailles required Germany to pay war reperation to France.