This caused Germany to be able to re-arm their army as much as they wanted without any opposition, even though Britain never consulted France or Italy about the treaty. Because Britain never consulted other countries, it would have caused the countries relationship to decline meaning it was easier for Germany to fully abolish the treaty because the countries didn’t have as much joint power to defeat Germany. This would have caused Hitler to move closer towards his aims. The agreement led to the German army having 800 000 men in its army and having over 2000 aircraft by 1938. This was against the treaty of Versailles meaning he had abolished a term of the treaty bringing Hitler closer to achieving his aim of abolishing the whole treaty.
On one hand, I agree with this statement because the treaty crippled there economy and set them back in the terms of technological developments. For instance, they were made to take all the blame for the war despite the fact they weren’t the sole reason for it or the only side opposing the allies, which is unfair as the Germans are made to take the guilt of the millions of dead after the first war. Also, because of the ‘War Guilt Clause’ they were made to pay $6.6 million to France and Belgium in reparations when Germany itself needed money for it to be rebuilt after the war. Also, Germany had land taken away from it, leading to some Germans nationality to being changed. Also, Germany were restricted to an army only 100,000 strong, which lead to mass unemployment, making the lives of many Germans very difficult.
The Treaty of Versailles left the Germans feeling guilty, humiliated, and resentful. The German people have a strong sense of national pride and now they were humiliated, they were in ruins. The treaty destroyed their military and made them pay war reparation therefore causing inflation and loss of jobs. Many Germans were bitterly disappointed by the treaty and this disappointment sparked the lasting bitterness that would
The Treaty of Versailles was a compromise, and it completely satisfied nobody. Georges Clemenceau, Prime Minister of France, did not get everything he wanted out of the Treaty. He was satisfied with clause 231 (which blamed Germany for the war), the disarmament clauses of the Treaty (reducing the army to 100,000, only 6 battleships, no air force or submarines), getting back Alsace-Lorraine, and being given German colonies as mandates on behalf of the League of Nations. But even this did not go far enough. Clemenceau had wanted Germany weakened to the point where it would never be a danger to France ever again.
Firstly, Appeasement was a policy adopted by Britain and France in the years before the outbreak of war. It involved giving Hitler what he wanted in the hope it would satisfy him and he would stop requesting more. As Britain and France found out, Hitler was a greedy man and no intention of stopping. So all Britain and France did was allow him to strengthen the German forces and empire. An example of this was the remilitarization of the Rhineland in 1936.
Germany was forced to take all the blame for damages received by the allies. They were also forced to accept charges of starting the war. This left much of the German population feeling cheated by the ‘Big Four’, moreover, Germany had to pay all damages incurred in the French and Belgian territories during fighting. This subsequently caused great tensions in Germany, as they were bemused as to how they could be held responsible for starting the war, when they felt it was equally the faults of the four allied countries. It is commonly accepted that Germany were eager for a war, however in 1914 they were only responding to events in Sarajevo by agreeing to back Austria, as opposed to starting a war with no origin.
German defeat in the Great War was largely down to the incompetence and mistakes of the German Military Elite. The failure of the Schlieffen plan in 1914 can be accredited to these German leaders and also more importantly blamed for the failure in the First World War. Schlieffen, Chief of the German General Staff (1891-1906) devised what is known as the ‘Schlieffen plan’ in 1905 in response to the Anglo-French Entente Cordiale and the further negations this alliance began to have with the huge empire that was Russia. These new relations began to worry Germany and create fears of a combined attack on the country. Schlieffen’s plan aimed to counter a joint attack and then later in the Great War the Schlieffen Plan was used as a strategy to ensure a swift victory and avoid fighting two-fronted war.
When And Why Did The Second World War Turn Against Hitler And His Allies? In September 1939 the world descended into the most violent conflict in its history. This was as a result of many years of poverty stress and anger at other countries (from Germany). Hitler took this downfall of the country to become the prime minister, as he often said that if he became the leader of Germany he would sort the country of all its problems. Hitler then took away the “Power of the People” by replacing parliament with a self proclaimed dictatorship, which most Germans welcomed.
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.
The peace treaty did not satisfy France as it was not harsh enough in the eyes of France. After suffered badly from WWI with umpteen casualties, France was determined to cripple Germany completely as a form of revenge as well as an assurance against future German revival. Some provisions of the treaty did meet French demands, such as the return of Alsace-Lorraine from Germany; the German disarmament which set a maximum strength of 100000 soldiers together with the dissolution of the air force and the reduction of navy to 6 batttleships; and a whopping reparation of 132 billion gold marks to be paid over 42 years. These clauses would severely weaken Germany economically and militarily which certainly catered to French aim. However, French felt these punishments were not harsh enough to eliminate the chance of future German revival.