The Republic was weak from the beginning. Treaty of Versailles The Weimar republic was associated with failure in WWI since it had signed the Treaty of Versailles that had ended the war. Many nationalists believed the republic had sold Germany out to its enemies by ending the war too early. The treaty took territory from Germany and left the country facing crippling compensation claims. The limitations it placed on Germany's armed forces, and especially the War Guilt Clause that blamed Germany and her allies for starting the war, left many Germans feeling humiliated.
A desire to protect American citizens was a crucial factor in the US entering the war in 1917. The sinking of the Lusitania by the Germans on a passenger ship was seen as a threat to Americans and created a feeling of hostility against Germans in America as the Germans had clearly killed innocent Americans. It pushed them further towards war in order to make sure their citizens were safe. The Zimmerman telegraph was also very significant. This telegraph which showed a potential alliance about to be formed between Mexico and Germany eventually became the deciding factor that led them to the war.
During a depression, political trends become extremist and so the Nazis flourished; Hitler offered both a scapegoat and himself as a strong leader to look up to. The depression gave Hitler the edge he needed to gain ninety-five[1] seats in the Reichstag and ultimately progress from the leader of a minority party to the Dictator of the Third Reich. The Depression also drew attention to the weaknesses of the Weimar Constitution; as poverty and unemployment increased, respect for the democratic system drastically decreased. The German population did not want to be governed by a democracy as it was such a governing body that signed the Treaty of Versailles. Hatred for this document was still rife in Germany and so Hitler, who openly detested the Treaty, became the obvious choice.
Weltpolitik caused tensions and led to a naval race between Germany and Britain and created a naval scare in the world. The historian Fritz Fischer arguments that Germany was to blame for causing WW1, with presenting the ‘September Programme’ where Germany’s aims for the Domination of Europe is set, like their Weltpolitik was also about. The July crisis was the crisis, which pushed Europe in to war. Germany urged Austria-Hungary on to attack Serbia with the ‘’blank check’’, which also assured a full back up from Germany. Germany interpreted Russia’s mobilization as virtual equivalent to declaring war, and that meant that in order for the Schlieffen plan to succeed, Germanys army had to attack and defeat France before moving eastwards to fight Russian forces.
• German policy on unrestricted submarine warfare would bring US into war. • 1915 – many ships either American or carrying American civilians were sunk by Germany. • Ties between allies and Americans weak but due to Germany’s actions America forced to join allies. • Did not enter war in 1915 because not ready and not all united in its response to German attacks. • Germany knew US (allies would win if US entered on their side) would enter if more ships sunk, but took the risk that Britain would be broken by then, meaning end of war.
But the rising power of Germany and the Kaiser’s personality wasn’t a reason for accusing Germany of starting the war. The rising power of Germany was due to the case that they where the second country in the world with economical power and they also wanted overseas colonies. And lets think who started the war, was it Germany? No, it was Serbia who started the war when a Serbian terrorist killed Franz Ferdinand. Off course Austria Hungary had to defend itself so they attacked Serbia and Germany, as a good ally supported Austria Hungary as the Triple Entente supported Serbia so why are we blaming Germany for the outbreak
As much as I understand from the article, the propagandas were supposed to affect three different countries Germany, Great Britain, and the U.S.A. In Germany, it was supposed to lower the people and the soldier’s moral with disinformation dropped by aero planes or balloons. According to World War I Propaganda Posters, in America propaganda was meant to persuade Americans to join in the war on the side of the British by giving a bad reputation to the Germans, which was not that hard to do, unfortunately for the Germans, they were the misfortunate carriers of destroyed American ships and dead Americans. While England and France were depicted as “civilization,” Germany was shown as a “mad brute” — here, a giant, drooling gorilla wielding the club of German culture and carrying the limp, half-naked body of a woman. As a result of propaganda like this, German Americans many of whose ancestors had lived in America for centuries — faced persecution during the war.
In this essay I will discuss the title question and come to a conclusion on whether or not I agree. For me, one of the main causes of ww2 was the fact that The Treaty of Versailles was extremely harsh on Germany; this created a build up of anger and resentment from Germans, and also put them in a financial depression. Although Hitler had no control over this, he played on their poverty to receive votes and gain power. He also built up Germany’s resentment against the United Nations, which made his people pro war. Many people believe another fault of the League of Nations that contributed to war was; how they appeased Hitler by letting him have Czechoslovakia.
It also severely restricted Germany’s military power. The treaty, to Germany, was something that was not only unfair, but also humiliating. This caused Germany to bear resentment against the winning powers and caused some to thirst for revenge. America’s policy of isolationism also played a major part in starting World War II. Their refusal to join the League of Nations severely weakened it, and effectively destroyed the League of Nation’s ability to follow through with its threats and stop wars.
To what extent was the Treaty of Versailles fair to Germany? The Treaty of Versailles was created to cripple Germany so that they could not start another war. One side of the argument is that the Treaty was extremely unfair to Germany, as it took away some of her most valuable assets and fuelled nationalism. However, the other side of the argument is that as Germany caused a lot of damage, she deserved to be punished and prevented from stirring up more trouble. The military clause was the harshest and most damaging clause, and was greatly disapproved of by Germany.