The Depression which began in 1929 was a great mean for Hitler to come to his power. During the Depression (1929-33), the Weimar Republic was seriously undermined by the social and economic conditions, which were also exploited by the Nazi Party. The Nazi ideologies appealed to those people who had seen no hope on the Republic. The Party promised people jobs, money, and homes, plus, they also wanted to abolish the Treaty of Versailles so there wouldn’t be huge reparations. That’s what German people want; they liked to be reminded of the humiliation caused by the War, and they wanted to get it back from the Republic.
They put restrictions on the German military, to make Germany weak and a second-rate power. Germany had huge financial losses, which brought the rise of the ultra-nationalist Nazis. They had to take acceptance of responsibility for the damage in the war even though they weren’t the only ones in the war. Germany had absolutely no say in the requirements and matters of the treaty. The Treaty of Versailles would prove to be one of the most disastrous mistakes in history.
Hitler then took away the “Power of the People” by replacing parliament with a self proclaimed dictatorship, which most Germans welcomed. Hitler was often described as a “Leader that got mad with power” as he lead a war that lead to many, many people dying. This so called “madness” leads to him taking over Poland and starting the war, consequently meaning Germany broke the “Treaty of Versailles”. After Germany took over Poland, Britain declared war on Germany as they refused to leave from Germany and the fact that they broke the “Treaty of Versailles”. After Britain declared war on Germany, France joined in with Britain as they felt threatened that Germany was going to take over them.
The 1919 treaty of Versailles required Germany to pay war reperation to France. These reperations made the people of Germany angry at the treaty and Hitler was able to manipulate and use this by promising not to pay them thereby gaining popularity. Another factor of the treaty of Versailles is the war guilt cause. This required Germany to take full responsibility for world war 1. Hitler instead blamed many others, mainly the Wemiar and the Jews, this also gained popularity with the people of Germany.
With politics being a major part of Italian depression it had also taken great affect on Germany as well. With the Germans very upset about the outcome of the Treaty of Versailles and what they had to face they soon realized that their economic and political instability was not as great as it once was. With Hitler’s powerful use of words and the support of the Nazi party they soon began to persuade the people of Germany to
Causes of WW 11 Who, or what was to blame in causing WW 11? The Versailles Treaties have been blamed for fillnig the Germans with bitterness and the desire for revenge. The League of Nations has been for failing to secure general disarmament and collective security. The Great Depression has been mentioned because without it Hitler would never have come to power. While these factors created tension, something more was needed to create the war.
“Nazi Germany gave us a big ungainly word, yet one that we still use: totalitarianism. We may even throw it around too loosely, applying it to a lot of foreign leaders whom we don’t like. But heres what it meant in the context of Nazi Germany: the destruction of all persons and groups that would challenge Hitler’s supremacy. This destruction singled out not only the Jews but also most intellectuals, the Communists and the Socialists, the labour unions, the Catholic Church, parts of the Lutheran ministry and even elements of the Nazi movement itself. Nazism was a revolution, and revolutions tend to devour their own.” The words of Robert Smith Thompson (2003, 141) have just described the crisis that was facing the Weimar Republic in the years 1933-1939.
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.
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.
The injustice of the settlement unintentionally gave birth to long term problems, including key events for the lead up to the Second World War. The peace treaties were poorly established due to the restless state of Europe after the war. It was not a reasonable time to try and create peace amongst countries that are still feeling hatred towards each other after the war. The aim of the treaties was to avoid another war. The German people resented the fact that they alone were blamed for the war.