The Treaty Of Versailles At The Completion Of World War

What responsibility did each of the “Big Three” have for the failure of the Versailles Treaty to bring peace to Europe? Be sure to discuss what each wanted to accomplish.

At the end of WWI in 1918, Germany’s economy was in ruins. There were very few jobs, and bitterness began to take over the country. According to the text, “Hitler, a rising politician, offered Germany a scapegoat: Jewish people. Hitler said that Jewish people were to blame for Germany’s problems. He believed that Jews did not deserve to live.” (7) This was the birth of Antisemitism--prejudice against Jewish people. Europe’s Jewish people have always been persecuted due to their “different customs and beliefs that many viewed with suspicion.”(7) Hitler simply reignited the flames, and a violent hatred was born.

WWI and the Versailles Treaty had only a marginal (limited) relationship to the world Depression of the 1930s

Thesis: The peace treaty that resulted from World War 1 was not too harsh of a punishment for the offenses committed.

The first World War had devastated the balance of the 20th century with effects still felt today. The war had obliterated once powerful imperial dynasties, birthed new states from the fallen imperial powers, supported the idea of independence in European colonies, and led to the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Yet, it brought hope to the newly independent territories and minority groups, while plunging a heavy recession to countries that were once world powers. The war ended with the defeat of the Central Powers (German Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Ottoman Empire, and the Russian Empire) and the signage of the Versailles Treaty. This treaty along with the League of Nations was created to prevent another global crusade from happening again, but failed and led to World War II, which started only twenty years after the Treaty of Versailles was endorsed. And even with end of the Great War, it was evident that the world would never return to how it once was, four years earlier, in 1914. The destructive warfare brought out several unnerving and irreversible social and economic consequences that shook modern society for decades to come.

When Germany was defeated in World War I by Britain and France they were forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles, which proclaims Germany to be responsible for all reparations of the War. It was easy for Hitler and his Nazi party to blame the wealthy Jews for not offering enough money to the country, but his anti-Semitism was completely aimed towards the Jews. By the end of 1920, the Nazi party had about 3,000 members according to A Teacher’s Guide to the Holocaust. With an army this large Hitler felt confident enough to attempt to overthrow the government in Munich. However he failed in his endeavor and was thrown in jail by Munich authorities. While imprisoned he wrote about his ideas on racism - not only against Jews, but other groups such as homosexuals, the disabled, Gypsies, and the courageous resistors- in a book he titled “Mein Kampf,” meaning “My Struggle.” (“Nazification of Germany”) Hitler was a very sick man who believed his ideas about these people justified his mass killings.

The primary source “German Economic Goals and the Jewish question (August 1936)” by Adolf Hitler describes antisemitism was central to Hitler’s political vision and strategy. The Reichstag passed laws such as making the Jewish people liable for all damage inflicted by individual specimens of this community of criminals upon the German economy, and thus upon the German people. Hitler figured if he destroyed the Jewish people that the world he envisioned would be born. Therefore, he staged the holocaust to eliminate the Jews from German culture. The factors that contributed towards the Nazi hatred of the Jews includes the ideas of ‘Positive Christianity’ supported by Nazi Movement. Additionally, racial and political factors were significant in their relations to anti-Semitism during World War I, which singled out the Jews as a threat to the established order of society in German. These factors made the Jews a target for persecution and ultimate destruction by the Nazis.

The Great War, or World War I, was the first modern warfare and the first total war in which almost everyone participated in it, both directly or indirectly. After the war, President Woodrow Wilson hoped that the Great War will be a war to “end all wars”; unfortunately, almost twenty years later, World War II erupted in Europe and the world plunged into an even deadlier war. With the end of World War I, the Treaty of Versailles was drafted to secure peace throughout Europe, but the cruel and unreasonable terms made World War II almost inevitable.

Though anti-Semitism has been featured throughout history, the term was not coined until 1879 by the radical German writer and politician, Wilhelm Marr (Chanes, xvii). This term was originally used to replace “Jew-hatred,” which was associated with the Christian hostility toward the Jews; the term had become outdated and did not fit the “modern, pseudoscientific, nationalist,

With the rise of a fascist regime in 1933 following World War I, and in light of The Depression, fascist sponsors would go on to critically undermine the quality of the parliamentary democracy that governed Germany alongside the corrupt class discrepancies of Western capitalism. In suggestion of a superior system, the advocates of fascism put out the idea of a state ruled by a leader strong enough to resuscitate the nation through acts of military and foreign policies. What followed gave rise to what would be the Nazi regime in Germany under Adolf Hitler. Through Hitler’s powerful methods of propaganda and rhetoric, Hitler reached an audience of people with a preexisting dislike towards the Semitic people. Taking advantage of this irrational aversion of the Semitic people within much of Europe, Hitler would touch upon the extremes and publish in his “Final Solution,” a plan to solve such a problem. In his plan, Hitler promised the complete extermination of Europe’s Semitic population and those others considered inferior. To the surprise of many nations, many reacted with little avail. ("The ‘Final Solution’: Background &

Before Hitler became Chancellor on January 30, 1933 the Jewish people faced harsh discrimination from those who feared a European Jewish reign. Even back in the Middle Ages in Europe, the Jews were seen as "the murderers of Christ". The Anti-Semitism had been present in Germany and Europe long before the Jews' climb through the class system with the banks, social status, and the culmination of WWI along with the blame for The Great Depression and the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler and the Nazis used that to their gain as they aimed for a complete mass murder of the Jewish race. Economically, politically and socially the anti-Semites wanted to ruin the chances of occupational Jewish advancements. The prejudice against what was known as the Jewish race began with the discrimination toward Jewish ethics. Anti-Semitics did not focus much on the religion

There is no question that the German people showed a high level of discontent with the Allies after World War 1, especially since the unveiling of the terms from the Treaty of Versailles. Possibly the most humiliating clause implemented in the Treaty of Versailles was Article 231, also known as ‘War Guilt.’ This was a term, which forced Germany to accept all responsibility for initiating the First World War along with paying a detrimental bill of £6.6 billion for war reparations , strongly demanded by French Prime Minister, Georges Clemenceau, even though it was apparent that Germany would not be able to keep up with this payment. So clearly from the aftermath of the First World War, Germany became a bitter nation filled with hatred towards the Allies. However, there had to be an outlet for all this anger, which some historians argue was redirected towards the Weimar Republic. In result, this was a source of promulgation for the Nazi Party as the Germans were deviated towards extreme radical parties. The National Socialist Workers Party, also popularly known as The Nazi Party, was founded after the collapse of the First World War. It was first regarded as the Germans Workers’ Party until the infamous Adolf Hitler assumed leadership of the organization. The primary purpose for this party was a cry for German nationalism and anti-Semitism. Throughout the early 1920s, Hitler attempted to lead the Nazi Party to success, trying to persuade the nation into adopting the Nazi

At a time where World War 1 was turned to be too overwhelming, a way of ending World War 1 was necessary. The solution was to create and sign a treaty from each of the Allies, in order ensure world-peace in the future; an intention to avoid any more World Wars or other related disasters. This treaty was signed in Versailles (hence the name came from), and enforced by the leaders of France, Britain, The United States of America and Italy. The big four’s (the world leaders that signed the treaty) names were Woodrow Wilson (from the USA), George Clemenceau (from France), Vittorio Orlando (from Italy), and David Loyd-George (from Britain).

Before going into the characteristics of the policies of the Nazi party it is important to understand about the origins of the party itself and therefore the origins of the party’s anti-Semitic nature. The National Socialist German Workers Party commonly known in English as the Nazi Party was a political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945. The party grew from the German Nationalist, racist and populist anti-communist paramilitary culture which fought against the communist uprisings

The Treaty of Versailles was one of many peace treaties signed at the end of World War I. It ended war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed June 28, 1919. The signing of this treaty fell on the fifth anniversary of Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s assassination. Ferdinand was the prince of Hungary and Bohemia up until the date of his death. He was an heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne.