what was the most significant event in German history

On June 28th 1919, in the Versailles Palace of France, the treaty of Versailles officially ended World war one. The signers of this treaty implemented certain restrictions on Germany that were to guarantee Germany would never start another world war. This begs the question, “what did the end of one war have to do with the start of World War Two?”. The evidence shows that it was this treaty’s influence on Adolf Hitler that led to the Versailles Treaty’s ultimate failure and provoked the start of the next world war. Because of this treaty Adolf Hitler’s economic plan, proposed while he was seeking political election, was focused on rebuilding and reclaiming Germany. This went hand in hand with the nationalist ideas of the Nazi party.

"So long as this Treaty stands there can be no resurrection of the German people; no social reform of any kind is possible!".1 The Treaty of Versailles demanded exorbitant repetitions for a war Germany did not start. Adolf Hitler took the opportunity to address issues in his own hands after he left WW1 because the situation in Germany incited immense anger and distress in the people.

The Treaty of Versailles & WWII DBQ The Treaty of Versailles had the most direct impact on the general German acceptance of the Nazi Party, which in turn caused World War II to break out. While it was not the sole cause, if such harsh terms had not been imposed upon an already struggling post-war country, a war of the scale that the Second World War was might not have happened at all. David Lloyd George and Georges Clemenceau both wanted to ensure a strong Germany would never return, and given the great losses from both sides this is understandable, however giving such a nationalistic country with barely a military to protect themselves will only produce one thing: rebellion. While the Treaty of Versailles ended World War One, since it took land, restricted military, needed large reparations, and demanded an admittance of guilt from Germany, it set the stage for a bigger war and was one of the

Leah Griffin 3/6/15 HIST 121 Document Analysis Paper World War I played a key role in Adolf Hitler’s rise to power. After the devastating war, Germany was viewed as the main instigator and the European Allied Powers decided to impose strict treaty obligations upon Germany. This treaty, also known as the Treaty of Versailles, was signed by Germany and went into effect in June 1919 (“Treaty of Versailles, 1919” 1). The treaty forced Germany to give up the land it seized from multiple countries during the war and also forced Germany to recognize the independence of several others (“The Treaty of Versailles – 1919” 37-43). The treaty also forced Germany to agree to many other humiliating terms that did not rest easy with the German public

The Treaty of Versailles was a major event in the 1920’s that was largely responsible for the events to follow, including the rise of Hitler and World War 2. Woodrow Wilson came up with a fourteen point plan of how to end the war with fairness and lasting peace. Germany was willing to accept the consequences because they trusted the treaty would be based off of Wilsons’ plan. Unfortunately for Germany and her allies, there were meetings with the four main allie leaders at Versailles to determine the final terms of the treaty without them. These men were determined to punish Germany, excluding Wilson, and hold them completely responsible for World War One. The consequences for Germany were unreasonable and unfair because Germany was not able

An event ending in millions of lives takes place with the aid of the Treaty of Versailles. Following after World War 1 was the creation of the Treaty of Versailles (1919), which penalized the Germans. Due to the extreme regulations placed on the Germans, Germany became aggravated and a new leader came to power, Adolf Hitler, who and restored a sense of pride and reawakened a sense of self respect. The Treaty of Versailles, because of the extreme decrees, such as minimizing Germany's military, taking an excessive amount of land away, and the ridiculous amount of money the Germans had to pay, threw the world into chaos causing World War II.

On January 22, 1917, Woodrow Wilson addressed the United States Senate appealing for a settlement of conflict for ‘peace without victors’. Unfortunately the Treaty of Versailles was signed by participating nations and could not end the hostilities that terrorized to destroy European Civilization. The Treaty of Versailles is one of the most important social and physical agreement or disagreements that help shape the European 20th century. The treaty was very important because it violated Wilson’s ideals. The Treaty of Versailles was the official end of the World War I and was ultimately the main reason that led to World War II.

A third factor linking the Treaty of Versailles and the start of World War II was paying for reparations. Germany had to pay an enormous amount of money after the war as “compensation for all damage done” (Doc C). Told to pay what was worth 367 billion US dollars in 2010, the Germans were angry and humiliated. They payed very little, even after the amount was reduced. Once Hitler came to power all reparation payments stopped, and Germany only paid 2 billion marks in total (Doc C). The Germans were angry that they had to pay such reparations, and in economic trouble after paying so

As historians look back at World War II, they have noticed a lot of causes for the war. One of the biggest causes that got Germany to start World War II was the Versailles Treaty. The Versailles Treaty took land away from Germany, forced them to pay an unfair amount of money, and placed all of the blame for World War I on Germany. The first reason for how the Versailles Treaty was the major cause of World War II was how it took away land from Germany. In document A, Hitler reflects on the creation of the Versailles Treaty saying that “Only childish and naive minds can lull themselves in the idea that they can bring about a correction of Versailles by wheedling and begging”.

The final product of the Versailles Treaty’s terms was the humiliation of Germany and more importantly, its individuals. Supportingly, Document D reports that, “The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies.” (Document D) As the Treaty enforces blame, it singles out Germany. This attempt to prevent war only fueled the fire, creating bitterness that would be a massive contribution to World War II. In agreement, Document D continues the theme, relaying that, “What they knew of the treaty was etched

How significant was the Treaty of Versailles to Germany? This is the question that has been posed to us for our first analytical history essay. I will go into depth about my opinions on both the long-term and short-term effects of the Treaty of Versailles. I believe that the Treaty had a powerful impact on Germany- it practically ruined their economy, and gave the Germans all the more reason to hate the Allies, eventually contributing to the beginning of World War 2. Although the Allies had a right to demand certain things from Germany (as they were the instigators of the war), they should have been more lenient and taken Germany’s poor economic situation into account. The war was a mistake on the part of the German government, but it was the people who payed the price. I have taken into account Germany’s loss of territory, the war guilt, the economical effects of the Treaty, and the armaments and discussed them in this essay.

In December of 1918, The Allies of Europe met in Versailles to Sign possibly one of the most changing documents in history. The document they signed nearly turned Europe upside down, broke down and put up many new social barriers, and definitely made history. The Document that the allied forces all gathered to sign was known as the Treaty of Versailles. Initially, the treaty intended to keep peace between the nations, however, forcing Germany to sign the treaty ended up as one of the worst decisions anybody could have made. The forced signing created tensions between Germany and other countries, let Germany rise back up to Power, Created an optimal situation for Germany to wage war, and ultimately caused World War II, resulting in one of

The signing of the Treaty of Versailles on the twenty second of June in 1919, would forever psychologically be associated with the long term bitterness and humiliation of the German public towards the German democracy. The civilian government who agreed to the terms of the treaty, which saw German suffer a deduction in their army, forced to pay high reparations, deduction of land and population were after known as the “November Criminals. However factors such as nationalism, the democratic Constitution, lack of democratic tradition within Germany society, pushes from the extreme left, the army and pushes from the extreme right saw the German

In order to fully understand the role the Treaty of Versailles played in the initial upcoming of Adolf Hitler, we must first delve into the reasoning behind German involvement in World War One. Since the late 1800s, Germany was intent on expanding its borders, by any means necessary. Otto von Bismarck, Chancellor of Germany, was obsessed with his desire to “create a German Empire out of the group of smaller German states” mainly under Austria-Hungary’s authority (Schmidt, 2006). In order to expel Austria as the primary influence over these smaller German states, war was inevitable. Subsequently following the war, also known as the Seven Weeks War, Bismarck extorted the small German states of “Schleswig, Holstein, Hanover, Hesse, Nassau, and Frankfurt, which created the North German Federation” (Schmidt, 2006). Even more importantly, Austria was successfully displaced as the major influence over those small German states. Bismarck’s next calculated move was to achieve the same unification in the southern parts of Germany.

The Versailles Settlement was more significant in shaping the history of the Weimar Republic overall, however other prevailing conditions worsened the effects of the Versailles Settlement to a lesser extent. From 1919 to 1921, the Versailles Settlement was less significant, as the instability of the German people was able to be stopped. From 1921 to 1923, the Versailles Settlement was more significant due to the inability of the Weimar Republic to recover its economy from the effects of the Settlements terms. From 1923 to 1929, the Versailles Settlement was less significant as due to the complying of terms, Germany was made more respected internationally. From 1929 to 1933, the Versailles Settlement was more significant as the restrictions of the Settlement terms resulted in a weak economy leading to the Nazi’s taking advantage to exploit the Settlement to influence the public.