Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Germans React Angrily to the Treaty


Under each of the following six points briefly explain why Germany reacted so angrily to the Treaty of Versailles.

1. Germans were no aware of the situation in 1919.
-In 1919 many Germans did not know how bad Germany's military situation was at the end of the war, and therefore only thought a ceasefire was called upon and the German's should of been at the PPC. 
-People were mad that they were not being represented at the PPC and they were forced to sign a harsh treaty without a comment or choice.
-People did not think they started or lost the war ( see above).

2. War guilt and reparations
-The German people felt that the war guilt should at least be shared. 
-Germany was forced to accept the blame for starting the war, and therefore were forced to pay reparations to the Allies.
-German economy was already in bad condition and the people barely had food to eat.
-They feared that the reparation payments would cripple Germany's economy. 

3. Disarmament
-The little amount of men that could volunteer to be in the army was 100,000 which upset Germans because their army was a symbol of German pride.
-Hitler will rebuild army and will gain respect from a widespread amount of Germans. 

4. German territories
-Losing all of German territories was another blow to the German pride and to it's economy.
-Saar and Upper Silesia were major industrial areas, and they were taken away.
-Germany was losing land while Britain and France were increasing their empires.

5. Fourteen Points and League
-The Treatment of Germany was "not in Wilson's Fourteen Points."
-Self-Determination was given to Eastern European peoples and countries such as Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, but the German peoples were discriminated against and had to be ruled by non-Germans when living in a different country.
-Austria and Germany could not join together.
-Germany felt insulted because they could not join the League of Nations as well.

6. Double Standards?
-People accused Germany of having "double standards" because they pleaded that the Treaty was unfair and harsh, but yet they treated Russia harshly as well in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1918 (the Russian treaty was much harsher.)
-Germany's economy was in real trouble, but partially self-inflicted.
-Other states raised taxes in order to pay of war debt, but the Kaiser government planned on extracting payments from other defeated countries reparations.

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