History
... whole of the First World War. During the 1920’s, the Germans published all their secret documents from 1914, to prove they had tried to stop the war. As accepting the War Guilt Clause meant that the Allies had the right to punish Germany. Germany did not feel that they had caused all the damage, and was one of the reasons why they consequently resented the Treaty to such a degree. They felt that their huge sum was just designed to destroy their economy and starve their future generations. Though Germany disliked the War guilt clause, as it was a “blow” to its countries pride. Especially after Germany before the First World was one of the most powerful in industry and on the economical side. Germany reflected that they were no at fault for the origin of war, they felt Russia was the source, and so should have the War Guilt Clause inflicted upon their country. For the Germans, the war was a war of self-defence against Russia, who had mobilised. However as I mentioned previously, the clause meant that Germany was denied a voice and had no part in the Paris Peace conference. The terms were imposed upon Germany, when she disagreed, the Allies threatened to go to war again. From viewpoints, the Germans were treated like a defeated country, but they did not think they had been defeated, one of the many contradictions which eventually lead to the hatred of Clause 231. Germany thought it has been misled and deceived, they argued that they had signed an Armistice or ceasefire and had not lost the war, as well as accepting Woodrow Wilson’s fourteen points. As Germany thought she had been tricked and betrayed, they hated the Treaty. The main reason why Germany hated the War Guilt Clause, the most was due to the fact that it was an excuse for all the harsh Clauses of the treaty. Therefore Germany thought they should not have been treated so harshly by the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and was one of the reasons she was so angry and called the Treaty a “dik-tat”. The War Guilt Clause lead to other severe clauses, which furthered angered the Germans, one of these was the payment of reparations. Again the Germans hated the payment of reparations as it made them seem crippled and would result in their loss of pride. Most importantly it would affect Germany’s economical stature and affect their future generations. “caused by the crippled state of the German economy”. According to the Treaty, Germany had to pay for all Civilian damages caused by the War. The Germans hated the reparations, set eventually in 1921 at £6.6 billion, to be paid in instalments until 1984. They felt that their huge sum was designed to destroy them and affect Germany’s future generations. Germany had hardly enough money at the time, to pay the original amount and inevitably great inflation occurred, destroying the economy and causing unemployment and starvation. By 1923, “prices had become ridiculous, although people who had taken out large loans benefited, the German goods were cheap for other countries to buy, which stimulated trade and employment. Because Germany had recently been fighting in the war the country was in ruins. Buildings were in need of restoration and towns had to be rebuilt. All this required money, which Germany does not have very much of because it was all going into the payment of reparations. As well as ex- army members needed benefit but were not given any money, as there was not any money. This lead to France invading Ruhr Valley, where Germany’s biggest cold mines were situated, in 1923. The French forced, the Germans to work with them, which continuously eroded the bond between both countries. All of the German produce was being taken and sold by France, resulting in Germany having no income what so ever and continuously getting into worse debt. The German Government decided they had no alternative but passive resistance, where all Germans were ordered to stop working. This was passive resistance, so they had to pay the un-working workers. This meant that meanwhile Germany was continuing to build debts, as they did not have the money. Germany became a very weak county, seeking to take revenge on their allies. After the war, Germany became a republic called the Weimar Republic. The Weimar Republic “had many problems from the start”. Many Germans despised it as it had signed the “hated”, Versailles treaty. The Allies did not consult Germany on reparation terms and Germany hated the Treaty furthermore, as its reparations had the potential to cripple her. Another factor that influenced Germany’s detestation upon the Treaty of Versailles was due to the loss of Land and Territory. Germany had been punished territorially as well, for example Germany’s recapture of Alsace-Lorraine was given back to France, other examples include Malmedy which was given to Belgium. Land was given to Denmark after a plebiscite; these were all designed to weaken Germany. Clemenceau, though a smaller country would be a less of a problem. Overall Germany lost ten percent of its land, twelve percent of its population, sixteen percent of its coalfields and fifty percent of its vital Iron and Steel industry. This meant as a result of German loss of land, Germany also had fewer people, less taxes and less power. Furthermore, Germany had give up important ports, for example The Port of Danzig, which was essential for Germany’s trade, again crippling her economically. Germany loathed the Treaty even more when the land she had lost was given to German enemies, who obviously became stronger. For example, The Saar Coalfields given to France for fifteen years. In addition Germany was forbidden to reunite with Austria, to try and make Germany remain weak. Germany loathed this account as it had no control or power and was treated similar to an infant rather than a powerful adult or dictator. An instance of this is when Germany is forbidden to take troops into the Rhineland area, a demilitarised zone. The Germans exclaimed that her not being able to send troops into places inside Germany was a “national insult”. The League of Nations, one of Woodrow Wilson’s fourteen points, took control of German Overseas Colonies. Germany had to return land to Russia taken in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, some of this land was made into new states, and other given to German enemies, like Poland, as I mentioned earlier. Germany though by the Allies taking away its territories, it meant no industry and this meant no money especially for reparations, providing Germany with the excuse for its downfall and economic cripple. For illustration, Germany had no money for reparations this lead to the Inflation, employment and starvation. Most of all, Germany found the loss of its land, “a national humiliation”, families were split up and those who considered themselves Germans were now classified as “French” or “Polish”. This caused great feelings of Patriotism in people and this made them angry not only towards the Treaty but that they were no longer regarded as Germans. My own example of what German people hated due to the Treaty was Germany’s disarmament. This contradicted Woodrow Wilson’s points as none of the Allies disarmed, and the League of Nations only encouraged nations to disarm, not force, unlike Germany’s situation. Germany was not able to discuss this openly, as it was not invited to join the League of Nations. “If our army and our workmen had known that peace would look like this, the army would not have laid down its arms and all would have held out in the end”. The reduction of military was a command; Germany’s army and resources ...