The Great Depression in Germany

The Great Depression was a worldwide collapse of economies throughout every society. It most commonly started in 1929, and lasted until the late 1930’s or early 1940’s. At the time of the Great Depression, Germany was struggling to stabilize its government, which was then known as the Weimar Republic. The effects that came with the Great Depression, such as decreased trade, cutbacks in production and consumption, increased unemployment, widespread deprivation and frustration and radical political agitation were strongly affecting Germany. Along with all of these aspects, Germany was trapped in the settlement to pay for war reparations of WWI, to which they were held responsible. Due to the economic suffering in Germany, the people suffered and society as a whole began to experience a continuance of the devastation induced via WWI. Germany was greatly affected by the Great Depression, more so than many other countries; this caused German people to present strikes and protests to the chaotic and unstable government, as they dealt with unemployment and deprivations as the government attempted to hold elections and fix problems to prevent an enormous downfall.

Germany was coping with an unstable government when it was hit by the Great Depression. This provided the opportunities for not only Hitler to come to power, but also for communism to steep into German society, and infiltrate the system. The communism aspect ties back to the issue of unemployment. According to Carter Horsfall, Germany had “a total of six million registered unemployed” people residing in Germany. “Large numbers of the working-class population [had] ‘gone over’ from Social Democracy to Communism”, to which Horsfall believes “it must continue…for as long as economic pressure increases”. Following Germany’s incident with hyperinflation after WWI, which affected the happiness of the German people, whilst providing them with a greater option of joining the Nazis or other rebellious groups. Communism might have appeared to be the ideal solution: equal pay, demolished class system; no military therefore no war costs, and a pro-community mindset would need to be installed. However, Communism was not the option that Germany wished to pursue, for the rise of Hitler introduced fascism as a redefined version of socialism.

Germany’s unemployment reached its peak in 1932 according to a chart, which displayed the rising and falling of employment rates in Germany and Britain. The economic crisis caused people to lose faith in their government because of such high unemployment rates. Germany was struggling the most out of countries dealing with the Great Depression due to the war payments that they needed to pay. This economic pressure made it impossible for trade, production, consumption, and employment to keep going at its original rate, for the government could not uphold the requirements needed to provide support for it. With six million people registered unemployed, protests began to break out due to the unhappiness of the people, the rising of rebellious groups, and the instability of the Weimar Republic. Increasing support for both the radical lefts and rights of Germany provided room for Hitler to take control, and for the two sides to organize protests challenging the legitimacy of the government at that time.

The German government responded to the economic crisis by cutting public services, and using emergency powers to maintain order amongst the people. However, this did not hold, for the people were angry and the government eventually collapsed. With the perfect opportunity presented, Adolf Hitler and his Nazi regime took advantage of the unstable German government and influenced the people with fascism and socialism, with an anti-communistic viewpoint. Before this occurred, however, the demonstrations, strikes, and protests organized by the German people due to economic instability can be held responsible for the fall of the Weimar Republic. “Members of the National Socialist Party have perpetrated acts of atrocious violence at various places throughout the Reich from East Prussia to Bavaria”. This form of protests showed the people leaning towards the ideas of Socialism and violent action to acquire a functioning economy and government. Prior to the initial collapse of the Weimar Republic, the Nazis were producing veritable reigns of terror, through murdering members of their own party on the eve of the elections to be held for a new government, along with the breaking of shop windows, burning of gas stations, diversions of the fire brigades, murdering prominent members of the Socialist and Communist parties, shooting of the German chancellor, and essentially inducing chaos and anarchy across Germany. This form of violent protesting is how the Nazis began to control the population: through terror and fear. The people could not rely on the government, because it was so unstable to the point where it could not exercise control over “the perpetrators of these acts of violence”, which offered no sense of security to the German people. These demonstrations made Hitler’s control inevitable, for not only was the government too weak to prevent it, but the people longed for change that would pull them out of their economic depression.

The government in Germany recognized their weakness, and understood the deep essential need for new governmental elections. In 1928, the Democrats were the dominant party in Germany. However, after the Great Depression, the German people began to turn towards the more extreme groups, such as the Nazis. This caused the Nazis to gain control, and by 1932 to1934, the Nazis were the leading party in Germany. The Democratic Party lost support due to the peoples association of the Democrats with blame for the Great Depression. Propaganda did not help prevent the spread of Hitler’s control, for posters printed in 1932 and around then promoted Hitler as the Chancellor of Germany, saying that Hitler is “Germany’s last hope” of redeeming the economic values, and saving Germany. The Weimar Republic in Germany had total control over the German military. However, when the Weimar Republic collapsed, the Nazi Party was able to interfere and take control of the military, adding another form of power to threaten and control the people of Germany, via terrorist tactics and fear. The situation in Germany with regards to the instability of the government made it possible for Hitler to come to power.

The Great Depression uprooted German society and influenced it amongst socialist and fascist regimes. The German people were angry due to the new restrictions that were necessary due to the economic collapse, such as slowed production and trade, and unemployment. The unemployment angered the German people further, pushing them towards extremist groups and into the arms of the Nazis. The protests and strikes performed by the enraged German people brought down the Weimar Republic, due to attacks from both extreme left and extreme right groups. The political instability initiated a total collapse, making Germany extremely vulnerable, and the people entirely dissatisfied. With the German people in this state, propaganda announcing that Hitler is Germany’s “last hope” manipulated the German people into agreeing to a fascist socialist regime under the control of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, who controlled Germany through terrorism and chaos. These reasons display that Germany was one of the countries most affected by the Great Depression, for it completely destroyed what little control and stabilization that was beginning to build, and replaced it with extremist powers which led to Germany’s commencement of WWII.

Treaties of the Paris Peace Conference

World War I was a brutal and damaging war that was fought between the Allied Forces and the Central Powers.  The war resulted with a victory for the Allied Forces, and harsh punishments against the countries of the Central Powers, most significantly, Germany. The Paris Peace Conference was held in 1919 following the war, and its purpose was to set peace terms for Germany and other defeated nations. The Paris Peace conference placed restrictions upon the losing countries, and conjured up different treaties for each defeated country, attempting to remove all capabilities Germany had of starting another war. Bulgaria, Ottoman Empire, Austria, Hungary, Germany and Russia are the countries whose treaties are in focus. The treaties created during the Paris Peace Conference had to appease individual countries of the Allied Forces, whilst creating and upholding stability within Europe.

WWI began by Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia following the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, the Austro-Hungarian archduke, by a Serbian nationalist in 1914. Countries were drawn into the chaos and fighting due to alliances and requested support, which quickly became a larger problem than it was at the start. Although Austria-Hungary was the main creator of the war, they held back when the fighting began, leaving Germany, their ally, to take responsibility and fight against the Allied Forces without any true supportive alliances. The Treaty of Versailles, which occurred in June 1919, directly after the war, announced that Germany was mostly responsible for the war and the damages that were inflicted amongst nations during the war period. The treaties that followed the ending of WWI induced responsibilities of defeated nations to restore damaged countries, reduce territory and military numbers, and end alliances with countries that could provoke a threat unto other nations, such as France. Amongst other demands in the treaties, the defeated nations were obligated and forced to comply with the terms and sign the treaties.

The Paris Peace Conference was lead by “The Big Four”, and these were the leaders of strong and powerful countries: Woodrow Wilson from the United States, David Lloyd George from Great Britain, Georges Clemenceau from France, and Vittorio Orlando from Italy, who did not stay part of the conference when the land promised to Italy was not delivered. The treaties created at the Paris Peace Conference were the Treaty of Versailles which dealt with the German Empire, the Treaty of Saint-Germain, which affected Austria, the Treaty of Neuilly that addressed Bulgaria, the Treaty of Trianon, which was based on Hungary, and finally, the Treaty of Sevres, subsequently revised by the Treaty of Lausanne, which concerned the Ottoman Empire. These treaties occurred mostly between 1919 and 1920, with the exception of the Treaty of Lausanne, which was signed in 1923. Each of these treaties set restrictions and rules that were enforced by the Allied Forces, and they violated aspects of self-determination whilst weakening economies, militaries, and cultures by separating peoples by announcing new territory ownerships.

The Treaty of Trianon addressed Hungary following the forced separation from Austria. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was strong and threatening to countries during the post-war time era, and in order for it to be weakened, Austria and Hungary were to be separated and decreased in size and other aspects. Hungary lost 72% of all territory, and 64% of its total population. These major changes affected Hungary’s access to the sea, trade, economic stability, cultural and nationalistic pride, along with loss of much citizenship due to the rule that any Hungarian living outside of the new Hungarian borders would lose their citizenship to Hungary. The Hungarian army was reduced to 35,000 men, and due to the Treaty of Trianon, Hungary was politically unstable as well as economically and militarily. The biggest concern expressed by Woodrow Wilson on the Treaty of Trianon was the effect it had on the people, for they were transferred from one state to another sans consultation, which was inhumane and wrong.

A treaty relatively similar to the Treaty of Trianon was the Treaty of Sevres, which address the Ottoman Empire. The Treaty of Sevres divided the Ottoman Empire among the Allies, removed the Ottoman Empire from Europe, created new independent states, limited the Ottoman army, and removed much territory, despite the fact that it did not stand due to the fact that the Ottoman Sultan was overthrown, and the treaty was only proposed due to the expectation that each of the Allied Powers wished to gain land from it. The Treaty of Sevres is similar to the Treaty of Trianon in the sense that it was assigned very similar restrictions, and had it been enforced, it would have developed similar effects. Both empires were obligated to transform into smaller, weaker, and less powerful independent states, while renouncing control over areas where they held territory, sacrificing economic and political stability. These empires proved threatening to frightened nations such as France, who had suffered the most during WWI and was very specific in ensuring protection of France by weakening threatening nations.

The Treaty of Neuilly was also similar. This treaty dealt with Bulgaria, and was signed on November 27^th, 1919. This treaty had many of the same restrictions that the Treaty of Trianon induced onto Hungary, such as the removal of access to the sea, the limitation of the army, economic obligations and reduced borders. Many Bulgarians were placed under Greek rule; this was similar to how many Hungarians were placed under Romanian or Croatian-Slovenian control.  The restrictions placed unto Bulgaria created a sense of resentment, which later caused Bulgaria to side with the Nazis during WWII. The Bulgarian military was limited to 20,000 men, and compulsory military service was abolished. Military groups that were pro-war were forbidden as the Allied Forces expressed control over the Bulgarian people. This aspect, similar to the other treaties, violated self-determination and freedom of human rights of the people of the countries affected by these treaties.

Although the Paris Peace Conference issued a feeling of protection to the Allied Forces, it created a strong feeling of resentment within the countries that were affected by the treaties. The amount of economic, political, military, and cultural strains these treaties placed upon the countries induced limits that caused suffering and losses of nationalism, all for the sake of acknowledging the power of the Allied Forces. Some treaties were far too harsh, such as the Treaty of Trianon and the Treaty of Neuilly, for it greatly affected nations who had not held all that much responsibility for the outcome of the war and the damage caused. Although the treaties were in many cases overly damaging, they were understandably necessary for the prevention of a new war. These treaties ensured the safety of the European people, although it dismissed regard for countries and the position they were placing them in. The Paris Peace Conference developed a regime to prevent war and sustain peace, a development that was definitely required by Europe at that time.