At the end of World War I in 1918, the Weimar Republic was established in Weimar, Germany. The Treaty of Versailles imposed very oppressive requirements on Germany whose government pushed for the start of the war. War reparations were hefty to say the least. The government started printing money which led to hyperinflation. Money became essentially worthless. People became dissatisfied and felt oppressed.
In a nutshell, the terms of the Treaty of Versailles set the stage for the rise of the Third Reich and the beginnings of World War II, just as hard feelings from the end of the Franco-Prussian War led to the start of WW I.
Ultimately, the Weimar Republic could no longer afford to pay the Allies its reparations.
The government structure in Weimar came to an end after fourteen years with the establishment of the Third Reich and the Nazis. And the road from 1933 onward led to the start of World War II in 1939 with the invasion of Poland by Germany on September 1.
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In other words you are saying it was all our fault.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't casting blame, but you can interpret it anyway you want.
DeleteOh it was so difficult and you are right about the Treaty of Versailles-it brought on WW2 and historians know this and I wish this was taught, in a non-judgemental manner. My mom is German and I listened to the stories. My Oma and Opa got married in 1922 and when he was paid, they literally threw all the money in a baby carriage and ran to buy milk, bread and butter before the mark fell again because it would drop that fast. It created such chaos that all these different political factions came up and, unfortunately, the Nazi regime came more into power. We can look back with 20/20 hindsight but when , on the face of it, the currency is stabilized, kindergarten is introduced, the freeway is introduced, people were getting jobs and the average person could afford a car and go to school, it seemed good. That is why that evil SOB was even looked on in a better light in the U.S. and Canada. I know this from my dad who lived during that time and from friends as well. So sad that all one had to do was peel the veneer off, and not much mind you, and one would see the true horror coming.
ReplyDeleteThere is a wonderful book titled 'In the Garden of Beasts' by Erik Larson. It is about the life of the American Ambassador to Germany during the 30's. He tried to tell the US what was coming, but no one would listen. Your comments are 'spot on' about what was happening.
DeleteThank you and I will check out this book
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