A Depressed German Is An Angry German

The Great Depression was a global collapse of economies which largely affected the post-war countries which tried to rebuild their nations after the First World War. Depressions have been sporadically evident throughout history, for example the Panic of 1837, a stock-market crash in the USA and the Post-Communist Depressions in the 1970s until the 1990s, which were recessions caused by the break-up of former Yugoslavia, however the most well-known is the Great Depression which started in 1929, and lasted as long as the early 1940’s. During this time, many people lost their jobs, prices went up, and people were impoverished. Of course the most affected countries were those that had participated in the First World War, the losers in particular. Germany’s economy had ground to a halt near the end of World War One, and yet by accepting US loans and foreign investment Germany had started the rejuvenation of their economy. Although there was some improvement in the economy, the Weimar Republic, the German government instated by the Allies was weak and ineffective. This weakness made it easier for radical extremist groups whether they be Communists, followers of the Marxist ideologies, or Nazis, people adhering to racist fascism, to sway public opinion. The issues that undoubtedly followed the Great Depression were alterations in the supply and demand, increased unemployment, inflation and devaluation of the German Mark, currency used in Germany, widespread unhappiness, and of course inevitable radicalization of the public. In addition to these problems Germany was still entangled in the bureaucracy and fiscal conditions ordained within the Treaty of Versailles, such as the extensive amount of reparations to be made, which due to the depression became impossible to pay. Although the Weimar Republic did attempt at improving Post-war conditions as well as reducing reparations, and enacting a passive resistance, it did not meet the demands of the German public who wanted a different government.

Was the Paris Peace Conference a success or a failure in upholding stability in post war Europe?

World War I, a callous and destructive war, and it was a step on the way to the world we know we know it. It was fought between the Allied Forces, consisting of England, France, and the US, and the Central Powers, which was made up of Germany, Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Ottomans. The eventual outcome of the war was a victory for the Allies, and as such retribution for the Central Powers. The Paris Peace Conference, a meeting of the Allied victors, was held on the 18^th of January 1919, and was preordained to negotiate and settle peace terms for the Central Powers, namely Germany, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The conference strived to prevent another outbreak of war happening and as such, placed certain restrictions, took away land, and imposed rules to the defeated countries. Both the economic development, militaristic control, and imperialistic idealism were touched upon. The treaties affected most of the Central Powers and gave rise to new countries and governments. These treaties, put forth within the Paris Peace Conference needed to conciliate to every Allied country’s wishes, without completely destroying the stability and power structure in Europe. But did this treaty uphold the newly secured peace, or was it a failure from the start?

Too fully analyze the successes and failure of the treaties, we have to look at the causes of the First World War.  The spark that started the First World War was the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, the Austro-Hungarian archduke, by the Black Hand, a Serbian nationalist group, in 1914. This event led to the Austro-Hungarian Empire declaring war on Serbia, after which other countries were pulled into the chaos of war. This was partly due to the secret alliances between nations, such as Russia and Serbia, or Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This declaration of war on behalf of Austria meant that they were the sole instigators of war, and as such, in my opinion should be held accountable for the war. They were the provocateurs that started the Great War, but Austria-Hungary wasn’t as “gung ho” when it came to fighting their ally, Instead they requested help of the Central Powers and let countries such as Germany take charge and fight against the Allies. This shows the weakness in the bonds between the Central Powers. This weakness could have played a major role in the failure of the treaties after the war. After the war had finished the victors also known as “The Big Four”; which consisted of Woodrow Wilson the President United States, Georges Clemenceau from France, Vittorio Orlando from Italy, and David Lloyd George the Prime Minister of England, gathered at Versailles to negotiate the peace terms, they however put most of the blame on Germany and as such forced heavy reparations and restrictions on it. The treaties that were agreed upon at the Paris Peace conference, forced defeated nations to take responsibility to pay for the damage done by war, reduce territory and military numbers, and cut ties between hostile nations that could try to retaliate. Germany was supposed to agree to the War Guilt Clause, a signed agreement by Germany claiming they they were the sole cause for the war and that they would have to pay most of the reparations. And finally the defeated nations were compelled to sign the treaties, agreeing to the harsh terms.In charge of the Paris Peace Conference were “The Big Four”. They tried to appease each other and come to a consensus. This however was  difficult as the leaders each had their own agenda. Wilson was the most easy going, trying to open trade and keep up Germany’s economy. Furthermore he wanted Germany to act as a buffer zone against the rising communist government of the USSR. Lloyd George was more moderate, he believed that Germany had to pay but hoped to prevent hatred among the German people. Clemenceau on the other hand was radical, he wanted to completely distinguish Germany’s economy, and demilitarizes its armies. They treaties were based around Wilson’s 14 points, Wilson’s hopes of progressivism, a change or reform through political and economic means.  The treaties written up the Paris Peace Conference were the Treaty of Versailles, the Treaty of Saint-Germain, the Treaty of Neuilly, the Treaty of Trianon, and finally, the Treaty of Sevres, which was later revised and resigned as the Treaty of Lausanne. These treaties pertained to Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire respectively. Each of these treaties set restrictions and rules that were imposed by the Allies, and they supported self determination, economic freedom, demilitarisation, and an all out strife for peace. 
The Treaty of Saint Germain en Laye addressed the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it  forced the separation of Hungary from Austria, and forced certain reforms unto Austria to pay back for the damage caused by World War One. The Austrian Empire was already heavily weakened but the Allies wanted to secure and prevent the possibility of Austria  retaliating. During this separation land was given to Italy (Dalmatian Islands), Romania (Bukovina), and of course Hungary, after its independence. Furthermore Austria was forced to minimize its military to a maximum of 3o,ooo volunteers. This greatly affected the ability to protect themselves, and make them more prone to attack. I thinks this treaty was the best the world leaders could do, and that it had its advantages and disadvantages. Its advantage was the creation of new countries. The treaty brought forth a new Hungarian state as well as adding land to the collected Slavic countries, named Yugoslavia. The issues were that the army was demilitarised to a point where the possibility of attack was large, and Romania did take advantage of this, and tried to regain land they believed was theirs. Furthermore by not allowing the annexation of Germany and Austria, the Allies split groups of Germanic peoples. Other ethnic minorities were scattered over different countries and some couldn’t settle in the new countries and adhere to the new cultures. Minorities such as the Jews and Slavs were discriminated against, often they were used as a scapegoat and blamed for the countries problems. This could have been the start of the feelings leading up to Hitler and the Holocaust. Also the prevention of annexation allowed hate feeling towards the Allies to persist. Hitler later made use of this hatered and manipulated people’s feelings to provoke the Second World War. The loss of land, reduced the size of agricultural, and industrial land and as such affected the economy of Austria. The aforementioned reasons are why I believe the treaty to be too harsh and aided in the rise of Nazism, and the Second World War.