Sarah Hayes
Assignment #2
Germany’s Radical Changes
Like every country, Germany went
through many changes within their culture, economy, and government. Some may
consider Germany’s changes to a bit more radical or extreme. One of the major
changes that occurred, that I found most interesting, was the signing of the
treaty of Versailles.
The treaty was what officially
ended world WWI. The process and negotiations that led to this treaty did not
include Germany extensively, but the outcome effected them in a major way. German’s
had no support of this treaty, “The German reaction was almost universal opposition
to the term” (203). I find this extremely shocking considering the terms and conditions
of the treaty directly effected Germany, and I would have assumed that they
would have been more involved in the decision making process and negotiations
of the Treaty. The treaty reassigned the boundaries of Germany along with
forcing Germany to pay for all the damages that were caused by WWI. The allied
forces basically forced the National Assembly to sign the treaty due to a
blockade of food supplies and a threat to continue hostility (203).
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| Signing of the Treaty of Versailles |
The Treaty of Versailles seemed to
do nothing but negative things for the country. “Germany was placed under legal
sanctions, deprived of military power, economically ruined, and politically
humiliated.” I do not see how a country could recover from such a negative
event that held them back in many ways. Germany fell into a very depressed
nation. They were struggling economically and the public was in a very
oppressed, bleak state. This weakness made Germany extremely susceptible to
political campaigns and it makes sense that they gravitated towards such a
powerful leader. Unfortunately, that leader was Hitler.
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| English Version of Treaty |
The government went through an
extremely uneasy cycle of constant changes. “The republic experienced a
succession of sixteen different governments, on the average a new one every
eight- and-a-half-months” (207). There is no way that a country could go
through any positive changes when a party could not stay in power for even a
year. When a government seemed week, the public would switch to a party that
promised an authoritarian rule.
The problems within the government
led to problems within the German economy. During this time the production of
coal was down, and for Germany it cost them even more to purchase because it
had to be purchased abroad. Due to the taxes and tariffs the German government
acquired a large deficit and tried to solve it by printing more money. This “solution”
led to extreme inflation. Individuals would have to immediately exchange their
wages for goods, “because a few hours later the money would buy practically
nothing” (210). With money being virtually insignificant, the economy somewhat
failed completely, at least the money economy. Germans had to return to the
traditional way of buying and selling goods through bartering. This also
hindered the economy from expanding because Germany could not keep up with
other counties more modern economies.
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| Inflation in Germany |
