The impact of the Great Depression upon Germany

During the period after WWI, when a series of peace treaties were being agreed and negotiated on between the nations that took part in the largest and most powerful war in history to that day, the stock market had crashed in the United States which began the worldwide 'Great Depression'. Not only one, but many factors contributed to this cosmic depression like bank failures throughout the 1930s where over 9,000 banks failed and people lost all their savings, reduction in purchasing across the board where individuals stopped purchasing items after the stock market crashed which led to a reduction in the number of items produced and thus a reduction in the workforce. Moreover, the American economic policy with Europe charged a high tax for imports which led to less trade with foreign countries but the major and leading cause of the Great Depression was on the day of Black Tuesday, October 29, 1929 when the stock market crashed and stockholders had lost more than 40 billion dollars. The effects of the Great Depression was felt strongly across the world but the European country that was most greatly impacted was Germany; from extremely large numbers in unemployment, countless demonstrations and protests, but most significantly, the rise of extremism in Germany leading to World War II was yet another tragedy that the Nation had to face and fight through together.

Throughout the course between the end of WWI and the start of the Great Depression, Germany was desperately struggling to solve all the problems that were being thrown in her way by the League of Nations and all the allied countries. Its main worry was the war guilt clause as Germany was forced to accept the blame that they were the sole cause of WWI so they had to pay reparations. Furthermore, hyperinflation began in Germany as more and more money was being printed after the French invaded Ruhr in demand of the reparations and workers went on strikes in order to prevent payments to the allied countries. This created many other problems like the increase in wages, high unemployment, and the distrust of the Weimar Government by the people. After the Dawes plan was introduced in 1924 though, the French left Ruhr, the reparation payments were cut down, and arrangements were made for the German republic to borrow from the US. In addition, in 1929, the Social Democrats were the dominant party in Germany but after the Great Depression, the public had changed their attitudes completely towards the Government.

As the US had loaned money to Germany during the hyperinflation in 1924 and the Young Plan in 1929, they were now in desperate need of it back as to assist their falling economy. This was the main reason that Germany was the European country impacted most by the Great Depression. Given 90 days to begin re-paying the US, Germany had no help from any other world powers as they were still recovering from the First World War. This lead to the companies throughout Germany becoming bankrupt and millions of workers were being left without jobs. The public began to lose faith in their government and question the effectiveness and sustainability of democratic institutions. In 1932, Germany reached its highest rate of unemployment and did not improve until 1938. The concerns, doubts,and fear translated into political action via newly formed national governments, transformed political structures and a cut down on economic strains. Protests and strikes were started by the people as they were unhappy with the Government's solutions but also lead to the joining of extremist political parties.

The German public desperately wished for change since now, even their daily necessities were being threatened like food. This lack of food led to hunger marches on the streets of Germany unlike the French at that time. With no unemployment issue at the start of the Depression, the French managed to easily pull through and withstand the impact of the Depression and could even afford to strike for higher wages. This was because they did not take on the idea of mass production but had combined the old techniques of labor with new technology to keep all of the people employed. Eventually though, France was pulled into the crisis and textile industries were greatly affected so many did not have clothes, and there was a great decrease in trade, cutbacks in consumption, production and wages. Deprivation and starvation was a common feeling shared among many countries throughout the crisis and now, many angry Germans began to turn to extremist political parties and amongst them were the communist and Nazi parties which were especially powerful at the time.

Due to the fact that Germany was going through such an enormous economic disaster and millions of unemployed people were starving on the streets, they began looking for a solution and someone to blame. It was Adolf Hitler's opportunity to rise and his aim was to build a Nazi government that would one day replace the democracy. The Nazi Party wasn't very popular before the Great Depression hit and only reached around 100,000 members. The fact that it was a high disciplined organization though served to its advantage. Once the democratic government began to collapse, the Nazis began to spread, giving countless speeches, attending meetings, shaking hands, and feeding the public what they wanted to hear. As the people were exhausted from all the misery and suffering they had experienced, they were willing to listen to anyone so Hitler was easily able to convince them using encouragement and promises. On September 14, 1930, the day of election, the Nazi party stunningly went from the smallest to the second largest political party in Germany after the Social Democrats and from then on, they remained the leading party. The Social Democrats lost support as the public blamed them for the Great Depression and in 1933, Hitler became Chancellor of Germany because Hindenburg aimed to bring him under his control and tried to form a coalition with the Nazis. Soon after though, Hitler exterminated any politicians who were a threat to him as he had large ambitions ahead which later lead to the Second World War.

The people of Germany had their mind set on blaming their Government for the crisis but in a bigger picture, the Great Depression began in the United States and was popularly blamed on President Herbert Hoover as he was strongly disliked by the American people as he refused to give any assistance to the people that were suffering during the crash. In 1929, the catastrophic collapse began in many parts of the world and lasted for ten years, leaving millions of people devastated, without money, jobs or food. The feeling of suffering was felt simultaneously everywhere, but some areas worst than others. Germany was the worst impacted European country due to the number of loans it had borrowed from the United States in previous years in order to pay reparations to the League of Nations. The catastrophe changed lives and political theories forever as the Depression lead people to the loss of trust in their Governments and so turning onto extremism. The economic downfall had given way for Hitler and his party to rise, allowing him to give numerous speeches, shake hands, and sign autographs whilst at the same time, spreading his party which grew from 1932 onwards into the most dominant party that later began the Second World War.

Evaluate the successes and failures of the Paris Peace conference in creating a stable European Community in the post WWI era

The Paris Peace Conference was a meeting that took place in the post WWI era and was created to settle the peace terms of all the defeated Nations. It took place in Paris in 1919 and was a convention of all the Allied victors who discussed a series of treaties that created new countries and borders which reshaped the map of the world and resulted in many empires becoming bankrupt. Germany was the main country that was penalized as their economic, military, and political aspects were completely destroyed so the allied countries were protected from any future attacks. Through these treaties, more than 29 countries were involved and reformed which affected all of Europe but mostly its people, their ethnicity, religion, and way of living.

The three “Great Powers” controlled this conference and made all the important decisions. They included President Woodrow Wilson who was the President of the USA, David Lloyd George, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, and Georges Clemenceau, the Prime Minister of France. The Treaties that were included in the Paris Peace Conference were the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the Treaty of Lausanne, the Treaty of Neuilly, the Treaty of Saint Germain-en-Laye, the Treaty of Sevres, and the Treaty of Trianon that all dealt with different nations individually, imposing terms and punishments. It is being greatly debated by historians today whether or not the Paris Peace conference created a stable European Community in the post WWI era and if the peacemakers had made rational decisions at the time and if the terms imposed helped or destroyed the era.

The first of the treaties created after the Treaty of Versailles which dealt with the German Empire, was the Treaty of Saint-Germain. This agreement dealt specifically with Austria on the 10^th of September, 1919 where the Republic of Austria was established and was to consist of German-speaking territories of the old Hapsburg state. They were to remain strictly independent so there would no longer be a risk of unification with Germany. Austria was then forced to surrender territories to countries like Italy, Romania, and other counties that were created after WWI. This lead to changes in political, economic, and military outcomes; Austria became a much smaller state and was now isolated to German-speaking people. Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes were now all recognized as independent states. On the economic aspect of the country, they were economically limited with a lack of resources which lead to an unstable country. Militarily, Austria was now limited with their volunteer army and the Austro-Hungarian navy was broken down and distributed within the Allied Powers.

When the Treaty of Saint-Germain ended, the Treaty of Neuilly was established on the 27^th November, 1919 in France and dealt with Bulgaria. As it was on the side of the Central Powers, it was required to surrender Western Thrace to the Entente which cut off its direct outlet to the Aegean Sea on the western border of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. Furthermore, it was required to reduce its army to 20,000 men and was forced to pay reparations exceeding $40 million. Many changes occurred in Bulgaria throughout the Treaty of Neuilly; a large number of Bulgarians were placed under the rule of the Greeks when western Thrace had to be given up, and borders over contested territories were established. The nation was now deprived of her only access to the Mediterranean Sea as western Thrace was her only route, and new boundaries gave many military and strategic advantages to the Serbs which exposed Sofia (the capital of Bulgaria). This lead to bitterness against the nations in the center of the treaty which later caused Bulgaria to side with the Nazis in WWII. People’s rights were taken away from them and many Bulgarians were forced to change their nationalities to Greek or Serb-Croat-Slovene nationalities. Tension around Europe was beginning to emerge and many Nations were becoming furious at the new policies and restrictions that they had no control over.

On the 4^th of June 2010, the Treaty of Trianon was created, adding to the list of treaties in the Paris Peace conference. This meeting focused on the formation of Hungary after its separation from Austria and continued to remove all of Hungary’s rights to self-determination. There were many negative outcomes of this treaty on the new empire as its territory was divided resulting in the loss of 73 percent of its original land, they were no longer allowed to access the sea, and Hungary was responsible in restoring Italy. Additionally, Hungary’s economy was highly affected due to the fact that the new borders cut off all of the empire’s trade routes so they were restricted from any income of agriculture produce, unemployment levels grew rapidly, and the economic growth in the region vastly declined which lead to a recession. Moreover, in order for the allied victors to be protected from future attack, they affected the military aspect of Hungary, suspending the Hungarian navy, air force, and army, limiting the number of men to 35,000, and prohibiting heavy artillery, tanks, and air force. Lastly, the public of Hungary were wrongly transferred from one state to another without being consulted and was a major mistake made in the treaty as Hungarians lost their citizenship. The only positive factor was that some countries like Romania and Croatia-Slavonia, benefited from the series of agreements as they received a lot of useful territory.

The Treaty of Sevres came last, on the 10^th August 1920, addressing the Ottoman Empire. Throughout the meeting, it was decided that the empire was to be abolished and Turkey forced to renounce all rights over Arab Asia and North Africa. The treaty resulted in many political outcomes that affected the empire greatly like large amounts of territory were lost, the rights to Sudan and Libya are taken from Turkey, the government and monarchy was overthrown, and Mustafa Kemal Ataturk become the new nation’s leader. As well as political effects, economic and military outcomes emerged; the empire’s finances began to be controlled by the Allies so future expansion of loans and the custom and tax system could not be set up without the consent of the allies. Moreover, the empire’s army was limited to 50,000 men, their navy was allowed only six torpedo boats, and they became forbidden to obtain an air force. New independent states were created and a big amount of territory was reduced. After the treaty took effect on the nation, it became much weaker with a destroyed economy and military.

Throughout the Paris Peace conference, extremely important decisions were made to try and make Europe and the world safer for the Nations and its people. Its aim was to set peace terms with Germany and all the other defeated countries by setting restrictions on economic, military, and political aspects. Observing the results of this convention though shows that the series of treaties created to focus on different countries were not as successful as was hoped. Most nations became extremely aggravated at the idea of how much land was being lost, the restrictions on the number of men allowed in the army, and the economic changes that were taking affect. Many human rights were being lost as in many cases, people were forced to change their nationalities and this urged the public and many of the nations to go against the allied powers and later causing them to side with the Nazis in WWII. The Paris Peace conferences did, on one hand make Europe safer as there were many military restrictions which stopped any further attacks for a while, but on the other hand, many of the treaties were too ruthless as they destroyed economic, military, and political aspects of empires which lead to a riot of angry nations that made it more likely for another war to arise. A peace agreement was greatly needed at the time but many of the restrictions forced on Nations weren’t needed and just created more tension in Europe.