Candidate number: 0044

History 0470
Component 3: Coursework
Title: Assess the significance of the Treaty of Versailles for Germany until 1933
Word count: 2005

The Treaty of Versailles (TOV) was significant to Germany up until 1933 as without the TOV
most of the major events would not have happened, it is known that the Nazi Party used the TOV
in their propaganda up until Hitler became chancellor in 1933; they used the TOV as an

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advantage to fuel Hitler’s appointment to become a chancellor. I plan to prove that I am right by
arguing about several events of the TOV that was significant to Germany until 1933.

The Treaty's impact can be attributed, in part, to the fact that it caused universal hostility toward
Britain, France, and the United States among the populace because of how unfair they perceived
it to be. This led to hostility which had a long-term effect on international relations. Germany
was made to feel guilty and humiliated by the TOV, which mandated that it pay £6.6 billion to
cover all the losses incurred by France and the UK during World War I; Germany was never
permitted to join the League of Nations (LON); France invaded the Ruhr when Germany
couldn’t pay reparations, inflaming tensions between the two countries. Germany was also cut
off from much of Europe before the Locarno Treaty; it was only after this agreement that they
were permitted to join LON and collaborate with the other European nations. Gustav
Stresemann, the head of the Weimar administration, agreed to recognize certain of the TOV's
judgments about the western frontiers as part of the Locarno Accord. In other words, Germany
accepted some of the treaty's decisions about which it had long complained. Stresemann's
approach was labeled "Erfüllungspolitik," which referred to adhering to or carrying out the
provisions of Versailles to strengthen ties with Britain and France. This Locarno pact
demonstrates that the TOV was the primary cause of earlier tensions between Germany and
nations like France and Great Britain. This is because these nations' relations with Germany only
got better after Germany ratified the TOV, demonstrating that the Treaty was the primary cause
of those tensions.

However, the counterargument is not convincing as, we cannot blame the TOV for the tense
relations as there were other factors that led to the hostility between Germany and foreign
countries; Germany did fight in WW1 with the rest of Europe, and this shows that there would
have been tension between the countries without the TOV. The government did not accept the
Treaty until the Treaty of Locarno which shows off to be another reason for bad foreign relations
when they could have behaved differently which could have potentially led to fewer tensions
overall meaning that if they would have accepted the Treaty from the beginning the relations
would have potentially been less strained. The unification of Germany shifted the balance of
power in Europe by demonstrating their increasing leverage, which prompted them to forge an

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alliance in 1879; Before the first World War and the TOV, tensions between the nations of
Europe were a result of this alliance structure, which was formed immediately before the
conflict. Another action of Germany that caused tension within Europe was when Germany
started to build a battle fleet... which indicated naval arms races with Britain that brutally
strained relations between the two countries. Another element is how Germany provoked Britain
to enter the war as a result of Germany’s action to break Belgium's neutrality and positioned
itself as an aggressive nation, making the British intervention a moral issue1. This shows that
without the TOV existing Germany would have had potentially hostile relations with foreign
countries due to its behavior in the past.

Overall, the TOV was the primary cause of strained ties between Germany and other nations
because, according to the TOV, Germany was compelled to shoulder all the blame for the
hostility that resulted from the war guilt that they were required to bear. Most of the strained
relations were with Britain and France because they were both upset about the harm done and
expected compensation while Germany was progressively disintegrating. The TOV was the root
of this problem which resulted in Germany having to sign the Locarno Treaty to make the
conflict less likely due to tense relations.2

Another argument to prove the significance of the TOV is that the populace felt resentment
towards the government as a result of the effects on the economy, making the TOV significant
because it had a wide-ranging impact on society. The Treaty stipulated that Germany paid £6.6bn
in reparations to France and Britain. Germany was unable to make the necessary reparations
payments; France, outraged, seized control of the Ruhr to make up for Germany's unpaid debt.
Consequently, the German government started printing money to make up the shortfall. Germany
kept printing money in the hopes that it would solve the issue, but by producing money they did
not have, they drove up prices while seeing a decline in the value of their currency. The
monetary crisis was known as ‘hyperinflation’. Germans had to hurry to the shops as soon as
they received their paychecks to buy their necessities because the value of the currency had

1
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/how-the-world-went-to-war-in-1914
2
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zccfj6f/revision/4

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collapsed, and people had lost faith in it3, In 1923, people's savings to purchase a home before
hyperinflation could not even buy them a loaf of bread. Eventually it cost more to print notes
than the notes themselves were worth. 4 The Dawes Plan, which stipulated that Germany would
pay its reparations over a protracted period and that the USA would grant Germany loans that
would eventually be repaid, was introduced to Germany in 1924 in an effort to save it from this
crisis. The loans from the USA helped Germany recover but made Germany too dependent on
the USA. When crisis hit the USA in the form of the Wall Street Crash, Germany was dragged
down with them. In a country of around 60 million people by 1932, 6 million Germans were
unemployed. Communist Lea Langer Grundig and her husband Hans were among them. They
waited in protracted lineups at labor exchanges every day, much like other job seekers did. We
can link this to the TOV because it was the TOV that had led to hyperinflation, it was
hyperinflation that led to Germany's dependence on the USA and it was the dependence on the
USA that led to the Great Depression, making the Treaty highly significant

However, there were other factors besides the TOV that caused hyperinflation and the Great
Depression to happen. The TOV were not responsible for all of this as Germany was the one who
made it worse, the German government printed money of their own will knowing that it would
cause an economic crisis; the TOV never forced Germany to print the money. Germany was
already suffering from inflation beforehand due to the war debts. 5 Additionally, TOV was not
responsible for the Great Depression; The Wall Street Crash was responsible for it, if it would
not have happened Germany would have been fine as the Crash led to a worldwide depression
resulting in Germany suffering more. This all led to a chain of events putting Germany into
deeper crisis, so the Wall Street Crash is more significant for the misery caused by the
Depression.6

3 https://www.walton-ac.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2019/02/Weimar-Germany-Revision-Guide.pdf
4 https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z8vt9qt/revision/2
5
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z9y64j6/revision/5
6
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zcwxrdm/revision/3

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The Treaty's war reparation terms amplified the state of Europe's economy in Germany, which
later caused inflation. Despite everything that has been said above, the TOV is still significant
for having this impact on society because of the harsh terms it implied toward Germany. France
wanted to be harsh on Germany out of concern that Germany would recover more quickly and
start another war. The Allies let their thirst for vengeance rule them. These noteworthy events
that devastated Germany would not have taken place if the Allies had not been out for blood and
really offered fair terms.7

Lastly, the TOV was important to Germany until 1933 as it helped fuel the rise of Hitler and the
Nazis. Without the TOV implying such harsh terms on Germany, the rise of Hitler would have
been much different or would not have happened. Since unemployment increased it led to an
increase in the number of seats in the Reichstag for the Nazis 8. With the Great Depression
occurring, the Nazis took advantage of this situation and used it for their own gain. Hitler and the
Nazis used the TOV strategically in their propaganda to rise. Since there was already so much
hostility toward the Weimar Republic due to the Depression, everything started to change, and
people started to support more extremist groups. Hitler spoke to German workers about "food
and work" in his speeches and built soup meals for the needy as a way for the Nazis to gain
support by promising to rebuild the German economy. The Nazis benefited from the downturn
because it made it easier for them to seize power. Hitler was portrayed as a strong leader that
Germany needed because the TOV had crippled the country; the German propaganda referred to
him as "our final hope" because he sought to demolish the TOV. Nazis and Hitler effectively
used propaganda to spread Nazi messages throughout the world, which eventually persuaded
people to cast ballots. All of this demonstrates that, due to the numerous crises the Treaty had
brought about, the TOV was accountable for his ascent.9

On the other hand, the TOV was not solely responsible for the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis,
there were other factors that led to the rise of Hitler and the Nazis, such as the Nazi propaganda

7 https://www.britannica.com/facts/Treaty-of-Versailles-1919
8 Alsop High School
https://www.alsophigh.org.uk › ...PDF
Weimar and Nazi Germany Revision Guide Final
9
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/paul-von-hindenburg

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which involved Goebbels’ propaganda campaign as he was one of the main reasons that Hitler’s
image got stronger. Joseph Goebbels use propaganda wisely and spread Nazi messages using
technology through radios and films and used traditional campaigns such as posters and
newspapers to ’promote' them10. To broadcast Hitler's speeches and other propaganda events, he
made use of technology like the radio to broadcast his ideas to a wide audience. He also used
airplanes to fly from one rally to the next ensuring he could speak to double the number of
people as his rivals. 11. The Nazis were constantly present in German towns to win the support of
the German people. The Nazi Party had a strong organizational structure, which contributed
significantly to its success. They also had the SA Army to defend them from potential
adversaries. Through sponsorship from "big businessmen," who supported them because they
wanted to use his influence to boost support for their own profits, the Nazis were able to spread
their message deeper and finance their campaigns.12

Given the circumstances, the TOV is still important to Germany because it played a major factor
in the rise of Hitler and the Nazis. Their ascent was significantly influenced by the 1919 peace
accord; the Nazi Party claimed that the TOV, with its onerous conditions and bad judgment, was
to blame. We can see from the harsh terms in the TOV that Nazism was only effective because
of the economic crisis it had generated; that aided in the development of Hitler and the Nazi
movement.

In conclusion, the TOV was significant to Germany up until 1933 because it was one of the key
agreements that ultimately contributed to Weimar’s defeat together with all the other crises and
conflicts. The TOV was a terrible situation because it put Germany under the bus shortly after
World War One ended; the German government was in disarray and had made every crisis
worse; they had no resources because they had been robbed of them; and the German republic
was furious and numerous strikes were called, which was bad for Germany and its government.
The government failed to assist Germany when they were taking out loans from the USA
because they never came up with a longer-term solution to ensure they were not dependent on

10 https://www.theholocaustexplained.org/the-nazi-rise-to-power/the-nazi-rise-to-power/propaganda/
11
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/goebbels-hitler/
12
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zpknb9q/revision/2

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one country, which subsequently caused them to experience another crisis. The TOV was mostly
chaotic because the Big Three were unable to agree on terms that would have made Germany
suffer for years while also having to pay for reparations.

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