The Occupation of Ruhr was for the Allied countries to extract the money themselves. Even though the occupation was successful in terms of money, the Germans were pitied by the world and thus the Dawes Plan was put into place. Germany would pay back the debts in increasing amounts. The Young plan was a more permanent plan set in place with a set date to finish reparations, 1988. The Young plan allowed Germany to pay half the sum of the Dawes Plan and a set total of 112 billion gold marks. However, since this plan was made by the Allies to aid Germany, Germans hated the plan and hated the democracy behind the plan. In 1931, the Germany economy plummeted due to the Great Depression's shockwave as the United States aided Germany in its reparations. The world reached an agreement for Germany to pay 3 billion marks ultimately to end all reparations.
German unrest developed after the treaty of Versailles, and this unrest formed political parties as a result of the occupation. The Vereinigten Vaterländischen Verbände Deutschlands emerged and pressed for monarchism, corporatism, and resistance to the treaty of Versailles. However, since this party was disorderly, the Nazis were able to rise up and take the power of Germany, leading to the next world war.
Because of the initial treaty of Versailles and all the changes from the treaty, the German people manifested a deep hatred to the Allies and democracy. Wilson predicted that the hostility of the plans to Germany would bring about an even worse world war, and he was right. The German people only needed a party and a leader, which they found in the Nazis and Adolf Hitler.
Sources:
https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007428
https://www.boundless.com/u-s-history/textbooks/boundless-u-s-history-textbook/from-isolation-to-world-war-ii-1930-1945-26/non-interventionism-200/war-debts-and-reparations-1099-9740/
Great job Brian - I think it was great that you delineated not only the economics behind post-war Germany, but how the Treaty of Versailles lead to general dissatisfaction and anguish among German citizens. While the Treaty undoubtedly lead to anger against countries like the United States, France, and Britain, Hitler and the Nazi party also (quite evidently) scapegoated the Jewish people in Germany - also blaming them for the giant economic woes facing the country. Thus, one can clearly assert that the World War 2 Germany we know was created by a creating an enemy complex, the question remains whether more fair treatment of Germany after the war would have lead to a different result?
ReplyDeleteThe French specifically demanded war reparations of this scale because they felt that the Germans had not paid the cost of war and to some extent that is true but the burden of the first world war was t huge not only for the German people but for the world as usually in times of war the economy grows then it shrinks and the strong economies of the U.S was paramount to the German recovery as U.S loans were what kept the German economy moving when the U.S couldn't supply the Germans with money anymore because of the depression this put Germany in a really tight spot and allowed for the rise of Nazi Germany. The war reparations caused the world order to collapse once again. Do you agree with this statement?
ReplyDeleteNot only do I agree with your statement but I think it can be extended further. It cannot be said that WWII was simply caused by the ignorance within the economic facet of the treaty of Versailles. I think that Hitler also took advantage of the weakness within the League of Nations. At times he even challenged it through his conquest throughout Europe. The League of Nations did not have and army to use and therefore was seen as weak by Hitler.
ReplyDeleteFor more go here: http://www.historyhome.co.uk/europe/hitfor.htm
It was really interesting for you to research the effect a global event had on a foreign country, not the United States. Your work clearly establishes what consequences that arose from both the Treaty of Versailles and the Dawes Plan. These consequences would eventually plunge the United States and the rest of the world into a second World War. However, would you say that the economic problems that arose in Germany and led to the rise of the Nazi Party were solely from these post-war treaties? Do you also think that the Great Depression that plagued the United States also hurt Germany?
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