TreatyAftermath

Aftermath; Fueling Hatred

June 28, 1919 - Present

"A Germany humiliated, torn to pieces, damaged and damned to a miserable economic existence would be just as great a danger to a world peace as a Germany, protected in its obvious rights and conditions of being, would be a protection for it."

~ German Peace Society ("The Birmingham Age-Herald", December 2, 1918, Chronicling America)

Impacts on Germany

The harsh terms dictated in the Treaty of Versailles infuriated German citizens, stirring outrage and creating political unrest. They believed the treaty was a "diktat" (dictated peace) and felt betrayed by their leaders who signed the treaty, calling them the "November Criminals."

Riots in Berlin, 1919, Library of Congress

During the 1920s, the German government printed an excessive amount of money to pay for the reparations, causing the currency to spiral down in value. The hyperinflation reduced the value of the German mark to the point where a citizen's life savings might only amount to a subway ticket. The economic reparations crippled the German economy for years. They were finally paid off in 2010, ~90 years after the treaty was signed.

Treaty of Versailles (film), Britannica

 Inflation, Deflation and Unemployment in the Weimar Republic, 2021, Bloomberg

German children playing with hyperinflated money, 1919, New York Times

Pape money is stacked in a Berlin bank, 1922, National Public Radio

German marks, being cheaper than fuel, was used to light a stove (Inflation in the Weimar Republic, 1923, Britannica)

Nazi Party and World War II

Adolf Hilter, the leader of the Nazi Party, promised to get revenge for the humiliation and further exploited the situation to win support for the Nazi Party. He developed a program that would be used as the basis for the Nazis. It called for Germany’s rejection of the treaty and territory expansion. Hitler quickly rose to power and was appointed German chancellor on January 30, 1933.

Adolf Hitler is welcomed by supporters at Nuremberg, 1933, Time

Banner at the right reads, "Lose the chains of Versailles, Germany is not a Negro state." (Nazi-led rally against the Treaty of Versailles, June 28, 1933, Britannica)

Heinrich Himmler (German Nazi Politician) and Adolf Hitler, Britannica  

In 1935, Hitler violated the treaty by canceling the military clauses. In 1936, he violated the treaty further by remilitarizing in Rhineland, a demilitarized zone. On September 1, 1939, German forces under Hitler invaded Poland, a key event that is widely considered as a major turning point of sparking World War II, the deadliest war in history killing sixty-million people across 45 countries.

"The Nome Nugget", Sept 1, 1939, Chronicling America

German planes fly over Poland, Sept 1, 1939, U.S. Department of Defense 

Global Consequences

Europe

"Round Germany as a central support the rest of the European economic system grouped itself, and on the prosperity and enterprise of Germany the prosperity of the rest of the Continent mainly depended."                                                                                                               

~ John Maynard Keynes, the British Treasury Chief Representative in Paris Peace Conference (John Maynard Keynes, "The Economic Consequences of the Peace", 1920)

As the central support of the European economic system, Germany's sudden economic instability caused a chain reaction, resulting in Europe's economy to collapse in on itself. 

United States

“The primary cause of the Great Depression was the war of 1914-1918. Without the war there would have been no depression of such dimensions.”

~ Herbert Hoover, the 31st U.S. President, in his 1952 memoirs ("How Economic Turmoil After WWI Led to the Great Depression", April 27, 2021, History.com)

In the 1920s, the United States' economy was booming and the stock market was expanding; America began investing millions of dollars in stocks. On October 29, 1929, the stock market crashed. This is also known as the Great Crash; The GDP fell by 30% and unemployment rate peaked above 20%. Combined with the economic collapse of Europe, this horrible event became known as the Great Depression, a time where the entire world was faced with economic complications.​​​​​​​

Japan

"The equality of nations being a basic principle of the League of Nations, the High Contracting Parties agree to accord as soon as possible to all alien nationals of states, members of the League, equal and just treatment in every respect making no distinction, either in law or in fact, on account of their race or nationality."

~ The exact words that Japan initially proposed to be included in the Treaty of Versailles, ("A Century Later: The Treaty of Versailles and Its Rejection of Racial Equality", August 11, 2019, National Public Radio)

Japan proposed a racial equality clause to the treaty but it was rejected. Had it been approved, it would have reinforced the idea of equality between nations. This would have forced world leaders to give all countries an equal voice during negotiations. Furthermore, it may have been able to prevent the rise of the Nazi Party because of the party's prejudice against Jewish people. This may have allowed the world to avoid the Holocaust, an event where approximately six-million people became victims of inhumane treatment, experimentation, and murder.​​​​​​​​​​​​