The First World War destroyed much of the stereotyping that people held over the

superpowers of Europe. Previous to the war, Germany had developed an image of an

unbeatable war machine, as the arms race developed with Britain, but following its defeat
this could no longer be the accepted view. After the collapse of the British Empire, Britain
had maintained its stereotype of being a great nation; and their victory secured that. The
First World War also showed the world how fragile an existence it had. Having sent
millions of young men to their graves, they were only a heartbeat away from the
destruction that the world has felt through modern warfare.

Following the Allied victory, the Treaty of Versailles stated that Germany was to
lose much of its land. Firstly, Alsace Lorraine was returned to French control. Secondly,
Poland was given a large section of East Germany, and land was also lost to Denmark
and Czechoslovakia. This was not only demoralising, but also meant that many German
speaking people would now be located in different countries. This would later lead to the
Nazi party of later Germany desiring to unite the divide peoples. Economically, this was
damaging, meaning that industrial outputs of the previously German land would be taken
up by those countries receiving the land.
Allied troops demilitarised the Rhineland (the area on the German/French border),
which meant that there could not be any German forces or military bases within that region
until 1935. This weakened the German military defence line, but was intended to prevent
another German invasion of France. Further damaging the German economy, the French
were now permitted to mine in the Saar region of Germany, a large part of German
industry.

The cost of the war for Germany had been almost 40 billion dollars. Due to the
inevitable slowdown of industry, and the need for the production of munitions being a
higher priority than other industries, the German economical output had fallen by around
40%. It is also thought that because of this slump, the Black Market (illegal trade) rose by
35%. The collapse of industry created an increase of the cost of living, as everything
became scarcer, known as inflation. Germany suffered what historians have called hyper
– inflation. This resulted in the need for more currency as the German mark could buy
less. Coupled with the French pressure for the reparations of 6.6 billion pounds, the
economy could not cope. It was reported that people were seen carrying suitcases of
money to buy everyday items.
To try to deal with the need for more money, the banks printed more. Usually to
deal with inflation, money is taken out of circulation to increase the value of the money still
in circulation. This increased inflation in Germany to the point where the German mark was
worthless. This mean that people lost life savings and wages became lower. This resulted
in people living in poverty and out of work.
To increase pressure on the German government to pay the reparations, French
forces invaded the Ruhr, the industrial heartland of Germany. This meant that France took
the output of the industries, further damaging the German economy. The loss of territories
resulted in Germany no longer being able to rely upon cheaper imports from colonies, so
the price of foreign imports added to inflation. The loss of life savings led to the downfall of
society; homes and possessions under threat.
The German government then put together the Dawes Plan. This was the result of
talks with the US government – who suffered a downturn in the economy, known as the
Wall Street Crash. As investors put money into the war, when it ended, stock plummeted.
People began to sell up, and many businesses were forced to close. At the same time, a
drought in Mid-west America struck, causing a huge downturn in profits. To help to kick-
start the German economy, the US had loaned Germany 200 million dollars to invest in
their own stock market. When the US crash occurred these loans were called in, once

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again collapsing the German economy. Alongside the loan, the Dawes Plan reduced the
reparations Germany had to pay, and the worthless German Mark was replaced with the
new Rentenmark. The Dawes Plan also planned to draw Allied troops out of the Rhineland
over a period of time.
When the Rentenmark was introduced, it was at the value of one Rentenmark to the
value of one trillion old marks. This then helped to level out inflation in Germany. In 1924,
the Rentenmark was replaced with the Reichsmark, which maintained its value with the
help of a range of new taxes. All of these measures resulted in the reduction of
hyperinflation. During this time, serious changes had been taking place within society to
make changes aiming to aid the economic crisis. Women had come to the forefront in the
workplace, allowing them to experience careers and life outside of the home. With this,
family planning took place as women took a larger role outside of domestic life. But
whenever changes within the economy and society take place, there must be changes
within politics.

Before the Great War, Germany was a very powerful young state. It had just gone
through unification, uniting many smaller countries such as Prussia and Bavaria into the
newly formed Germany. Following this unification in 1871, Wilhelm of Prussia was given
the title of Kaiser. Each of the 25 states that created Germany retained their old
princedoms, and each was represented at the Reichstag, the Germany national assembly.
The Kaiser had the power to call and dismiss the Reichstag, and reappoint the chancellor
and all other ministers.
At the end of the war, Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated, leaving an empty space in the
hierarchy of Germany. Rather than to replace the Kaiser and risk misguided leadership,
Germany became a republic, Known as the Weimar Republic. This meant that the
Reichstag had no higher power to answer to. This became a much fairer democracy, with
no ultimate leader to have the final decision about any matter.
However, this was not necessarily a good thing. Food shortages and the mounting
economic crisis led people to extremist political views. The communist uprising in Berlin
shortly after the Treaty of Versailles, forced the Reichstag to employ a body called the
Freikorps; soldiers with politically right wing opinions – meaning they would have no threat
to the right wing Reichstag of that time. The Freikorps crushed the communist threat, vital
to maintaining public order for the Reichstag. Some historians believe that these methods
of resistance against communism used by the Reichstag would encourage their downfall
some 14 years later.
Outside Germany, politics did not exist as it had before the war. With the outbreak
of the war, the American president at that point, Theodore Roosevelt jumped at the chance
to preach to America about their international involvement. His messages reached out to
Republicans, but failed to impress the Democrats, who believed that he was too eagerly
diving into war. In modern times, this can still be seen in Republican George W. Bush’s
highly criticised action fighting the Gulf War.

Through the political chaos of Germany, the economic crisis was worsening. A clear
leader was needed to pull Germany into a certain direction. Adolph Hitler was born in
Austria in 1889. Within the year 1907, his mother died and he was rejected from the
Viennese Academy of Fine Arts. He soon came into contact with racist and anti-Semitic
ideas. Hitler was impressed with a group of Germans known as Pan Germans who wanted
to unite Germany with one clear leader.
As the First World War broke out, he joined the German army, and acted as a
messenger. A brave soldier he was promoted to corporal and recommended for the Iron
Cross First class, ironically by a Jewish officer. Shocked by the German surrender and
acceptance of the biased treaty, Hitler remained in the army for political reasons. He was

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 instructed to spy on small groups of political extremists that had sprung up in Bavaria. In
order to infiltrate the German Worker’s Party, Hitler joined as a member and quickly
became a star speaker. In 1920, the party was renamed the National Socialist German
Worker’s Party, with Hitler at the forefront. Hostile speakers christened it the Nazi Party.
Influenced by growing fascism in Italy and Japan, he took the title of Fuhrer, or leader.
Rallies, flags and salutes were adopted by the Nazis. An impressive speaker, he attacked
the Treaty of Versailles, Jews and Socialists. The Nazi Party suggested that:
• Communism and Socialism should be eradicated,
• Germans were the master race and Jews were racial enemies of that,
• Stop the unfair barriers put up by the Treaty of Versailles.

To take action, Hitler decided to imitate Mussolini’s march on Rome, and seize
power in Berlin. General Ludendorff agreed with Hitler’s ideas, and backed up this
campaign. Rather than to storm Berlin with so few supporters, a revolt in Munich was
arranged. The police halted the revolt, although fourteen Nazis and four police officers were
killed. Hitler was also arrested and sentenced to five years in jail. He served only nine
months in luxurious surroundings.
On his release from prison, Hitler took control of the Nazi Party again, but it still only
remained small in numbers. In the 1928 election, it had only 75,000 members, but gained
2.5% of the votes and 12 seats in the Reichstag. In 1929, a referendum was drawn up to
scrap the Dawes Plan so that Germany could begin to support its own economy. The
referendum failed, but Hitler, who had been on the organising committee for the referendum,
was brought much to the political forefront. In the same year, hyperinflation reached a new
high, and many people began to see the Nazi way of thinking as a possibility to draw
Germany out of the economic crisis and into its former glory. Average German people
began to turn their votes towards the Nazi Party, and having been in the public eye for the
failed recession, this provided the perfect publicity for Hitler and the Nazi Party. In 1930, a
new chancellor, Bruning, began to pass unpopular laws as democracy and politics in
Germany failed. His unpopular ideas only turned more people towards Hitler.
In 1932, Hitler stood for election, but was defeated by fellow politician, Hindenburg.
Political violence was increasing, demonstrations common as the Nazis began to battle
against Communist and Socialist rivals. One Doctor Joseph Goebbels was positioned to
organise rallies and propaganda to draw more people towards Hitler’s ideas. This had great
effect as Bruning’s successor; Von Papen lifted the ban on the Nazi police force, which
spread the word of Nazism through violence, called the SA. This led the Nazi Party to win
230 seats in the Reichstag.
The Nazi’s actions following the election confused many voters. Co-operation with
Communists to force out the Von Papen government lost Hitler around 2 million middle class
voters; the class system still a very important feature of German society. This meant that the
Nazi’s fell into financial difficulties around this time.