Germany, The Depressed One

Examine the impact of the Great Depression upon One European Country of your choice.
The Great Depression was a fatal blow to all European countries as well as the United States (US). Germany was going through a traumatic time during this period in which they had to pay off the Treaty of Versailles (ToV) debt and a political reformation. The state of Germany’s economy led to a political reformation which left German citizens unemployed and causing demonstrations which broke out throughout the whole country with left wing extremists attacked right wing radicals. This left Germany in chaos as union leaders pushed to become national leaders, people hated their government and the government was impaired and could do nothing to satisfy its people. Germany was a disaster. The economy of Germany proved to be explosive as people even burnt money to keep themselves warm as wood was too expensive.

Germany’s debts were impossible to keep up with. Their debts from the ToV were so hard to keep up with, that the government had to print an enormous amount of money to pay it off. This caused hyperinflation which meant that things started to cost bizarre amounts which could go up to millions and trillions. On top of the reparations, Germany had a deadline to meet to pay off their loans from the US. Germany obtained loans from the US during World War I (WWI) in order to fight, but, after the Wall Street Crash in the US, the US demanded its loans to be payed back in order to prevent further unemployment and maybe help their economy. This made Germany’s currency inflate to the maximum level. The Central Bank of Germany had to borrow an extensive sum of money in order to keep up with their payments. Another factor which affected the economy was the unstable governmental system. The Weimar Republic was somewhat stable, but new parties were increasing in size as citizens sought to promising individuals whom could guarantee change. The main party was the Nazi party followed by the Communist party. The tension between the two led to an unstable ruling party with the Nazi’s being able to challenge Von Hindenburg, the president.

The chaotic economy of Germany gave room for parties to rise and challenge the authority. The Nazi party led by Adolf Hitler was the strongest one with an increase of seats in the Reichstag every few months. The Nazi Party was the favored party of the people with Hitler at the top. The economy helped boost Hitler’s popularity because he promised a way out of it. One of his campaign posters said “Our Last Hope – Hitler”. The Nazi Party was so popular because they challenged the legitimacy of the Weimar Republic and most of the citizens hated Jews, so Hitler repetedly blamed them and told the people that they would be exterminated in which he gained much popularity from the people he led. Hitler was appointed the head of the Nationalist Socialist government in which he became increasing in power. The Great Depression proved to boost Hitler through his campaign and take charge of an all powerful nation which was on a very thin line. However, although a political reformation was in process, the ordinary people of Germany were unemployed and in a state of panic and chaos.

The majority of the citizens within Germany were under Nazi influence. Bomb attacks were common as well as assassinations against Communists and Jews. The Weimar Government could not control their people. The Nazi’s were too numerous and too deadly to handle even when the Weimar gave them everything they had. Almost 30% of Germany’s population was unemployed and looking for work.

“The German working class is now going through a far severer period of economic and moral depression than even the most pessimistic tables of statisticians can describe. It takes an insight into the conditions of the average proletarian family to establish this. Vegetable-butter (margarine) is found everywhere at the workingman's table instead of butter. The diet is entirely devoid of eggs. Only the most meager portions of meat find their way to the worker's stomach. Malt coffee has displaced bean coffee, and so on without end” - Developments in Germany, The Militant, February 1, 1930

The quote above describes how unnatural and cheap the food was during the period of time. German people had no other option but to survive and eat whatever is available and cheap. Malt Coffee, margarine and rare occasions of meat all prove to be a case where survival instincts come into play. “Only the most meagre portions of meat find their way to the workers stomach” This clearly shows that Germans were not healthy and needed something to be done quickly. Rationing was a last resort for the government.

Rationing was ordered due to food shortages and this agitated the people causing further protesting. The political reformation made the people like this. The heavy influence of newly founded parties, promising a glimmer of hope to get out of their crazed situation, made the German people very susceptible to believe anything. Hitler saw this and influenced many of them to follow his steps. Street clashes between Nazi and Communist followers were frequent. Whether it would be burning a house down, bombing targets or even assassination, the people saw this as the only way to make a better Germany. The politics can be seen to be the cause of the peoples actions. The people felt that they have to be a part of something in order to get an outcome.

In conclusion, the state of Germany’s economy led to a political reformation which left German citizens unemployed and causing demonstrations which broke out throughout the whole country with left wing extremists attacked right wing radicals. This proved to be fatal for Germany and left it in a chaotic state in which anything could happen. A new leader arose from this, hyperinflation destroyed the economy and the people were outraged. The effects of the Depression were felt all around the world, but especially in Germany did it hit the most. Not just because of the Depression, but because of the prologue to the war. The ToV, paying off the US loans and no stable governmental system added to the Depression making it extremely difficult for anyone to have a normal day to day life.

Paris Bully Convention

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 between all of the allied victors to negotiate some sort of punishment for the defeated nations. This conference created a series of treaties for the defeated countries of the central powers. These treaties created new countries and reshaped which is now modern Europe. However, this conference did not create a stable Europe; President Wilson failed to invoke what he wanted to happen with this reformation and transformed this conference into a vengeful peace agreement. Without the United States say in this conference, this conference failed as a disastrous organization which later on collapsed.

The treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a treaty that was signed during the First World War. It was a treaty which signified the resignation of Russia from the war. The treaty was very harsh upon the Russians due to the mass amount of land loss which was economically important. Countries such as Ukraine, Lithuania and Estonia were formed due to this treaty and Russia went into an economic crisis which left them crippled and unable to tend to international affairs. Russia was not accepted into the Paris Peace Conference (PPC) due to the rise of communism which was every nations fear at the time. Russia was neither helped by other nations even though they signed a treaty which crippled them instantaneously.

The Treaty of Lausane dealt with the Ottomans which gave Turkey independence and took land from them. This treaty, is said to be the most lenient treaty towards an ally of the Central Powers in which Turkey was given independence, Disarmament of the areas Bosporus and Dardanelles and there was no penalization in which was seemed unfair because they were responsible for the Armenian Genocide. Greece felt somewhat ridiculed when they found out about this and protested instantly. This made Europe unstable due to the fact that the enemy, of the Allies, was given a slap on the wrist and let free with a treaty which somewhat benefitted them economically.

The treaty of Sevres dealt with the Ottoman Empire as a whole. This treaty signified the breakdown of the Ottoman Empire into the Modern Day Middle East. There were many attempts by the allies to ratify this treaty mainly due to the Ottoman war for independence which put the allies in a mixed and confusing state on how to deal with this issue. The treaty made it so that the Allies were in control on the Empire’s finances in which free trade was enabled in which the allies’ goods could pass through transit tax free. Like all other countries, the Ottomans army was to be reduced to 50,000 men with a limited navy and forbidden air force. The treaty, however, backfired in which Turkey attacked the Greeks and forced them to give back the port of Smyrna in which the allies grew weary and changed the treaty to the Treaty of Lausanne. This made Europe unstable because Turkey felt hatred towards the allies and put them on shaky terms.

The treaty of Neuilly dealt with Bulgaria and was signed on November 27th, 1919. The treaty made them pay with reparations exceeding 400 million dollars, the surrendering of the Aegean Coastline and Thrace to Greece and the reduction of Bulgaria’s army to 20,000 men. The Bulgarians felt strongly attached to these parts and carried a heavy, vengeful grudge against the allies which later on turned into the occupation of these territories in WWII. They carried such a grudge mainly due to the amount of Bulgarians which were put under Greek rule. This was not a successful action of those attending the PPC because Bulgaria felt too attached and violated their human rights. Bulgaria became vengeful which proved to be fatal in WWII.

The treaty of Saint Germain-en-Laye dealt with the Austro-Hungarian Empire and was signed on the 10th of September 1919. This treaty split the Empire into two halves, Austria and Hungary. The treaty stated that they would be held accountable, like Germany, to be the sole cause to WWI. They were treated equally to Germany where they were forced to pay reparations exceeding their own GDP which is fairly harsh. Their army was to be reduced to 30,000 men and much of their high income areas were stripped from them throwing them into a mass inflation. This treaty made Europe unstable because it put Austria in a paralyzed position where they could not muster any strength nor pay off their reparations. It created a feeling of hate towards the Allies which like all other Central Powers, proved to arise in WWII.

In conclusion, the series of treaties proved to be unfair towards the defeated Central Powers. A strong vibe of resentment and vengeance surged through the countries because of the economic impairment in which they were in a state of high inflation and the loss of nationalism. These treaties were extremely harsh and asked for another war in the sense that vengeance would arise through the voices of strong political leaders who fed off the intense suffering such as Hitler and Mussolini. The Paris Peace Conference proved to be a mistake that hid behind the Allies blind spot which was covered by greed only for them. Everyone wanted a part of the Central Powers resources, and everyone got some which put them in a crippled state in which they felt patronized and destroyed their self-determination.

Rest of the World 1 Germany 0

WWI was a gruesome war with the most casualties of any war throughout history. It is even said that World War I had more casualties than the second one. Germany, before the war, were the biggest industrial empire producing most of Europe’s steel. However, Germany was too proud of their Empire and their immediate rush in proving their dominance proved to be quite disastrous for them. Germany lost WWI because of military, economic and political reasons.

The British navy was the most powerful at the time of WWI. With this advantage over the Central Powers, they saw that blocking the Central Powers’ ports would be an easy task. With Germany’s low economy at the time, this cut it off to leave the Germans with a miniscule income. Germany had to rely on inland trade which was only a minority because they could not trade with most European countries due to main enemies. Germany also were not efficient with their food supply to the army. The British were very economic during the war and rationed food. Rationing meant that the whole population would get the same amount of food daily. This cut down on costs. The Germans, however, did not ration and even sent in farmer to fight in the war which left the farms in poor condition or completely abandoned.
Because of the lack of morale and food supply, Germany were defeated by November 1918. Germany’s mistake of the Von Schleiffen plan can be said to be the fault of Belgium becoming hostile as well as Britain entering the war. The Von Schleiffen Plan was to march through Belgium and attack France from the side which would catch France unguarded. The Germans praised the plan and saw it as a quick battle in which France would be instantly overrun. This backfired, and other European nations gave heavy propaganda in return to Germany. This was not the only military fault of Germany’s behalf, no support from its allies, Austria-Hungary and Italy, led to mainly the Germans fighting the rest of the world. Germany had to face the US, Britain, France, Russia, etc on all of its borders. Italy even fought against the Germans half way through the war. Germany’s final offensive was the last battle of the war. The high command, instead of discussing a peaceful resolution, attempted a final attempt to push but were crushed by the entry of the US. Around 100,000 American soldiers entered France every month.
In respect to propaganda at the time, the Germans were very new to this and did not grasp the political tactic entirely. Propaganda is creating and distributing information in order to influence an outcome. The Germans made the allies as small and puny which made the soldiers view the exact same. The British, however, described the Germans as gorillas tearing the world apart. The British saw the Germans like that and were prepared to fight an equal adversary whereas Germany saw contradictory. The Zimmerman Telegram was another political reason for Germany’s loss. It was a telegram sent from the Kaiser to Mexico which asked them to join against the US. The US found out about this and acted upon it by joining the allies and defeating Germany’s final assault.
In conclusion, Germany did a numerous amount of mistakes to cause their defeat. If they would have thought their actions through, they might have actually won. Their propaganda, The Von Schleiffen Plan, the starvation of their own soldiers, as well as the reasons discussed above, all served to backfire upon themselves. Germany might have been the biggest industrial empire, but they lacked tactics and the experience that Britain and France had. Let us not forget that Germany was founded not long before the war.

Imperialism Essay

Imperialism was the main cause of WWI out of other factors like militarism, alliances and nationalism. It was the main reason because of the fact that all European powers wanted to expand their borders and colonies which in turn, conflicted with other powers around the world. The Boer Wars, The Opium War in China and the major race in Industrialization were examples of Imperialistic events prior to WWI.

The Boer War was when Britain, feeling weak, felt obliged to attack African colonies in order to expand and control trade and resources because of Germany’s telegram which was sent to Paul Kruger congratulating him on his defence against the ‘foreign invaders’. This was a cause because Germany was using political techniques to isolate Britain from the rest of the world by luring Britain into a trap to attack the Africans with such force that it would look inhumane to other nations. The strategy worked and Britain became extremely unpopular and made all European nations hate Britain. The reason that Britain became unpopular from this event was because the Africans were still developing and were not considered a strong adversary, so Britain was merely walking in and killing all those that stood in their path.

The Opium War was caused when China refused to open its trade routes to the rest of the world due to the fact that they had everything they needed and did not require other countries resources. It all started when raw materials only grown in China, were needed by the rest of the world. Desperately, Britain found a gateway in which they could provoke China into a war and open its trade routes. They did this by bringing in opium into China in which China countered by illegalizing it. Angrily, Britain illegally smuggled opium from India into China and started a war. This led to rebellions such as the Boxer Rebellion and the Teiping Rebellion in which other consecutive events took over China’s way of governing. European nations and Japan took full advantage of China’s weakness and set up colonies, traded cheaply with China and led to other events in which these nations would fight for such as Korea. The Opium War was not a ‘cause’ to WWI, but it was the other China issues such as land division, which made European nations fight with each other for.

The Major race in industrialization symbolized imperialism in the sense that all European powers required vast amounts of raw materials to mass produce goods such as steel. This led European nations to go into foreign countries and colonize them. When they colonized specific areas, they would send all the raw materials back to the mother country and then manufacture it into something that they can sell. This led the British to a war with African colonies, such as the Transvaal, and in China with the Boxers. Industrialization was a cause to WWI in the sense that all European nations were colonizing other ‘weaker’ countries and stealing their resources and sending them back which caused tension between the European nations. The tension between European nations was caused because they were all competing in the same areas such as Africa and Asia, and this led to conflicts with each other with governing issues, etc.

In conclusion, gathering from the events listed, you can see that these events were important during the first World War. Industrialization was a key point because of its breakthroughs with technology and better weaponry. The Opium War does not have a direct link with WWI but opened up new and smaller events in which European nations argued over and brought tension. The Boer War left Britain out of further events prior to WWI and left it in its isolation. They broke out of the isolation in WWI when they entered because of the German invasion of Belgium which surprised the whole of Europe. So in all, Imperialism was a group of many, small events which built up to a big worldwide problem which made it the big problem which drew tension between all of Europe.

“the unification of Germany was inevitable regardless of Bismarck’s role.”

Bismarck played an important role in the unification of Germany. From Source 11 on page 17, Taylor points out that Bismarck wanted everything to happen one way and ended up another. Regardless, he unified Prussia under a German flag. It was not entirely Bismarck’s decision, there were other surrounding factors that contributed to Prussia’s unification.

Bismarck’s aim was to unite the 39 German states under Prussian rule, and in this aspect he succeeded. Bismarck only chose options based on circumstance, he did not follow a code, but took control of clever diplomacy and skilful manipulation to make others join Prussia. There were also other factors which contributed to the unification such as nationalism and Napoleon III invasion. The German states were aware of their military weakness and nationalism brought them all together to push him back. This brought the states together before Bismarck became involved with politics.

In conclusion, Bismarck’s role was far greater in unifying Prussia than surrounding factors. I say this because his trickery in diplomacy and manipulation brought bigger states together rather than all the German’s pushing back Napoleon. The material was there and Bismarck sewed it all together.