Hitler’s Journey to Power

It is right to say that Adolf Hitler is one of the most hated leaders to ever to walk the Earth. But how did this madman ever come to power in the first place? After World War I ended, Germany signed a number of treaties with the Allies. These treaties devastated Germany’s economy, and the German’s peoples’ pride. There was hyperinflation, territory taken away, and a massive loss of jobs. Without the state that Germany’s economy was in after World War I, Hitler may have never risen to power. The Treaty of Versailles was signed on 11 November 1918, soon after Germany’s defeat in World War I. The Treaty of Versailles officially ended the state of war between Germany and the Allies. But this was not the end of the treaty. In fact, this was just the beginning. Germany’s military was cut down to 100,000 men, the left bank of the Rhine was occupied by Allied forces and the right bank demilitarized, wartime weapons were scrapped, the German navy was cut down to an insignificant size, and Germany could have no Air Force at all. Also, according to Article 231, “Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies.” This meant that Germany was accepting full responsibility for starting the war, and had to pay a massive amount of reparations to the Allies for the war. And, added to this was 6.6 billion pounds in reparations, an enormous amount. Today, this amount would be equal to around 2.1 trillion pounds. All of this brought Germany’s economy to an utter downfall, either as a consequence of a term in the treaty, or directly from the armistice. But what were the consecutive after effects on Germany’s economy after the Treaty of Versailles? To start, Germany’s military had been severely limited. In the 1920s and 1930s, the army made up a large portion of the economy. Obviously, there were hundreds of thousands of jobs for soldiers. But with the limited army size, many soldiers lost their profession. But what happens behind the scenes of an army? Who supplies these armies? Men and women work at factories to supply the soldiers with weapons, ammunition, and supplies. With the army shrunk, many of these men and women lost their jobs. They were simply not needed any more. The Treaty of Versailles also took away land from Germany, around 70,000 square kilometers of it. This land could be used to grow or harvest resources, such as food or coal, valuable resources in a post-war environment. But with this land gone, there would be a decrease of these things for Germany to use or sell. Also, Germany could not have any overseas colonies. As mentioned before, the left bank of the Rhine was occupied by Allied forces. The Rhine is a major river in Germany, and a center for naval trade. While Allied Forces occupied the Rhine, all the revenue from the trade would benefit the Allies, and not Germany.
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