Some Factors Leading to WWII

The Treaty of Versailles (French: Traité de Versailles):

 One of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of World War I were dealt with in separate treaties. The Treaty of Versailles stated:

1. -Germany had to take responsibility for the war (War guilt clause)
2. -Germany's armed forces were reduced to 100,000 men (only volunteers) without armored vehicles, aircraft or submarine and only 6 war ships.
3. -German troops weren't allowed into the Rhineland. (The posh term for this is that the area was 'demilitarized')
4. -Germany was forced to pay £6.6 billion in reparations (for the damaged caused) the amount was changed later and would have taken Germany until the 1980s to pay!
5. -Germany lost its empire. Areas that belonged to Germany were called Mandates, were to be run by the League of nations.
6. -League of Nations set up to keep world peace (precursor to the UN)

 

 

 

The treaty didn't sit well with Germany and contributed to a lot of hardship in the years after WWI. Conditions in Germany in the 1920s and early 1930s were marked by initial prosperity, then high unemployment and hyperinflation following the stock market crash of 1929:

http://www.theholocaustexplained.org/ks3/the-nazi-rise-to-power/economic-issues/1919-1933-an-economic-overview/#.U3LZgWdOWM8

 

The unrest gave the Nazi party an opening to consolidate support:

http://www.theholocaustexplained.org/ks3/the-nazi-rise-to-power/how-did-the-nazis-gain-support/#.U3LasWdOWM8

 

Which they did, using propaganda and other strategies:

http://www.theholocaustexplained.org/ks3/the-nazi-rise-to-power/how-did-nazis-gain-power/#.U3La32dOWM8