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German reaction to ToV - Coggle Diagram
German reaction to ToV
Double standards
German complaints were unheard and fell on deaf ears.
Many thought that Germans were themselves operating a double standard
Their call for a fairer treatment didn't square with the harsh way they treated Russia in their Brest-Litovsk Treaty in 1918. Versailles was much harsher than Brest-Litovsk
German's economic problems were self-inflicted.
Other states had raised taxes to pay for the war.
Kaiser's government planned to pay war debts by extracting reparations from the defeated states.
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Disarmament
An army of 100,000 men was very small for a country for Germany's size and army was a symbol of German pride
Despite Wilson's 14 point plan calling everyone to disarm, none of the allies disarmed to the extent that Germany was disarmed in 1920s.
No surprise that Hitler received widespread approval for his actions when he rebuilt German's armed forces in 1935
German territories
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As Germany was losing land, British+ French were increasing empires
taking control of German and Turkish territories in Africa and Middle East
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Impact of Treaty
In 1919, Ebert's government was too fragile, after agreeing to the treaty Germany was in chaos.
Ebert's right-wing opponents could not bear the treaty so attempted a revolution against him.
This was called Kapp Putsch.
It was defeated by a general strike by Berlin workers.
strike paralysed essential services like power and transport.
It saved Ebert's government but added chaos in Germany + bitterness of Germans to treaty
Germany fell behind on its reparation payments in 1922
in 1923 French and Belgian soldiers entered the Ruhr region + took what was owed to them in the form of raw materials+ goods - legal under tov
German government ordered workers to go on strike so they were not producing anything for the French to take.
French reacted harshly, killing over 100 workers and expelling over 100,000 protesters from region.
Strike meant that Germany had no goods to trade + no money to buy things with.
Government solved the scarcity of raw materials by printing extra money but this caused hyperinflation.
Money was virtually worthless so prices shot up.
Price of goods rose very fast
Workers needed wheelbarrows to carry home their wages-billions fo worthless marks.
Wages began to be paid daily instead of weekly.
Germans blamed these problems on the treaty.
Some say French acted too harshly (even if treaty allowed them to). Others say that Germans brought the problems on themselves by failing to pay reparations