The Versailles Treaty and the Economic Crashes of 1923 and 1929 were interconnected and facilitated the Weimar Republic’s collapse. Firstly, the Treaty of Versailles between Germany and the Allied and Associated Powers at the end of World War I was a one-sided pact that “polarized German public opinion” (Orlow, 2018, p. 118). The Reich government was pushed to accept the terms that were negotiated among three primary Allied powers represented by the leaders of Great Britain, France, and the United States (Orlow, 2018). As a result, Germany’s territory and population were reduced, the country lost its colonies, and the military forces were decreased and restricted (Orlow, 2018). Germany was forced to pay reparations, and businesses lost competitive advantages (Orlow, 2018). While conservatives blamed Germany’s defeat on the revolution of 1918, many people were shocked by the terms of the treaty because they expected that the Allies would treat a democratic Germany more indulgently (Orlow, 2018). The Versailles Treaty has weakened post-war Germany and further divided the beliefs of conservatives and democrats.
Nevertheless, one should remember that the Economic crashes and the Treaty of Versailles did not solely cause the doom of the Weimar Republic. In the eyes of most Germans, the goal of the treaty’s reparations was to “ruin the Reich’s economy” and overpower the country’s political and territorial integrity (Orlow, 2018, p 122). However, while accusing the peace treaty of all the problems, the Reich’s decision-makers overlooked economical difficulties that had been chronic for years due to long-term structural changes (Orlow, 2018). For instance, although some people were experiencing hardships, others benefited, as officers, teachers, white-collar workers, industrialists, and farmers faced troubles of varying degrees of severity (Orlow, 2018). Despite Germans having diverse economic problems, one must consider that political discrepancies also significantly impacted the country. Political violence was widely spread across the Weimar Republic in its first four years of existence because many people refused to accept the new democratic and parliamentary constitutional system (Orlow, 2018). The Versailles Treaty has influenced the stability of the government, but disparities in the political world greatly affected the Weimar Republic.
Furthermore, the 1923 crisis was a continuation of Germany’s present struggles. Some spokesmen accused the country’s democratic administration of treason in signing the Treaty of Versailles, and by late 1923 Germans were uncertain about both the past and the future (Orlow, 2018). Germany’s political state was connected to its economic condition, and the Reich had to find solutions to multiple structural problems despite being able to stabilize the currency (Orlow, 2018). As Germany faced an economic crisis, the government had to manage the discontentment of political actors.
The Weimar Republic had several prosperous years but fell because of prolonged internal and external reasons. Orlow (2018) described the country’s golden years as “fool’s gold” due to the temporality of the success (p. 142). For example, while 1929 was a rather profitable year for Germany, the impact of the Great Depression has reminded people of long-lasting issues in the republic (Orlow, 2018). The insurance system collapsed completely at the beginning of the Depression, and disputes over financing unemployment compensation led to the government’s fall (Orlow, 2018). The shortage of foreign capital caused the bankruptcy of many cities, and the levels of business failures and unemployment increased (Orlow, 2018). The Versailles Treaty and the Economic Crashes of 1923 and 1929 primarily emerged from outside of Germany but guided the Weimar Republic to its doom by causing economical uncertainties and facilitating political discrepancies.
To better understand the effects of the financial events on the lives of Germans, one should review the book Little Man, What Now? Fallada (2019) presents the story of Johannes Pinneberg and his wife, Lämmchenin, in Germany after the treaty and the two crises. According to Fallada (2019), people faced hardships because of a lack of money and were divided into distinct groups. For instance, the working class barely had money and was not fond of white-collar workers (Fallada, 2019). Society was separated into proletarians and bourgeois, as well as supporters of democratism, fascism, or the Soviet regime (Fallada, 2019). Moreover, people often worked overtime but did not get paid, and the older generation could not comprehend the new prices and inflation (Fallada, 2019). Consequently, one can assume that Germans perceived hard working conditions, underpayment, political instability, and overall uncertainty to be some issues of the Weimar Republic.
Finally, the fall of the Weimar Republic can be characterized by the Nazis eliminating democracy in Germany in 1933-1934. The Nazis were enemies of democracy and thought that the country could choose only between Nazism and communism (Orlow, 2018). Believing that democrats endangered Germany, the Nazis strived to destroy it and promote Hitler’s movement that promised to overcome class divisions and lead the nation towards economic prosperity (Orlow, 2018). The Nazis had been preparing to enter the German political scene for years before 1933 by gradually spreading their ideas among society (Orlow, 2018). After the Great Depression, many Germans were persuaded that only Hitler and his followers could help the country succeed (Orlow, 2018). The Nazi regime has continuously opposed democracy and managed to wipe it out due to the effects of the Great Depression.
References
Fallada, H. (2019). Little man, what now? Penguin Books.
Orlow, D. (2018). A history of modern Germany: 1871 to present (8th ed.). Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.