Germany the Sole Guilty:From Revolution to Rise of Stalinism - Essay Example

?Articles 251 and 232 of the Versailles Treaty of 1919 attributed to Germany the sole guilt and responsibility for World War One. How did the clause affect the Weimar Republic leaders, “the German high commands stab in the Back myth and Hitler’s rise to power? The Treaty of Versailles was mainly decided by the so called ‘big three’, which consisted of Clemenceau, Wilson and Lloyd George. The main points of the Treaty of Versailles were that Germany and its allies had to take sole responsibility for initiating the war; this was known as clause 231. Whereas on the other hand article 251 concluded that Germany had to pay for the damages that were caused during the First World War. Reparations mean that the guilty party has to pay for the damages that they have caused. As a result Germany was forced to pay ?6600 million for all the damages. In addition Germany lost all of its colonies around Europe. For example Posen, which was rich farmland, was given to Poland. Poland also gained a corridor to the Baltic Sea. This separated East Germany from East Prussia. Also Danzig became a free city which was run by the League of Nations. Alsace Lorraine was given to France who had lost the land previously to Germany in 1871. Furthermore Germany was forbidden to have any submarines or an air force. They were permitted to have six battleships and an army that consisted of just a hundred thousand men. Also Germany was not allowed to put any armed forces in the Rhineland, which was next to France. The area was regarded as demilitarised. In November 1918 Germany was forced to drop out of the war. The Kaiser abdicated and fled the country. This resulted in a new republic being formed in February 1919 in the town of Weimar. This was known as the Weimar republic and the elected president was Freidrich Ebert. The Allied forces reiterated the fact that the German leaders had to be different. This new government was all about democracy, whereas before 1914 it was a military autocracy. To begin with, this idea of democracy did not provide the German public with much hope. This is because the Germans were used to strong powerful leaders. They felt as if this new democracy would get walked all over by the Allied forces. When the German’s heard about the Treaty of Versailles they were furious that they were being told to take the sole blame. They referred to it as ‘Diktat’, this means that it was an imposed settlement as the Germans had no say in the outcome. Many German’s wanted to not sign the treaty as they found it insulting and unfair. The reparations were met by disgruntled German’s who tried to refuse to pay up until January 1921. They stated that the Allied forces were trying to starve the public. This made the German public despise the Weimar Republic because they began paying back the reparations. A sense of hatred and cowardice was felt towards the new republic. In addition the Germans detested the fact that they had a small army and that they were vulnerable to other countries. Also Germany’s economy had been crippled because all of its colonies had been disbanded and in addition many Germans were living in different countries, as parts of Germany had been split. It seems that the Weimar Republic had a lot of critics, but most of it’s problems were out of its control, as the damage had been done before they came into power. Nevertheless the German public felt like they were stabbed in the back as they never wanted to sign the Treaty of Versailles as it was an insult to their pride and it makes all those Germans soldiers deaths pointless. The Weimar Republic leaders were not trusted and viewed as cowards. The Weimar Republic and its leaders suffered the repercussions of the Treaty of Versailles from the German public. This came in the form of rebellions, either from the right or left wing. The people of these organisations believed it was time for change and that Germany could not sit back and be ruled over by the Allied forces. The left wing rebellions came from fifty thousand Spartacists in 1919 that rebelled in Berlin. Also in 1920 a paramilitary group rebelled in the Ruhr. The right wing ordered the Kapp Putsch in March 1920. A group of Freikorps rebelled against the Treaty and tried to get the Kaiser back in power in Berlin. Also the right wing murdered 356 politicians, including Matthias Erzberger, the man who signed the armistice. In conclusion this shows that Germans felt that the Weimar republic leader were weak by signing the Treaty of Versailles and they believed change was required in the form of either a party from the left or right wing. The Treaty of Versailles did indeed help Hitler rise to power due to several important facts. First of all one factor that helped Hitler was the long term bitterness that the German felt towards the ‘November criminals’ that signed the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler was always renowned for his vicious attitudes and ideas. This appealed to the German public as they were sick of the weak republic. In addition the signing of the treaty had always made the republic seem weak, and this was one thing that Hitler was not. Hitler used to speak of the fact that he was sent from god to help Germany to rule the world. This provided the German people with hope and made them follow and vote for his movement. The Treaty of Versailles provided Hitler with ammunition to attack the republic and allowed him to promise the proud German people that they would rise again. He stated that he would increase military action by having more soldiers, ships and aircrafts. The reason Hitler could promise this was due to the fact he had the backing from very rich businessmen. In conclusion the Treaty of Versailles caused the Weimar republic to look vulnerable and weak because they signed the armistice. However in hindsight they really did not have any other alternative as they were the losing side in the war. Also it can be concluded that the Treaty of Versailles aided Hitler’s rise to power as long term bitterness had set in and the German people wanted a return to a strong and dominant Germany which Hitler promised. Hitler and the Nazi party seemed to be the way out for the German public who hated the Treaty that was crippling their beloved country. Discuss the origins and course of Russia’s reaction to World War One, the crisis of the revolution and the rise of Stalinism. How was communism similar in its world goals and domestic control systems to the Tsarist state? The First World War was devastating for all the participants on either side. Soldier’s lives were lost, economies were crumbled and lives were ruined. Overall in 1914 the war began quite positively for the Russians due to the fact that they had the full backing of their population. A wave of patriotism swept across Russia supporting the Tsar’s decision. The Tsar was viewed as God like figure that could do no wrong. His rules and regulations were met with the up most obedience. However this feeling of patriotism and heroism was not upheld for long. The reality of war eventually hit the Russians with them ending the war with over four million deaths. Throughout the war it was realised that even though the Russians had inspirational bravery they lacked strong and organised leadership. This was partly due to the fact that in the mid 1915’s the Tsar decided to take full control of the armed forces. This decision was not greatly received by the Russians as the Tsar did not have any experience of leading the armed forces. In addition to this the Russian armed forces lacked modern equipment and therefore suffered heavy defeats from the Germans. For example the defeats at Tannenburg and Masurian lakes resulted in two hundred thousand deaths. As a result the Tsar lost the backing of his armed forces. As the war progressed conditions got worse for the Russian people. The vast majority of farm workers and train drivers had been called up to the armed forces. Consequently food shortages in the cities were extremely common, especially in the winter of 1916-1917 when food shortages became so bad that famine was present in the cities. Furthermore life in Russia became worse as increasing government spending towards to war caused the government to start printing money. This resulted in staggering inflationary pressure. It can be concluded that at the beginning of the war the Russians were satisfied with the justifications that were provided for their participation in the war. However as the war progressed they realised the problems such as food shortages and inflation. In addition many people in Russia lost loved ones in the war. This turned many people against the Tsarist regime due to its involvement in the First World War. In March 1917 the revolution began when riots broke out in the streets. It can be strongly disputed that many Russians wanted the end of the Tsarist regime. The main reason was due to its decision to enter the First World War. However there are other reasons why revolution was the favoured option. Another factor was that the Tsar was a weak leader who left the Tsarina in charge of the country whilst he took charge of the armed forces. The Russian people felt betrayed by him due to the fact that the Tsarina was German and suspicions lay that she was trying to help the Germans to victory. In addition another reason why Russians favoured the revolution was because the Tsar took control of the army. Therefore he was guilty in their eyes for the defeats and deaths that took place. Overall it can be argued that the majority of Russians wanted the revolution and for the Tsar to abdicate because they needed someone to blame. The Russian people were sick of the food shortages, the economic problems and all the tragedies involved in the First World War. In addition as time passed many people began to realise that the Tsar was extremely weak. Stalinism was an ideology that was imprinted upon the Soviet Union under the reign of Joseph Stalin. When Lenin died in 1924 everyone expected Trotsky to take charge. However this was not the case. Trotsky was extremely unpopular. The majority of the Russian public viewed his as being big-headed. In addition Trotsky wanted to begin a world revolution, increasing Russian fears that this would destroy Russia. As a result Lenin somehow managed to gain power through a series of underhand political movements. For example Stalin was the General Secretary of the Communist Part. This allowed him to place his supporters in important positions. As a result it is fair to state that at the beginning of Stalin’s reign over Russia, the majority of people were satisfied with it. However as Stalin’s reigned continued the feeling towards him began to change. This was due to the fact that he began to strike terror into the Russian people. He was viewed as a very paranoid person. Examples of this include that he would censor anything that reflected badly upon him. Basically he prevented free speech. Also in children’s books he portrayed himself as a hero. Many Russians felt like he was trying to brainwash people. Anyone who opposed Stalin and the idea of industrialisation was either murdered or attacked. For example a rival of Stalin, Kirov was assassinated. Religious leaders were arrested and all the churches were closed down. Stalin was trying to introduce the idea of Russification. Overall at first Stalinism was received very well in Russia due to the fact his opponent Trotsky was disliked so much. However as time passed Stalin’s insecurities and paranoia caused him to terrorise his public and eventually they turned against him. Communism and the Tsarist regime were very similar in the world goals that they had for Russia. Both ideologies simply had one ambition. This was to make Russia the most powerful and economically controlling country in the world. They wanted Russia to be exporting goods all the across the world. Also the way the Tsarist regime and Communism controlled the state was extremely similar despite having differing views. For example under Joseph Stalin the Great Purges took place and the cult of Stalin was widespread. This prevented any anti-Stalin propaganda and removed any presence of opponents to Stalin’s regime. Whereas the Tsar had the backing of the army as it was run by the nobles. Examples of the Tsarist control were present on Bloody Sunday in 1905. Also Lenin wanted to be idolised by his people. He wanted mother’s telling their children that he is a blessing from God. This coincides with the fact that the Tsar had a similar ideology. He made the Russian public believe that he was sent from God. Both the way in which the Communism and the Tsarist regime were deployed in Russia was very similar. However it still stands that both regimes were completely different. Communism is about how the poorer people rise up to attain a decent standard of living. However the Tsarist regime was completely different. This type of regime only aided the rich and upper class people. Conan Fischer - Taylor and Francis, 2007. After the Versailles Treaty: Enforcement, Compliance, Contested Identities, pgs 42-48 Edward M. Bennett, 2001. The Versailles Treaty and Its Legacy, pgs 59-62 William J. Astore Dennis E. Showalter, 2005. Hindenburg: Icon of German Militarism, pgs 113-114 Jeremy Noakes, 1998. Nazism 1919-1945, Volume 1: The Rise to Power 1919-1934. A Documentary Reader, pgs 18-26 Read More