Hitler

The Economic Consequences from WWI and the Versailles Treaty- prerequisites for Hitler’s rise to power.



I have always believed that economics and politics are the two sides of the same coin and that people could enjoy a much better life if we learned from the political and economic mistakes we have committed. Going back to history, the biggest political and economic errors people normallythink of are the two world wars. We have been given enough evidence, however, to consider WWII a logical consequence of WWI, and to be more precise, of the Versailles Treaty and of Hitler’s rise to power. That is why I have always had special interest in the consequences of WWI and especially in the economic consequences from the Versailles Treaty that served as prerequisites for Hitler’s rise topower, and thus put humanity on the way to the horrors of WWII.

In this respect, the topic I have chosen to write about is- “The economic consequences from WWI and the Versailles Treaty- prerequisites for Hitler’s rise to power”. All about the two world wars and their consequences is extremely interesting and of major importance to humanity. Related topics have been intriguing people for years.A proof for that can be found in the numerous works on the subject, two of which I am going to use in the course of my essay. They are:
1. Hitler: Profiles in Power, Ian Kershaw, Longman 1991.
2. Making Security Social. Disability, Insurance and the Birth of the Social Entitlement State in Germany, Greg Eghigian, The University of Michigan Press 2000.

The First World War had tremendouspsycological, social, political and economic consequences which led to major changes in people’s lives. The war mainly affected the structure of the international economy. There was a descentralization of the economy away from Europe. There were immense losses of lives (human capital), of material capital, of export markets to the US and Japan, of domestic markets to Latin America, and of foreignassets. A new “bipolar” economic leadership was created with centers- London and NY, while central and eastern Europe suffered trade barriers and production dislocation. There was a complete market disgregation since the Versaille Treaty of 1919.
The war also ended the pre-war gold standard and brought about post-war instability. The war debts and reparations of the countries only causedeconomic difficulties. The governments were having a hard time trying to decide whether to use expansionary policies to fight the unemployment and to stimulate their economies or to tighten their economies up so that they can pay their debts. Inflation had to be fought and exchange rates had to be stabilized. It was a period of brief economic booms and severe but short-lived slumps. And it was again thewar that promoted the creation of mass societies- a key to understanding the fascism, nazism and communism.
In the case of Germany, the people there enjoyed a very short period of peace. Soon after the Versaille Treaty of 1919 they stepped on the way to WWII with Hitler’s rise to power.
As both, short-term and long-term causes, have had a great influence on the Nazis’ rise to power, adetermination of one of the two sets of causes as more important will be a deterministic approach to the problem and will eventually lead to misunderstandings and will not give us all the aspects of the problem. The two basic long-term causes for the Nazis’ rise to power in the long run (up to 1923) are: 1. The Versaille Treaty of 19191; 2. The economic situation of Germany after WWI.
1. The VersailleTreaty only contributed to the humiliation of the Germans. Alsace and Louraine were given to France- territories that were considered by the Germans German territories. Saar was given to France for fifteen years. The left of Rein was occupied and 50 km strip on the right was dimilitarized. The Poles were given the Polish corridor that cut off East Prussia. Germany was deprived of its colonies....