Emma Lu 4th Period, Social Studies Ms.

Slack CBA Essay Rough Draft

The Treaty of Versailles was meant to end World War One and keep peace in Europe by taking precious land, money, weapons, and resources from Germany. On June 28th, 1919, Germany signed the Treaty of Versailles that would set up peace regulations, crippling Germanys amount of territory, military, finance, and government. Three countries that were victorious during World War One were called the Big Three. These countries were the United States of America, Great Britain, and France. After months of debate, they created the Treaty of Versailles for one sole purpose: to punish Germany for starting World War One. As well as punishing Germany, the Big Three also believed that after the effects of World War One, Germany could never start another war ever again. Unfortunately, because Germany signed the Treaty of Versailles, they were obligated to be responsible for starting the first world war. Knee deep in about six to seven million dollars of war damage debts owed to France and Belgium, German citizens became infuriated at their government, blaming them for the endless distress of Germanys crumbling economy. For example, when Germany was late to pay back France, France decided to take Germanys coal, one of its major resources. A response in Germany to Frances order was to stop producing coal and print paper money to pay workers. Consequently, the money had no value, and caused extreme hyperinflation for common items such as food. In addition, the Treaty of Versailles also hurt Germany because much of its territory was given to several countries such as France, Czechoslovakia, and Denmark. As a result, the Treaty of Versailles not only ended World War One, but also sparked World War Two due to civic, economic, and military hardships. A global economic crisis called the Great Depression was a huge factor to World War Two because unemployment rates skyrocketed, stock markets crashed, and many European countries were affected because of unpaid debts from the Treaty of Versailles. When World War One ended, several economic problems began in 1929. European countries and the United States of Americas stocks in the stock market only became 20%

of their original worth. Furthermore, banks and companies went bankrupt, and in the peak of the Great Depression, which was 1933, the United States unemployment rates reached 25%. Although the Great Depression began in 1929, the United States stock market had already been struggling for about six months. On account of the Great Depressions domino effect, this challenge ended in 1939, lasting almost ten years. Following the Treaty of Versailles, Germany owed large amounts of money to France and Belgium. Except Germany did not have enough money, therefore the United States began to loan huge quantities of money to Germanys emergency. Gradually Germany began recovering, but that all took a sharp turn very quickly. Sadly, these loans resulted in the United States not receiving anything in return at the time. When the United States stock market began to decline, the United States discontinued lending money to Germany while they also ordered recompensation of their loans. Overall, the Great Depression was a gigantic economic plunge that affected millions of Americans and Europeans. More than a quarter Americans and Europeans lost their jobs, and opportunities opened for new leaders. In two European countries, Italy and Germany, dictators rose to power and created fascist governments as Europeans turned away from their former governments during times of difficulty. Benito Mussolini from Italy ruled his fascist government from 1922 to 1943. Another dictator, Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party, rose to power from 1933 to 1945. Citizens in Europe turned to these powerful leaders because they had lost faith in their government. Due to the Treaty of Versailles and the Great Depression, Germans and Italians were desperately searching for someone that could help them through tough times. While the two dictators blamed the government for all the countrys obstacles, they also made promises that increased their public appeal. For instance, Benito Mussolini promised to provide a successful economy, a solid military, and an improvement in national honor. Moreover, Adolf Hitler promised to annex lost land from the Treaty of Versailles, more occupations for the unemployed, and a stop to paying France and Belgium for World War One damages. Hitler also made two vital alliances; one named the Rome-Berlin Axis Pact that allied Germany with Italy, and the AntiComitern Pact that allied Germany with Japan. In order to control every aspect of their country, Mussolini and Hitler banned freedom of speech, democratic government, and

rebellion. Therefore, because of ongoing economic hardships, Italians and Germans supported Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler. Germany began to hunger for land removed from their empire. Adolf Hitler influenced Germans, and they helped him add new territory to their region. Beginning in 1934, Adolf Hitler started to secretly rebuild his military. Even though France and Britain were acknowledged of Adolf Hitlers actions, they did not stop him because they were worried about the possibility of communism in west Europe. The first attack that Germany made in 1936 was to regain the Rhineland. Then, on March 1938, Hitler annexed Austria to his land. In addition, when Hitler announced that he was only going to take the Rhineland and Austria, various countries did not take any military action against Germany. But Hitler did not keep his promise, and eventually took the Sudetenland area of Czechoslovakia six months later. Soon afterwards, the Munich agreement was established, and declared that Hitler could keep the Sudetenland, as long as he didnt take the rest of Czechoslovakia. Except during March 1939, Hitler forcefully invaded more of Czechoslovakia. As more land was added to Hitlers land, he gained a stronger military, too. Britain and France responded to Hitlers actions by having him sign multiple pacts that announce he would not add any more land to his empire. Both of these countries did not have the military power to fight Germany and begin another war. Yet when Britain and France were aware that Poland would be Hitlers next goal, the countries threatened battle. Despite the accusations, Hitler continued to prepare for the invasion of Poland. On September 1st, 1939, Germany entered Poland using an aerial bombardment. Swiftly, on September 4th, 1939, Britain declared war on Germany, and France followed soon after. The greed of Adolf Hitler and his German citizens drove them to annex land by forcefully attacking countries. Regardless of the continuous warnings from Britain and France, Germany invaded Poland and caused World War Two.