Versailles is a grand palace outside of the city of Paris, France. At the end of WWI, leaders from the countries involved in the war met there to write a treaty. The Treaty of Versailles explained what the winners would gain and what the losers would lose.

Many of the leaders in the winning countries blamed Germany for the war. They wanted the Germans punished severely. Under the treaty of Versailles, Germany had to accept full responsibility for starting the war. Germany lost important territory, including lands rich in natural resources. It also lost all of its colonies. Germany also had to pay 6,600 Million to the Allies to cover damages caused during the war. This was a form of compensation known as reparations.

France and Great Britain wanted to make sure that Germany never attacked them again. Their goal was to make Germany a weak country. Germany also had to reduce the size of its navy. They were not to have an air force or any submarines.

France lost a lot in the war. Over 2 million French people lost their lives. A large part of the war was fought in France. Farms, homes, cities, and Industries were destroyed. Highways, bridges, and railroads had to be rebuilt. Reparations were used to help rebuild the cities destroyed by the war.

Germany faced many problems after WWI. It had lost lands that contained valuable natural resources. About 2 ½ million Germans had lost their lives. About four million were wounded. The industry and farms in the country had been destroyed. Highways, farms, and roads had to be rebuilt. The German workers worked hard to solve the countries problems. However, It had to pay back the Allied countries for the war.

Millions of dollars were leaving the country for France and Great Britain. Because Germany was forbidden to have a large army or navy, many military people lost their jobs. Prices went up as goods became scarce. Basic items such as food and clothing were not always available. As things got worse, people blamed the government.

The people wanted their leaders to find solutions to the problems. Then the stock market crashed in the United States. This made things even worse fro the German people. Businesses and people around the world stopped buying as much. They were worried about losing their money.

Adolf Hitler came on the scene with a big plan. He and his followers, called the National Socialist or Nazi Party, said they could fix the problems in Germany. They blamed the Treaty of Versailles for many of the problems. They also said that the Jews in the country were controlling the banks and the money. They blamed the Jews for the fact that many Germans were not able to make a good living.

Hitler was named chancellor of Germany in He made sure that laws were passed quickly to give him more power. Soon he had complete control of the government. He had the power of a dictator. He and the Nazi’s worked to rebuild Germany’s military. He opened factories to build weapons. He put unemployed people to work by building a superior highway system. The economy improved for a time, but many people lost their civil rights.

However, many thought it was better to loose rights than loose food. Anyone who spoke out against the Nazi party was put into jail or killed. As Hitler's strength grew, he made plans to go to war. He started to take back some of the land that Germany had lost during WWI. Other European countries protested but did nothing to stop Hitler. In 1939, Hitler invaded Poland. With that, France and Great Britain declared war on Germany, and WWII begin.

Who was the leader of the Nazi Party in Germany? What happened to people who spoke out against Hitler in Germany? How did Hitler improve conditions in Germany? Who did Hitler and the Nazi Party Blame for Germany’s problems?

As part of Hitler’s plan to take over the world, he began the systematic killing of every Jew man, woman, or child under Nazi rule. The Nazi’s imprisoned Jews in certain sections of the city and made them wear special identifying armbands, and separated them from their families. The Nazi’s built concentration camps and sent Jews by railcar to these camps. When the Jews arrived, their heads were shaved and a number was tattooed on their arm.

Many were herded into showers which were nothing more than gas chambers. In such places as many as 2,000 Jews could be killed at one time. Thousands died from forced labor, little food, and exposure to the summer heat and the winter cold. By the time WWII was over, as many as 6 million Jews had died. Other groups were victims of Hitler as well. He targeted anyone he thought was inferior. Political prisoners, the mentally ill, and the disabled.

Genocide is the planned killing of a race of people. At the end of WWII, when the Allies gained control of the camps, the survivors of the Holocaust had no where to go. Many had no living family members. They were trapped in the country of their oppressors. The Jews wanted a state in Palestine, their ancient homeland in the Middle East. In 1947, the United Nations divided Palestine into an Arab state and a Jewish State Israel.