1. The Causes of WWII Part 1:

2.  By the summer of 1918, it was clear Germany had lost the war  The Germans tried negotiate terms to end the war while maintaining their honor  The US President, Woodrow Wilson, proposed 14 points that Germany must agree to for the war to end  Wilson was not interested in punishing Germany  Rather, he wished to build systems and institutions that would provide a more peaceful future (e.g. The League of Nations)  Germany was pleased with the 14 points and eventually surrendered under the impression that these points would be the basis of the peace treaty.

3.  The Paris peace conference is where the combatants met to create the peace  However, the meeting was dominated by the French who wanted to forever destroy Germany’s ability to make war

4. Some important Articles of the Treaty include:  Germany accepts all blame for the war (War Guilt)  Germany would pay $32,000,000,000 in reparations  Germany’s military is destroyed (no Aircraft, reduced Navy, 100,000 man army)  Germany lost all colonies  Germany lost almost 20% of its territory (to France, Poland and others)  Rhineland (border with France) was demilitarized  Saar Region (Germany’s richest land in terms of natural resources) was occupied by the French

5.  The Treaty was considered excessive by many at the time  Germany was humiliated and economically destroyed  Austria/Hungary was completely destroyed  Italy received no benefit for its war efforts and fell into poverty  Russia and Germany were both banned from joining the League of Nations

9.  It would have been very difficult for Germany to make repartitions payments even if their economy was healthy  However, with no colonies and the loss of so much territory, Germanys situation was completely hopeless  In order to find a way out of this situation, the new German government, began to print extra money to make the payments on time.

10.  Printing too much money and other foolish economic policies soon led to rapid inflation  Inflation is when the prices of products rise  The prices in Germany rose so fast that German money became completely useless  Almost the entire German population became poor almost overnight

11. Items1914July 1921 July 1922 July 1923Sept. 1923 Nov. 1923 1 kg of Bread $0.28$2.64$8.75$22,500$10,370,000$470,000,000,000 1 kg of Beef $1.17$28.00$133.00$112,000$76,000,000$5,600,000,000,000 1 Egg$0.09$1.60$7.00$4,000$4,000,000$320,000,000,000

19. 10 Million Marks

20. 4 Billion Marks

21. 100 Gold Marks = 100 Trillion Marks

22.  The German rich did very well during inflation  They bought up land, assets and expanded their businesses  The inflation cancelled out their debt  However, lower and middle class Germans were completely destroyed – life savings were eliminated  Employers could not keep up with the inflation, many stopped working as their weekly cheque would not be enough for a cup of coffee.

23.  Police and government officials stopped working  The streets were run by gangs and groups of ex- soldiers  Violence and crime were rampant  Most transactions were from Trading or Bartering  Communists and Right wing groups fought for control of the country and the hearts and minds of the citizens  1923 Germany made our depression seem like a picnic!

24.  This terrifying environment was the perfect place for psychopaths and misfits to gain attention  Those who promised revenge and the restoration of Germany’s greatness soon became national heroes  The greatest of all these was...