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What problems did Germany face after WWI
satisfaction was to destroy Germany. He had seen the north east corner of France in devastation and was determined that Germany would never get the opportunity to do the same again.
To the extreme right the peace settlement was a ‘shameful peace’, for which the Weimar republic was unquestionably to blame. After 1919 democratic politicians who had agreed to the armistice in 1918 were constantly put down by the extreme right as the November criminals. When the allies’ peace terms were published in May 1919, they were condemned not only by the extreme right, but by all political opinion in Germany. There was objection not only to the terms of the treaty but to the manner it was made. When Germany agreed to the armistice, it was assumed that were would be negotiations with the allies. It was further assumed that these negotiations would take place on the basis of Woodrow Wilson’s fourteen points. The Versailles treaty was branded a diktat- a dictated peace.
The first of Germanys punishments was the guilt clause where they had to admit full responsibility for starting the war. This also leads onto stating responsibility for all of the war damage, which meant that Germany had to pay reparations. The bulk of which would go to France and Belgium to pay for the damage done to the infrastructure of both countries by the war. The figure was not set at Versailles, it was determined later. The figure was eventually put at £6,600 million, a huge sum of money well beyond Germanys ability to pay. Germany had lost a large amount of territory. Alsace and Lorraine were given to France; Eupen and Malmedy to Belgium; and Posen and West Prussia to Poland. All of Germanys overseas colonies were given to the victors, especially Britain and France, as Mandates, held in trust until they were ready for independence. Germany was also cut back severely as a military power. It was allowed a navy of only six battleships, an army of no more than 100,000 volunteers and no airforce at all. The Rhineland, which was the borderline between France and Germany, was demilitarised to protect France. The German people found these terms extremely difficult to accept. The Government complained that it had no choice but the popular press called for revenge, at first against the allies, but later against the Government which had signed the treaty.
The outcome to this was predictable and in March 1920 Wolfgang Kapp marched on Berlin with 5,000 supporters intending to set up a right wing government. The Government withdrew to Dresden and called for a general strike of German workers. Without these Kapp could not hope to govern, and so gave up and fled abroad. This was the first of many attempts to try to overthrow the Republic. He blamed it for the surrender of Germany and the Treaty of Versailles. Kapp spread the false accusation that the German army had been 'Stabbed in the back’ by German politicians. By this they [next page]