Hitler’s and Mussolini’s power / Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles, signed on 28 June 1919, was one of the peace treaties signed after World War 1. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied powers. Of the many provisions in the treaty, one of the most important and controversial required Germany and its allies to accept responsibility for causing the war and, under the terms of articles 231-248, to disarm, make substantial territorial concessions and pay reparations. Some of the most important points of the treaty were: a. Article 231 (the “War Guilt Clause”) lays sole responsibility for the war on Germany, which would be accountable for all the damage done to civilian population of the allies 1 b. Germany to pay reparations of 226 billion Reichsmarks in gold (around ?11.3 billion) 2 c.
demilitarization and a fifteen-year occupation of the Rhineland, administered by Great Britain and France jointly d. all countries should reduce their armed forces to the lowest possible levels (Multilateral disarmament.) e. the national groups in Europe should, wherever possible, be given their independence f. Territorial changes: 1. Germany should give up Alsace-Lorraine and any lands taken away during the war. 2.
The Italian frontier should be readjusted. 3. Belgium should be evacuated. 4. Poland should be given an outlet to the sea. g.
A League of Nations should be formed to protect world peace in the future. What stopped the Treaty of Versailles from ever approaching success, however, was not the terms of the treaty, but rather the reluctance to enforce the terms by the Allies. In 1935 Chancellor Adolf Hitler unilaterally canceled the military clauses of the treaty and in 1936 he began the re-militarization of the Rhineland. The Treaty of Versailles was never fully accepted or enforced.3 Both Hitler and Mussolini wanted to gain territory and restore prestige to their countries. Hitler’s principle was the cultural and biological superiority of the Aryan peoples. Mussolini’s was more nationalistic, based on remembering Rome’s lost glory.
The Essay on Compare and Contrast Social and Economic Policies of Hitler and Mussolini
We should start this brief analyze with focusing on the background of the dictators’ way to power. In both countries, Germany and Italy, the blow of 1929s Wall Street crisis proved to be very tough, however the economic situation inside states wasn’t good after the end of World War the First. Unemployment and budget deficit helped Mussolini with taking power in 1922. Hitler became a ...
Thus, we see that the Treaty of Versailles gave both dictators a platform from which to launch their countries into World War 2.
Bibliography:
1- Lentin, Antony (1985).
Guilt at Versailles: Lloyd George and the Pre-history of Appeasement. Routledge. pp.84. ISBN 9780416411300 2- Timothy W. Guinnane (January 2004).
“Vergangenheitsbewaltigung: the 1953 London Debt Agreement”] Center Discussion Paper no. 880. Economic Growth Center, Yale University.
Retrieved on 2008-12-06. 3- Viault, Birdsall S. (1990).
Schaum’s Outline of Modern European History. McGraw-Hill Professional. pp.471.
