Unit 3 Overview

5 weeks (now through winter break) Major topics:

The Weimar Republic and its failings Hitler’s rise to power Nazi ideology and laws The Holocaust

Assessments: Nazi Germany paper (week after Thanksgiving) Discussion: who was responsible for the Holocaust? One DBQ; two quizzes

A fact to ponder: Adolf Hitler came to power legally and

democratically

The End of the First World War

1914-1918 Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary,

Ottoman Empire) defeated by Allied Powers (France, United Kingdom, Russia, US)

Effects on Germany About 2.5 million dead; many more wounded Political turmoil Psychological shock – Germans didn’t expect to

lose the war

Review: World War I

July 1918: US troops arrive in

France October 1918: Germany

requests an armistice based on Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points

November 10: Kaiser Wilhelm abdicates

Armistice signed November 11

The End of the War

How should Germany be governed after WWI? How should the Allies make peace with Germany?

Two Questions

Woodrow Wilson (USA) wants fair treatment, self-determination, and a League of Nations

The other Allies (France, UK, Italy) want revenge

Questions for Analyzing the Treaty

of Versailles

1. What is this document saying? (Translate it into plain English)

2. Why might Germans be upset about this document?

Signed June 28, 1919 Treaty ending World War I with Germany Germany was not allowed to negotiate – a diktat Major provisions

Blame – the War Guilt Clause Army – severe limits on Germany’s military Reparations – Germany owed money to the Allies Territory – Germany lost 13% of territory + all

colonies

The Treaty of Versailles

“The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies.”

Blame: The War Guilt Clause

June 28, 1919 (included in Treaty of Versailles) Blamed Germany for WWI Germans resented this provision Justified demands for huge reparations

The War Guilt Clause

Germany’s army and navy

severely restricted Germans worried about

external threats Left many Germans

unemployed Freikorps – unofficial anti-

Communist armies

Army: Restrictions on the Military

Dolchstoßlegende –

“stab in the back” myth

Held that Jews or other traitors stopped Germany from winning WWI

Gave Germans an outlet for frustration over losing WWI

And Now, a Fancy German Word

Germany forced to pay back massive amounts

of reparations to Britain and France Britain and France needed reparations to pay

back wartime loans from the US Total:

Initially $63 billion ($768 billion in 2010 money) Later reduced to $33 billion ($402 billion in

2010 money) Last payment made October 3, 2010

Reparations

Germany lost territory in Europe

Alsace-Lorraine (to France) Saar (to League of Nations) Rhineland (to be demilitarized) Danzig (to League of Nations)

Also lost all its colonies Total losses:

13% of European territory 10% of population (about 6.5 million people)

Territory

German Territorial Losses after WWI