by Angelina Moore

Created on: June 20, 2009

On 18th June 1919 the Treaty of Versailles was signed which brought complete chaos and disarray in Germany. It turned the lives of ordinary people upside down and ended up being one of the most hated documents ever to be signed.

By 1918 Germany had lost their battle in WW1 and the Treaty of Versailles was signed shortly afterwards. At this time in Germany their previous government, the Kaiser, had fled the county after the pressures and responsibility of taking care of Germany had become too much to bear. As a result the new Weimar Republic government formed, and it was this government that signed away Germany's pride and independence as a nation and country.

Article 231, also known as the guilt clause of the treaty, said that Germany was to take responsibility for WW1. This left the Germans furious and riots formed against the newly formed government, in protest for them not sticking up for Germany's honour.

This article meant that Germany had to pay reparations to the allies of 6600 million. This was a substantially high amount of money and Germany was already in a lot of debt, their economy was in tatters. People's lives were affected particularly, with these reparations, in 1922, because inflation rose dramatically, as Germany announced that they could not afford to pay the second installment of the reparations. Soon Marks, the German currency, became completely worthless. German children would use money for building blocks and it would be used to keep fires going. The Germans were in a dire situation and they blamed the treaty of Versailles for this, which made them furious and they built a deep a hatred for the misery and suffering the document had caused. One man in particular, Adolf Hitler, used the treaty of Versailles as a political tactic to gain votes so he could come into power. He promised the German people that he would abolish the Treaty of Versailles, which became very appealing.

There is a "stab in the back" myth that says that Germany was betrayed by weak politicians. The Germans were angry that their parliament had not stuck up for them and as a result their whole country was left in pieces, with a bleak future ahead of them.

The treaty also said that Germany would lose 13% of their land. This created fury and resentment against the treaty and the weak politicians because people lost their homes and livelihood. The Polish Corridor was given back to Poland. This loss of land meant that Germany was losing its power and influence across

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