Nazism in Germany, 1933-45

A bitter dose of political medicine had to be administered by the victors in February

1918 when the Axis Powers - Germany, Turkey and Austria-Hungary accepted
defeat. The bitter pill was the humiliating clauses contained in the treaty of Versailles.
Not only did Germany have to endure millions of dead soldiers and an economy in ruin,
it also had to pay the Allies reparations. It was, no doubt, an onerous humiliation
conceived largely by the French and English leaders at Versailles to punish and cripple
Germany, thereby reducing her as a potential threat to Europe in the future.

Germany, a young imperial nation at the turn of the twentieth century, had her colonies
in the Pacific confiscated. Under the Mandate System, the victor nations in this case
Britain and France assumed control of Tanganyika (German East Africa), South Africa
took German Southwest Africa, later to become Namibia. Australia took New Guinea
and other Pacific islands, while New Zealand took Western Samoa, Togoland and the
Cameroons were divided between British and French authority.

German territories in Europe returned to other powers. The long-disputed area of

Alsace and Lorraine returned to France; and Danzig became a free city under the
supervision of the League of Nations, Germany was forced to concede additional
territory that we will not discuss here. Altogether, 13.1 percent of its population in 1910
was forfeited.

The humiliating loss of territory by Germany was supplemented by military clauses. The
German army, one of the largest in Europe before 1914, was limited to 100,000 officers
and men. The production of weapons was prohibited and all artillery, aircraft and tanks
were to be handed over to the victors. The German navy was scuttled and the
production of submarines was forbidden. The Rhineland became a demilitarized zone
and German troops were prohibited entry for fear of a surprise attack on France and
Belgium. In addition, Germany could not join in any alliance with Austria. The Versailles
Peace Settlement of 1919 was harsh on Germany, but it also, as we mentioned before,
sowed the seed of discontent that Hitler exploited to the advantage of his Nazi party.