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Somethinguntitled t1_ja4hjqx wrote

Versailles is part (a big part - it fuelled German nationalists during the 20’s and 30’s) of the reason for the rise of Nazism but it should be seen in combination with a number of factors. The Weimar Republic was a weak country with a terrible constitution that had clauses built in that would make autocratic government pretty easy to install regardless of whether it was the Nazis or the Communists that got there first. This was fine during the good years when there was a degree of prosperity but the Wall Street Crash obliterated this and left the country vulnerable to extremists. The Nazis had long rejected the terms of Versailles (to be fair so had many Weimar governments who were covertly training an air force in the Soviet Union that was illegal under the terms of the treaty) and managed to convince the public that the economic crisis was in large part due to Versailles.

Worth noting that ‘rolling back’ elements of the treaty such as the reoccupation of the Rhineland, rearmament and the annexation of the Saarland helped to legitimise Hitlers government and provided it cover from any potential coup from the armed forces and the feeling of revenge against the treaty and Germanys perceived humiliation.

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