How the Treaty of Versailles Affected Germany
World War 1 ended with the signing of an armistice between the remaining Allies and Germany, leaving the Allies feeling victorious as they had prevented Germany from “winning”. Germany although was under the impression that no one had in fact won the war as the signing of the cease fire left no distinctive successful or defeated country, and it was blind-sided by the treatment it received and its essentially non-existent position during the negotiations of the Treaty of Versailles. Unfortunately, by Germany signing the war guilt clause they were accepting the blame, which meant that they now had to accept the punishments and the resulting problems without complaint. This treaty then had detrimental effects on Germany’s political, economic and social condition, effects that led to long lasting upheaval and disorder throughout Germany. Many have gone as far as to say that this treaty was directly responsible for the tumultuous state Germany had found itself in that allowed Hitler, one of the most ferocious leaders in history, to come to power. During the post World War 1 period there is little doubt that Germany was in political upheaval. Following the fall of the German monarchy and the abdication of the Kaiser, leaders met in the town of Weimar to set up a new democratic government in 1918. It was believed that The Allies would be more willing to negotiate and work with a democratic government following the war. On November 11, 1918, three representatives of the new German government went to France and signed the armistice agreement , officially marking Germany’s surrender in the war, and the first move of this ill-fated democratic government. The people of Germany were under the impression that no one had won the war, so they were shocked to learn that they had ‘lost’. This newly formed government was blamed for the position Germany found herself in after the war, and the people of Germany felt that they had been betrayed by their system and were to never fully