What Aspects of the Treaty of Versailles Caused Bitterness in Germany After World War one?

What aspects of the Treaty of Versailles caused bitterness in Germany after World War One?

How did Adolf Hitler fail to keep the terms of the treaty between 1933 and 1938?

World War One was named 'the war to end all wars'. The Treaty of Versailles intended to restore and maintain peace after war. However, the terms of the Treaty caused a lot of bitterness in Germany. Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party announced they didn't recognise the Treaty and failed to keep many terms of the Treaty of Versailles between 1933 and 1938.

The issue that caused the most bitterness was that Germany was not involved in the discussions about the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. Germany was allowed no input and this was the most belittling aspect. Germany felt powerless at this point. They had no opportunity to negotiate with the Allies to persuade them to make the treaty less harsh. Germany were then forced to sign the Treaty and if they did not they would face an invasion from the Allies. Germany was black mailed into abiding by the terms of this cruel treaty making them extremely bitter. Because of this the Germans called the Treaty of Versailles the 'diktat', dictated peace. This forced peace made the Germans very resentful and they felt extremely cheated.

The worst term of the Treaty of Versailles was the War Guilt, Article 231. This term really angered the Germans at they were forced to accept responsibility for World War One. They have to accept the blame for damages, deaths and economic issues that World War One had caused. This truly humiliated and embarrassed the Germans causing them to become revengeful and angry.

The Treaty of Versailles forced Germany to pay war reparations to the Allies. The Allies made Germany pay war repayments of 6.6 billion which was set by the Treaty of Rapallo in 1921. The money was paid to Britain and France as means of repayment for the war to help them recover and put Germany in a position where it couldn't fight back anytime soon. This huge amount seemed impossible for them to repay and recover from was as well. This term made them very angry and bitter because of this.

The Treaty of Versailles made the Germans bitter by banning any form of union with Austria. Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, the previously known Austro-Hungarian Empire was split into Austria and Hungary. The banning of the Anschluss was Austria made the Germans very bitter. Austria was Germany's strongest ally and they were both heavily weakened and powerless. The Allies used this term to ensure they could never join forces, if they built up strength again and they couldn't win a war alone.

Another term that angered the Germans was the fact that they lost a considerable amount of territory. Under the Treaty of Versailles, Germany lost a total of 13% of their territory. Most of this was used to form other nations such as Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. France also took territory such as Alsace and Lorraine which was previously under French control. With the creation of Poland, they had no sea access. Thus they were given Port Danzig and the Polish Corridor. This loss of territory meant the Germans lost a lot of workers and therefore income. This weakened the Germans further and would prevent war breaking out again.

To prevent another war, the Treaty of Versailles put restrictions on the German military. Germany were limited to 100,000 men in the Wehrmacht army, 6 battleships and no single seated planes. The Allies wanted to ensure that Germany was weak, militarily and unable to ever fight again. This made the Germans bitter because even if they wanted to fight back these restrictions made it impossible for a victory.

The demilitarisation of the Rhineland was a term under the Treaty of Versailles that really angered the