Nazi Germany Revenge Essay

Revenge in Early 20th Century German History
The early 20th century was an important period of time for Germany. It fell from
being one of the most developed industrial countries in the world to economic collapse
and recession. Then, with the development of the Nazis, it rose again, recovering both
economically and politically. Throughout its fluctuating and tragic experience, it was
surrounded by the theme of ‘revenge’. The Treaty of Versailles and the rise of the Nazi
government were two factors which have their roots in revenge.
Fundamentally, the Treaty of Versailles was not a peace treaty, but rather a quintessential example of
revenge. In November 1918 World War I ended as the Armistice was signed. More officially, the Treaty of
Versailles was signed on June 28 in 1919. Why the treaty was signed in the Palace of Versailles had a revengeful
background. Due to the Franco-Prussian War, France was full of hatred towards Germany – the Franco-Prussian
War happened between France and Germany before World War I, and after France’s defeat, Germany chose the
Palace of Louis XIV to sign their treaty as a symbolic humiliation.
Thus, the French made the affair successful in terms of gaining
revenge for this humiliation, as the French Prime Minister
Clemenceau carefully chose Versailles, which was where Wilhelm I
had been proclaimed Kaiser of a unified German state. In addition,
the German dignitaries who came to sign the treaty had to pass a
long line of permanently disfigured French veterans, and they were
alike to ‘prisoners led in to hear the reading of their sentence’,
according to a British observer.
Moreover, during these important six months, the Allies, mainly the Big Three
(Woodrow Wilson from the US, Georges Clemenceau from France, and David Lloyd
George from Britain), devoted themselves into the discussion about the terms of the
treaty. It took a long time for them to reach agreement since they all held completely
different views; especially Clemenceau’s opinions which were extreme. His main goal
was to gain revenge for their earlier defeat, and therefore he aimed for the harshest
terms that could nearly destroy Germany. Although his revengeful ideas were rejected
by the other two, the treaty was still quite harsh for Germany. Referring to the Treaty
of Versailles, Germany was demanded to pay 6.6 billion pounds, limit its army to
100,000 soldiers, and disunite with Austria. The Allies even set up a ‘war guilt’ clause,
making Germany responsible and guilty for starting the war, so as to legalise all the
harsh punishments for Germany. The Treaty of Versailles legitimised this revenge, whether private or public,
towards Germany, and somehow turned this situation into severe retribution.
The Treaty of Versailles triggered extreme nationalism and the want for
revenge in Germany. The rise of Nazi Germany had well shown the development
and implementation of these revengeful events. At first, Adolf Hitler, the leader
of the Nazi Party, made persuasive and powerful speeches throughout the 1920s and 1930s in order to gain
support and to win the election. The ideas he tried to express was mainly the anger and frustration about losing
the war and signing the Treaty of Versailles. On April 17, 1923, he delivered a speech in which he said that:
"So long as this Treaty stands there can be no resurrection of the German people; no social reform of any kind
is possible! The Treaty was made in order to bring 20 million Germans to their deaths and to ruin the German
nation.”
It seemed that he was on the same side with the public, so this message delivered was very effective and
aroused the approval of many citizens. His famous work, Mein Kampf, even had the first volume entitled
‘Revenge’. In addition, part of Hitler's foreign policy was to review the Treaty of Versailles; in other words, tearing
it apart. Hitler promised to rearm, reclaim German territory, remilitarise the Rhineland, and regain European and
world prominence. These revengeful acts were exactly what the people wanted as they were in the strong grip of
nationalism after such a humiliating defeat and unjust peace treaty. These promises helped the Nazi to gain
popular support.
Very successfully, Hitler led Germany to achieve revenge

through little steps in domestic and foreign policy. Finally due
to the Allies’ appeasement policy, their ambitions grew. In
1935, the German government secretly announced expansion
of military and preparation for later wars. In March 1936,
German military forces even entered the Rhineland and
remilitarised it, and this directly contravened the Treaty of
Versailles. This was the first time the Germans attempted
retaliation; to some extent within their expectation, the
League of Nations did not make any moves to stop them. As a
result, the Germans targeted further on unions and territorial
expansions, in the name of rebuilding the Third Reich where all Germans could be included. Since 1938, Germany
started to conquer the countries surrounding it, starting with reunification of Austria to Czechoslovakia. The Allies
and the League of Nations were powerless to do anything when Germany ignored their ultimatum and kept
marching into Poland, where there was little connection between Poland and the German ethnic community. Until
this time, the terms of Treaty of Versailles were mostly overturned, and German’s revenge was paused because
Britain declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939. Only after 21 years after the First World War ended, the
Second World War arose.
As Mahatma Gandhi has said, “An eye for an eye will only make
the whole world blind.” Revenge is certainly connected to human
vengeance and justice, and injuries and crimes should be prohibited;
however, revenge could remain forever, and it is neither the best nor
the only way to solve conflicts. Germany history in early 20th century
clearly reflected this truth, that it would at last exact a heavy toll, on
us as nations and as individuals. Therefore, we the later generations,
shall reflect upon and learn from the history, and subsequently
improve ourselves.

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Revenge in Early 20th Century German History

Very successfully, Hitler led Germany to achieve revenge

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