Wednesday, February 3, 2010
The Futile Search for Stability
The harshness of the Treaty of Versailles towards Germany devastated Germany's economy and lowered the general morale of its population. To try to improve its economy and resist France's occupation of the Ruhr valley, Germany started to print mass amounts of money, only leading Germany to severe inflation. The Treaty may have excessively punished Germany by requesting immense amounts of reparation payments, perhaps provoking the Second World War. Germany's people experienced the consequences of their failing economy. This circumstance would eventually require a savior and a scapegoat - perhaps Hitler and Jews, respectively.
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Good analysis on the search for a hero and scapegoat. Sweet fact on Germany's inflation.
ReplyDeleteI like what you said about the need for a hero and a scapegoat, but I was wondering if you had any evidence to support this. It's an interesting idea but the leap from Germany's economy crash to world war two is a pretty large one.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with Danko, I think he has a valaid point. The German's crashing ecomony created a great deal of hate and blame among the general public with no where to put it. This kind of enviroment allows for a political leader to take control and force the blame onto some minority. Germany was desperate for some sort of group to blame, and the group that Hitler gave them was the Jews.
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