Last semester I took a class in my university that was focused only on the Holocaust, its beginning, during the war, and end.
Throughout the whole semester my professor was adement on saying the after world war one Germany never paid off its debts and was economicly sound, saying the main reason that Germany was into the Nazi view liked it because of the "Back Stab" Germany endured, along with all the propaganda focused against the Jewish culture.
I still don't think that is completly right. I'm pretty certain, from everything I've read, that Germany did suffer economicly and that was a huge factor in the future.
Any help on answering this for me, with sources?
As you may know, one of the stipulations of the "War Guilt Clause" was that Germany was to pay "Reparations" for all the "damage" Germany was responsible for. In reality, all parties were in some way responsible for the damages of the war. That said, "Reparations were designed both to provide recompense and to keep Germany weak. But the latter goal was riddled with pitfalls and contradictions. A weak Germany could not very well pay the reparations, while a strong Germany might feel sufficiently confident to refuse payment. . . . Pragmatists, though few in number, also realized that the recovery of European trade required a healthy German economy" (De Groot 189).
Reparations came in two ways: land and monetary recompense. As for the latter, the astronomical numbers imposed on Germany were largely symbolic. In April 1921, the final figure was set at 6,600 million pounds (De Groot 190).
There are a number of reasons why Nazism was able to prevail following the war. In reality, "Germany was required to surrender 13 percent of her area, 12 percent of her population, 16 percent of her coal production, 48 percent of her iron production, 10 percent of her manufacturing capacity, and 15 percent of her agricultural land" (198). The dual effect of this was to promote a desire for revenge within Germany while at the same time encouraging a feeling of contrition among some of the British.
Germany was hardly as touched as the Allied Powers. Moreover, "Germany was able to act upon her resentment because the country that emerged most powerful from the First World War subsequently decided to absent herself from European affairs" (199). A European power vacuum, combined with a sense of longing among the Germans, contributed to the rise of Nazism following the war. By no means was Hitler, alone, responsible for the rise of Nazism. Rather, a transvaluation of values, as Nietzsche offers, was bound to happen, which the populace actively participated in.
Source: De Groot, Gerard. The First World War. New York: Palgrave, 2001. Print.