The Treaty of Versailles was by the Germans to be overly harsh and humiliating. The treaty forced Germany to assume sole guilt for the war and forced Germany to pay for war damages. Furthermore, Germany was required to give up land in europe, demilitarize, and lost its only very recently acquired colonial possessions. The financial burden of the treaty and the government's subsequent attempts to deal with them resulted in runaway inflation leading to economic suffering for the German people. This hardship was one of the factors which Hitler exploited in his rise to power. Beyond the economic trouble, HItler also used the indignity of the terms of the treaty to stir up support. Hitler and his ilk would also argue that the treaty was illegitimate as Germany was not present at the Versailles conference and that after the abdication of the Kaiser the Weimar government had surrendered illegally.