Come the 1930s, Lloyd-George road the wave of 'Versailles-guilt', and his sympathy and admiration for Hitler are fairly well known. His book "The Truth About The Treaty" embodies much of the popular opposition to the Treaty of Versailles.

However, the extent to which the Versailles Treaty aided the rise of Hitler, and the breakout of WWII, is greatly exaggerated. I for one agree with David Stevenson, in that World War One/Versailles was a necessary precondition for WWII (obviously), but Hitler's raise to power had more to do with the Great Depression than the Versailles Treaty.

By the time that Hitler came to power, Versailles was really a non-entity. From 1924-29, Germany had enjoyed immense economic prosperity, largely thanks to the Young/Dawes Plan, which had checked German hyperinflation and gave Germany access to foreign capital. When the Depression hit, the reparations were postponed for one year, then postponed indefinitely in 1932 at Lausanne. The Saarland was due for it's plebiscite in 1935, the Rhineland was due to be evacuated in 1936. The military restrictions of the treaty had been walked over by the Reichswehr before the ink was dry, and Britain and France were in a difficult situation militarily and economically; neither could really enforce the treaty.

Insofar as Hitler was 'elected' for his 'Versailles opposition', the treaty was essentially a non-entity by 1933-34, when he came to power, and the economic difficulties Germany faced derived from the great depression, not the Versailles reparations. Moreover, the Treaty was opposed by virtually EVERY party in Germany, so his opposition can hardly be considered key to his election.

Hitler's 'election' involved forming a coalition with the more respectable German National People's party, soliciting the aid of Germany's Military and Industrial Elite, and harassing opposition, like the Communists and Social Democrats. Even then, his coalition 'got' 33% of the vote, while the Communists and SDP had 37% between them. Hitler couldn't form a majority government, but he was fortunate in that Schleicher, Papen and Max von Hindenburg among others, managed to convince the ailing Hindenburg to appoint Hitler Chancellor. This was followed by the Reichstag fire, the declaration of martial law, Hindenburg's death, and in 1934, the Enabling Act, allowing Hitler to rule by decree.

A thoroughly undemocratic process, in which 'opposition to Versailles' was not a clincher for the Nazis.

There's no doubt that Lloyd-George felt 'guilty' for being 'hard' on Germany at Versailles, but he certainly didn't aid Hitler's rise to power. Domestic factors, which had little to do with the Treaty, were much more important.

Further Reading: Margaret MacMillan, "Paris 1919" Hew Strachan, "The First World War, Volume One: To Arms!" A. J. P. Taylor, "The Origins of the Second World War" Detlev Peukert, "The Weimar Republic" Stephen Schuker, "American 'Reparations' to Germany, 1919-33" David Stevenson, "1914-1918" Trevor Wilson, "Myriad Faces of War" Niall Ferguson, "Pity of War" Sally Marks, "The Myths of Reparations" Richard J. Evans "'Third Reich' Trilogy"