Casey Henderson Essays (2930 words) - Racism, Criticism Of Religion

Casey Henderson World History 20 th Century Dr. Biggs 2/16/15 Germany As world war one came to end a political transformation began to develop in Germany because universal suffrage was brought into their nation. Many characteristics after the First World War made Germany defenseless to people such as Hitler. Germany was a gory scene throughout the reign of Hitler and a very dark place heading into World War 2. The after math of the Second World War left Germany empty, defeated, and destroyed. Post both world wars left Germany at a depressive state but after World War 1 was the worst. Hitle r and his hatred for Jews caused Germany to become one of the scariest and most brutal eras a country has ever dealt with . The Treaty of Versailles forced Germany to pay France and Great Britain many reparations along with being forced to give up thirteen percent of their land. In an effort to recuperate from a brutal defeat after world war one Germany started modernizing gas works and power plants along with creating transportation projects. All these projects were put in place to decrease the unemployment rate. Germany's social spending rate was growing at a rapid pace as well as plummeting revenues which both were causing huge deficits. In 1930 the municipal finance took a fall which was caused by the budgets. Reparation payments could have still been made despite all Germanys financial issues but other countries made this not possible by placing protective tariffs on all of Germany's goods. Due to this , Germany was unable to sell goods in foreign countries where they could have made money to make these payments which further plummeted the economy. In desperation G ermany started to print out excessive amounts of cash which threw the country into super inflation. As the United States fell into depression they asked for the loans they had lent Germany and this mixed with every other problem, caused the German economy to b asically collapse . " By 1932 the German economy was a disaster. Unemployment was up to 6 million, German banks were put under government control, and there was an epidemic of German bankruptcies. " ( Germany' Authentic History) This shows the brutality that Germany faced post world war one and it's easy to see why the country was so desperate. This is when Hitler decided was the time to take power. His promise of bettering the economy and decreasing the unemployment rate was the reason so many followed him. In Adolf Hitler's speech on Mien Kampf in 1925 he says, " Was there any excrement, any shamelessness in any form, above all in cultural life, and in at least one Jew would not have been involved ." ( Kampf 61) Hitler's hatred for Jews is obvious and he believes that they are the soul problem for the economic fall throughout Germany. Placing the Jewish people in concentration camps was his idea of punishment and he believed that decreasing the Jewish people would help the economy because they were too wealthy. Following world war two was considered the reconstruction of Germany and it took a while. Germany suffered huge losses in industrial power and lives. Seven and a half million Germans had died which was around 10 percent of the population. Agricultural production was at an all-time low due to the severe bombings throughout the cities. The Potsdam Conference forced Germany to give 25 percent of their land to their allies. Many factories were destroyed in an effort to convert Germany into an agriculture nation. For the next two years following the German surrender the United States made big strides to start programs specializing in repairing scientific and technological savvy as well as exclusive rights throughout Germany . " Germany paid reparations to the United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union, mainly in the form of dismantled factories , forced labour , and coal. " ( Aftermath WW2, Wikipedia) Germany's allies were forcing these Germans to work hard as they should because this was their land for the time being and they defeated the Germans. In an effort to restore the destroyed country of Germany after World War 2 J.F. Byrnes the secretary