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filled with cash in hopes of buying a loaf of bread.The Great Depression
that struck the rest of the world in 1929 delivered a mortal blow to the
German economy. Investors in the United States demanded repayment
of short-term loans they had made to help Germany recover. Suffering
increased among ordinary Germans, and the Weimar Republic tottered
toward collapse.
Political Instability and the Rise of Hitler
Never widely popular among Germans, the Weimar Republic consisted
of a coalition of smaller political parties that now began to fall apart.
A Return to Isolationism
At the end of World War I many Americans felt disillusioned with world af-
fairs. PresidentWilson had overcome his nation’s traditional isolationist at-
titude to lead it into a bloody conflict in Europe. Despite the US military’s
role in winning the war, Americans believed it was futile to get involved in
European rivalries and hatreds that dated back centuries. Manyhad doubts
about the commitments called for in Wilson’s cherished idea of a League
of Nations. Thus, having convinced negotiators in Europe to include the
league in the Treaty of Versailles, President Wilson returned home to face
an even more difficult job of persuasion.
In July 1919 Wilson, a Democrat, presented the treaty to a Republican-
controlled Senate. Manyhard-line Republicans refused to ratifyan agreement
that obligated the United States to come to the defense of other nations. Wil-
son, alreadyweakened by cardiovascular disease and near exhaustion, decid-
ed to take his argument to the people. Against his doctor’s orders, he set out
on an 8,000-mile (12,875 km) railroad tour of the West, making more than
thirty speeches along the way. In Pueblo, Colorado, Wilson collapsed and was
rushed back to Washington, DC. On October 2 he suffered a massive stroke
that left him paralyzed and barely clinging to life. Although Wilson survived,
he had lost his strength. The Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles outright.
The United States returned to isolationism, making its role merely that of an
anxious onlooker as Hitler seized power in the 1930s.
