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CHAPTERTWO
How Did the Treaty of Versailles
Contribute to Hitler’s Rise?
Focus Questions
1. Why did the Fourteen Points, President Wilson’s plan for
the peace settlement after World War I, prove to be unre-
alistic?
2. Do you think the terms of the Treaty of Versailles were too
harsh on Germany? Why or why not?
3. What part did the worldwide economic collapse of the late
1920s play in Hitler’s rise to power?
O
n November 11, 1918, after four years of desperate warfare in
Europe, Germany surrendered to the Allied powers, bringing to
an end the so-called Great War. The armistice ended what was then
the bloodiest war in history, with deaths of combatants and civilians
approaching 9 million overall. It was the first war fought not only on
land and sea but also in the air, and it encompassed not only officers
and soldiers but also millions of civilians. A combination of modern
weaponry and outmoded tactics had produced slaughter on the battle-
field like nothing ever seen before. The appalling carnage seemed to
demand some sort of revenge on those deemed to be responsible for
starting the conflict.This was the mindset of many of the Allied dip-
lomats as they shaped a treaty to bring the war to a formal end.
A Punishing Treaty
At the Paris Peace Conference, twenty-seven Allied nations took part
in creating the treaty, but the main drivers of the process were the Big
Four nations—Britain, France, Italy, and the belated entrant into the
war, the United States. President Woodrow Wilson hoped to base the
