The Treaty of Versailles - Le Moyne College

years after the Treaty of Versailles was signed Germany never truly accepted its loss of
territory. 53 Eventually this unhealed wound would motivate the German desire to completely
reunite its land and people, another cause of World War II. 54 This desire was displayed perfectly
in Hitler’s Mein Kampf when he wrote: “The reunion of these two German states [Germany and
Austria] is our life task, to be carried out by every means at our disposal. Common blood belongs
to a common Reich.” This was a warning as to what was to come as a result of the Treaty of
Versailles.
The Treaty of Versailles also caused problems in Germany in respect to the democratic
government, the Weimar Republic. The German people accepted the Weimar Republic after
World War I because they thought it would encourage the delegates making the Treaty of
Versailles to be more lenient on them, but when their plan failed the Weimar Republic became
very unpopular. 55 When the German people saw the conditions of the Treaty of Versailles they
were outraged at the government for accepting such a document. 56 Many Germans, especially
German nationalists, went as far as referring to the acceptance of the treaty as treasonous. 57 As
the effects of the Treaty of Versailles began to show in Germany, for instance the inflation, the
unemployment, and the cut in wages, the German people became even more hostile toward the
government that had allowed it to happen. 58 Over time Germans did not regard the Weimar
Republic as a legitimate government. 59 Many times the Weimar Republic, created in
consideration of the negotiations after World War I, created its own problems. For example, the
Weimar Republic was exceedingly lenient to its opponents in Germany and furthermore it gave
former Imperial officials positions in its civil service and courts and these people openly
professed anti-republican feelings. 60 These actions undermined the government that the German
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