How was Germany able to become so powerful and deadly in ww2 after the Treaty of Versailles?

Question

Germany sufffered massive financial and territorial losses due to the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, my question is:

How was Germany able to overcome that and be so deadly and powerful that enabled the Nazis to conquer almost all of Europe?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Versailles

The terms of the Treaty, which Germany had no choice but to accept, were announced on May 7, 1919. Germany lost:

13% of its national territory
All of its overseas colonies (including Kamerun, German East Africa, German Southwest Africa, Togoland and German New Guinea)
12.5% of its population
16% of its coalfields, and half its iron and steel industry.
Union with Austria (Anschluss) forbidden.

Military Restrictions on Germany
The Rhineland to be a demilitarized zone.
The German armed forces cannot number more than 100,000 troops and no conscription.
Enlisted men to be retained for at least 12 years; officers to be retained for at least 25 years.
Manufacturing of weapons

thank you for your answers!

Answer 1

Simply put because no one would stand up to them when they started nibbling on the edges of the Treaty and breaking the provisions of it. many sided issue because of the Great Depression, and lack of potical will in England and France. The US had bowed out of the world scene and gone isolationist after the Treay of Versailles, most American political leadership thought it way to far in punishing Germany for a war it didn't start and also that te provisions were mainly based on a wish for revenge by the French for the losses of World War One and previous conflicts wit the Germans such as the Franco-Prussian War. One problem not considered when they did the militaary size/length of service restrictions was that keep the German military both small and for extended periods of time meant you would have a large nucleous of professionals to build a larger military around fairly quickly. Manufacturing of weapons and research were done with the assistance of several countries which allowed German engineers to work in German built factories with the understanding that the knowledge would be shared an design work for civilian and "speciality" aircraft; the ME-109 was a racing plane and not a fighter while the tri-motor aircraft and the Condor were a civilian transport/passenger not military transport or recon/bomber. One of the things that bothered many Germans in and out of the military was the movement and occupation of areas which were German held when the armistice was signned 11 Nov 1918 and the Treaty of Versailles; the armistice was supposed to freeze the militaries in place with no movement. The German Army was withdrawn to German territory to fight rioting and disrest in Germany and the Allied troops, primarily French, then moved into the positions the Germans left which was a violation of te armistice. The Americans did protest but the British refused to take sides and the French did as they pleased which drastically changed to territorial position for negotiation at Versailles and when they were forced to cede land to Russia, which had already signed a seperate peace treaty with Germany and Austria-Hungary prior to the arministice. Those actions did cause widspread feeling of being treated unfairly, cheated and too harshly by many Germans and again this was in and outof the military. WW1 was probably the first time that a country lost a war but held and maintained huge areas of the other sides territory and had no foreign troops with its own border when they lost. One of the reasons for the rise of Hitler, who played heavily on the unfair and illegal treatmen of Germany at the end of WW1 and the subsequent WW2 could be layed fairly at the feet of the French quest to win through peace and treaties what they had been unable to do militarily, the lack of political will of the British government and the withdrawal of the United States from world affairs.

Answer 2

Because nobody cared enough to want to interfere. Going back on the timeline, the Treaty of Versailles was pretty harsh. Germany alone was cited as being at fault for the war happening [factually incorrect and ignores everyone else incl the allies for being involved for the same reasons], was penalized all costs for the war incl damage done [keeping in mind whole towns disappeared from exisence thats a hefty bill]; stripped Germany of territory, disallowed Germany an air force, navy and army of any great size, etc. The penalties were so imposing they helped cripple the German economy, and when it did crash and Germany couldn't repay the war debt countries like France reacted by occupying Germans Rhineland. The Rhineland is Germany's industrial centre - how can a country make money if they are denied the right to manufacture goods? A few decades later some people were thinking in denouncing the Treaty and rebiulding the military, taking the Rhineland back and annexing things like the Sudentenland Germany was only 'taking back' what was already it's to begin with. It's like the Americans wanting back Florida if Cuba took it from them because the Bay of Pigs was mean... the rest of the world would probably agree the USA should get Florida. Other reasons were more self-serving. Countries like Britain and France were bled white by WW1, entire generations of males had ceased to exist nevermind the financial costs, even the USA was in the middle of a huge depression. Who wants to fight another European war and go through all of that over again. Easier just to try playing ball and hoping things work out than risk confrontation and a war.

Answer 3

Many of the posts above are correct, however, it is my belief from extensive research and study that the German army was capable of annihilating virtually everyone it fought, in the beginning of the war, due to superior German engineering and technology in there weapons and vehicles, and also revolutionary tactics. WW1 was mostly a stagnant war of attrition, where soldiers lived and died infoxholes and tunnels dug along the front and "no mans land". Before WW2, war was conducted entirely different and most armies fought with outdated tactics or didn t have the needed equipment to counter the Nazi s. It wasn t a matter of having more troops, tanks, planes, etc. it was how they deployed them and the quality of them. 1 well equipped German with proper training etc. could have killed easily 5 to 1 in the early years of the war, 39 and 40 . For the first time in history, Germany would attack with all means at once, such as the infantry would move in with tanks, while artillery covered them from behind and war planes bombed and strafed ahead of the advancing army. Until the Allies and all others at war with Germany could counter this, as well as build equipment capable of challenging the Germans, such as there superior air force/Luftwaffe, or there Tiger tanks, which were the best in the world, among other advantages. However, the Germans had limited resources, and taking on the rest of the world was too much too fast, and they ultimately were defeated because even with superior men and equipment, the Allies overwhelmed them with lesser but nearly unlimited amounts of both. Even if 1 Tiger tank could kill 10 Sherman tanks, there were only 1300 Tigers ever built and over 50,000 Sherman s, and 83,000 Russian T-34 tanks, the Germans couldn t match this. Hitlers obsession with bigger is better worked in the beginning, but when the rest of the world began to work to counter him, his fate was sealed.

Answer 4

The Germans didnt follow the treaty of Versailles. They built more weapons and created a larger military than they were supposed to. It was easier to hide back then since there was no widespread media doing up to minute reports.

Another reason the German army got off to such a good start were their tactics, the blitzkreig. Other European armies were still set for a WW1 trench warfare type of war. The Germans were just to fast, moving in with tanks and mechanized troop transport, often times bypassing enemy strongpoints.

Answer 5

In a word: Hitler. Hitler was a very persuasive man. He was a very good speaker. When he ran around making his speeches, people began to believe that he could make a difference and do as he promised "restore Germany to its grandeur prior to the treaty" The more people believed, the more money began to circulate, money that had been hidden away, saved and eventually stolen from the Jewish people. Not to mention that there are vast resources available in Europe. When Hitler began conquering these areas, he gained control of many of those natural resources. Hitler was also very selective of his "friends" or Allies. Italy had not been hurt by WWI as Germany had so it became a very important Alli.

Aside from all of that there was one key ingredient that was left out of the treaty. The united states didn't join the league of nations. Knowing that, the league was no where near as strong as it could have been, had the U.S. joined. Therefore, it was defenseless against Hitler and his growing strength.

Answer 6

The people were motivated. Unfortunately they blindly supported Hitler. Hitler didn't force his way into power... at first. He beguiled his way there. He spoke of equality and he used his charms and good looks to influence people (especially women). Most of Hitler's early supporters were women who were attracted to him. The media tries to hide this fact. Hitler's rise to power was a perfect example of the way liberalism works. It beguiles with talk of equality and often has an attractive face (like Bill Clinton). But, once true power is achieved (the true objective of liberalism), then the true face of liberalism is revealed; and it isn't pretty. Of course, by that time it is much to late for anything to be done. Sadly, the Germans learned this lesson the hard way; not to mention the Russians, the Chinese, the Vietnamese, the North Koreans, the Cambodians, the Cubans, and the unfortunate people of Uganda circa 1976.

Answer 7

Oh, man, you are asking us to re-write the multiple volumes of history about the period between the wrs, and the some of the root causes of the war.

But I'll toss you a few pointers.

In "the Eagle and the Rising Sun," Chapter II: The World in Flux, historian Alan Schom presents a very concise report of the re-emergence of Germany. He points out that French withdrawal from the Rhineland in 1930, coupled with secret British agreements to allow the Nazis to rebuild their navy, American pressures to put an end to the crushing war reparations payments, and many other factors enable Germany to regain much of her Continental territory and re-arm without conflict.

Germany also engaged in subterfuge. The two most famous examples are thoe of the Panzer forces and the Luftwaffe.

Germany developed its new tanks, and then trained their crews with new doctrines created by practical exercises, in a secret agreement with the Soviet Union. These events took place out of sight in the USSR!

The Luftwaffe was rebuilt in its early days with two other subterfuges. One was the craze in Germany for flying gliders (called "soaring"). Soaring developed a large reserve of exceptionally-skilled pilots. The other gimmick was the creation of aircraft types later used as bombers and transport - but introduced, refined, and built in large numbers as civilian aircraft for Lufthansa. The workhorse Junkers 87 trimotor started its career as an airliner.

This reply could go on, and on. Some of the best work is by Winston Churchill. His multi-volume history of the war begins with this period and is a worthy addition to your library.

Answer 8

Becuase Hitler completely ignored the treaty. He was a veteran of WWI and considered that treaty to have been a betrayal of his country. When he came to power after the German economy had collapsed, he rebuilt it by kick-starting the German war machine in direct violation of the Treaty of Versailles. He did so knowing that none of the neighboring countries had the means nor fortitude to stop him.

Incidentally, Prescott Bush, G.W.'s grandfather, was a major player in the funding of the Nazi war machine. He received the highest award possible for a non-German for his efforts.

Answer 9

germany powerful deadly ww2 treaty versailles

Answer 10

The League of Nations was rendered useless because America refused to join. Had the US been a member it would've had more teeth, therefore the opportunities to rid people like Hitler would have been limitless. From 1920 to 1932 the Republican Senate was isolationist toward Europe.