End of WW1

• The German military had been reverted as symbolic of the country's national pride and attitudes to militarism infused German politics and society.
• Hitler believed the myth that the proud German military had been 'stabbed in the back' by traitorous politicians. These 'November Criminals' safely ensconced behind the lines, had betrayed the soldiers at the front. He blamed democracy itself. Hitler declared Germany needed a strong, authoritarian leader who would reclaim German national pride.
• Article 231 of the TOV stated that Germany and its allies accepted responsibility for starting the war and for the damage caused by it.
• Military leaders advised the government to sign the TOV, telling them the army was in no state to resist an Allied invasion. Anxious to avoid blame, the military leadership spread the belief that the TOV was a humiliation, not a negotiation but a 'diktat'.
• Refusing to sign the TOV wasn't an option for the German government and on 28th June 1919 they signed. Any government signing such as treaty would be unpopular, leaving democracy to appear unpatriotic. Hitler used this to his advantage to gain support for his militaristic foreign policy.
• British economist John Maynard Keynes believed the TOV was a 'Carthaginian' peace, named after the terrible punishment inflicted by the Roman Empire on its vanquished opponents. He resigned in protest of the harshness of the treaty.
• The TOV can be compared to the peace treaty Germany imposed on the defeated Russians in 1917, which makes the TOV seem fair. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk had robbed Russia of 60 million people (1/6 of its population), 74% of its iron ore and coal reserves, 26% of its railways and 27% of its farmland. TOV was mild in comparison.
• The TOV impacted how the German public saw the 'shameful peace'. Spurred on by Nationalist propaganda, angry protests broke out across the country. The front page of the Deutsche Zeitung, a daily newspaper, called for 'Vengeance, German nation!'. Cartoons presented the Allies as ghoulish vampires sucking the blood from Germany.
• The weakness of the TOV itself and the lack of commitment by the Western democracies to uphold it emboldened Hitler and provided an opportunity for him to realise his expansionist vision.