Sucks to be German

I agree completely with both Charlie and Andra (see this post ) when it comes to the unfair treatment of Germany during and after the Treaty of Versailles. It was not only not very nice, but also a downright bad idea, long-term, for the other powers to treat Germany so horridly after the war. Andra’s claim, “If the other nations had assumed their own responsibility and agreed to pay their own debts over time instead of taking the easy way out and making Germany pay for everything, Hitler may have never been able to gain the power he did and World War II could have maybe been avoided,” is bold, but I think it definitely is arguable. However, I think that such an argument is much easier to make looking back on the devastation caused by a bitter Germany, still chafing from its humiliations and looking to a figure just like Hitler to lead it to “glory” and revenge. At the time that the other powers were looking to sign a treaty, though, Europe was in no position to be gentle with poor, war-ravaged Germany. The war had left some 10 million people dead and another 20 million wounded. Each of the great powers (except Italy and the United States) had lost 1 million to 2 million people. The world was terrified of Bolshevism and threatened by a deadly influenza epidemic. In many places, revolution loomed; the Jews were pushing for a homeland; the Japanese were advancing into China. When the nations met at the Palace of Versailles in January 1918, they couldn’t afford to not find a scapegoat. Sitting in class last Friday, playing the role of France in the simulation of the peace talks at Versailles, I felt much the same way Andra did, and was similarly “quick to place all of the responsibility of the war and all the debts caused by said war on Germany.” But I think that, to some extent, this need to push Germany, probably beyond its breaking point, to keep the other powers happy, was valid. Even though we didn’t have millions of people depending upon us like the real heads of state did, and so could laugh a bit at the situation, even in the not-as-serious situation, I found that each time tension started building and Britain and Italy and the United States were arguing, it was such a relief to smile and put the blame on Germany. It not only helped each of our countries, but it brought the rest of us together, just like a good scapegoat should, just like Hitler’s eventual hatred of the Jews brought a damaged Germany together not too much later. In a sick and terrifying way, I guess what goes around comes around.