German History, Part Five

At the beginning of the twentieth century there were many disputes over territory among European nations. One conflict was between Russia and Austria-Hungary over their interests in the Balkans. Germany was a strong ally of Austria. On June 28, 1914, the Archduke Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, was assassinated. All involved countries began to mobilise their armies. The Germans and the Austrians began to fight the British, French and Russians. Other nations became involved in what was called the Great War (World War I).

When the fighting ended four years later, the Germans and their allies were defeated. The Treaty of Versailles officially ended the war. Germany lost the territory it had seized from France during the Franco-Prussian War and all of its African colonies. The borders of Germany were redrawn, leaving many German-speaking people outside of the country. The Germans were ordered to pay about 33 billion dollars to the victors (which was never fully paid) and to give up their weapons.

Germany became a republic in 1919. The first national assembly met at Weimar, Germany, and the new German Reich was commonly referred to as the Weimar Republic. Many Germans were bitter about the harsh conditions of the Versailles Treaty. Many of them were unemployed and hungry. Miserable conditions made it possible for Adolf Hitler to become the nation’s dictator in 1934. He was a member of the National Socialist, or Nazi, party that promised to return prosperity to the country.

The Nazis ran a police state, with the Gestapo, or secret police, to punish or kill anyone whom they thought might be disloyal. Hitler took away the rights of Jewish citizens. During the next ten years, about six million Jews were killed by the Nazis in Germany and German-occupied countries.

Hitler called Germany the Third Reich. He wanted his country to be the most important in the world. He thought that all German-speaking people should be under German rule – especially those in the areas around Germany that were lost after World War I. The German people would have room to expand. Hitler began to sieze land bordering Germany in 193