To whom it may concern:
Our lives as Germans in the present is not exactly what we hoped for in the past, but who really expects it to be. Coming out of a war as big as WWI is naturally going to be a disaster. The problem is that we didn’t think it would be this bad. The Treaty of Versailles has left us all devastated with no way to get out of this situation. The Weimar government is doing their hardest to work in our best interest. I am ashamed of the citizens who speak out against the Weimar government and say that they are not trying to help us. What do you expect them to do with the circumstances they are in!!!
The Weimar government is inheriting all of these problems and none of them have an easy answer (notes). We all know and are feeling the affects of the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty is tearing Germany apart by its limbs. We have to pay back 33 billion dollars. Where are we supposed to be getting this money? The Weimar government does not know the answer to this either. They have to pay the debt back somehow and that means we all have to make sacrifices. I do not have money and the resources as so low but I guess the money usually spent on the simple things we need is being used to help with the war debt. Right now they cannot get help from other countries. We are an international pariah (notes). The other countries are blaming us for everything, they do not want to be associated with us. Im sure that we will get help from them later on but right now we will just have to suffer.
We are all having trouble getting our hands on money, and it does not help that when the soldiers got home from the war there were no jobs available (notes). Unemployment is at an all time high right now. The economy is devastated from the war, so of course there will be no jobs. The economy is so low and products are not being produced, so there is no need to have workers. When my husband got back from the war his job had been cut, there was no way that his employer could afford to have him working. My husband was in a better position than my son though, little Jimmy did not even come back from the war. I think I speak for everyone in Germany when I say that we were all affected by the war in one way or the other. Also, what did they expect the soldiers and their families to do when they tried to go home and the land was no longer in Germany. This did not happen to me but I am guessing that they had to move all of their belongings.
Yeah it is easy to blame the Weimar government for everything that is going on but they are in a very tight situation that is not easy to get out of. They are at risk of making our lives worse with every move that they make. Thats alot of pressure. You can argue that they could not even inforce their own authority or put down a challenge to their authority. But you must remember that one of the conditions of the Treaty of Versailles is that we cannot have an army larger than like 100,000 people. That is not big enough for a country of our size! With the Weimar government being just recently in power they are kind of new at this. I do not think that the Weimar government can be put responsible for this, ok they are not perfect but give them a break. It easy to put the blame on them but they did get like 76% of our votes so they must be doing something right.
Greetings fellow German citizen! I am happy that you are speaking your opinion on the Weimar Government, but I have to disagree with most of what you said. I suppose you were prepared for this, because your letter seems to be a reaction to all of the negative mail going towards the government. I agree that there were several instances in which the government was put in a bad position and that there was no good way to deal with it per say, but I think this could have been avoided if we had won the war. You of all people should be upset over this, because you say that you lost your son in the war. Should it stay as a war with no purpose? That your son died for nothing? Wouldn't you want to say, "My son died in the war that Germany won. We know own Europe."? We were pulled out of the war prematurely, as we were only a few miles from Paris, and then Russia had already given up. We just up and quit and allowed the Allies to utterly bulldoze us with the Treaty of Versailles. If we had won, then we would not have to deal with the consequences of said treaty and we would have gotten the money that we were expecting. We had taken out loans during the war because we expected to WIN. That's why our economy is down the toilet at the moment. As for dealing with the treaty since we did lose, did printing money sound like such a good idea? With all of the inflation, it actually made it worse, and the Weimar Government could have taken more time to pay them back, since they're quitters anyway.
ReplyDeleteThough I think that most of the outcomes could have been prevented through means of WINNING the war, I do suppose the Weimar government is dealing with the consequences as best they can, making a couple of mistakes as they go along.
Leanne, thank you so much for standing up for and supporting our government. I realize that's a hard thing to do in the world we live in. Everyone is blaming them for our current situation! Jeannine, you should learn a lesson from her and try actually supporting the Weimar government. No, they aren't a perfect government, just as Leanne said, but I think they should not be the ones we blame. They got us out of the war: try seeing that as a blessing! Have you seen the numbers?! 2.4 million dead, another 4.8 million wounded...can you imagine how much greater those numbers could have been if we stayed in the war? Signing that treaty was a blessing! We didn't stand a chance once the United States joined anyway. Look at it this way, Jeannine, we may not have won the war, but thousands (maybe even millions) of lives were spared. While the Weimar government may be somewhat at fault, I don't think we should lay the full blame on them. We have no hope of holding this country together if we blame the Weimar government. We must look to the Allies and how they backed us against the wall with their little treaty. Blame them if you need someone to blame! We must stay united, though, under the Weimar government if we wish to become a great nation again as we once were. Thank you, Leanne, for actually standing up for the Weimar government and trying to see the positive here. It's not easy.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Elizabeth for Leanne standing up for the Weimar government where credit is due. Leanne you do a great job with being understanding to the situation and its effects on you. I mean, really, you show that YES, Germany owes 33 billion dollars in debt, and you show that you, as a citizen are greatly affected by it. I love how you question the government about land, returning soldiers, and how EVERYONE in some way is impacted. Great way to show it all!!!
ReplyDeleteJeannine!
Point is we did not win the war, and these are the consequences that all of the citizens must face. But this is a new idea and thought for me as a citizen. So who do we blame in this case? Germany as a whole? The government? Now I won't agree with you all the way because the Weimar government IS NOT dealing with this the best way possible!
Look at the economy! IT'S SHOT THROUGH THE ROOF! You would think that the government would at least try to help the citizens. But no. Every possibly way that they could is gone. Land, jobs, enlisting in the army....all of it. So if you could, please explain how hun!
Very well put! yes, the war has affected all of us in some way or another, to some degree. And I agree with you very much that we cannot expect too much out of our government for the time being. It's inherited a very difficult situation that's most certainly going to take a long time to fix. And as a fellow German citizen, I am sorry for your loss.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I'm not entirely convinced that the Weimar government is doing all it can for us. Indeed the Treaty of Versailles has forced many difficulties onto this country and our government, but even with the debt deductions and I'm still without a job, as is the rest of my family? I'm still without any food at all? We can't expect the government to do any significant repairs on this nation, but they should at least be able to provide us with a little to show that they're trying!
I have to agree with Jeanine here. How can you support a government that has betrayed us like this? Your own son, your flesh and blood, died in the name of a quest that the Weimar abandoned. His sacrifice was in vain because they did not have the faith in our nation to continue the war. And now you defend them when there are no jobs? Not only did they surrender, they gave in to a treaty that was obviously meant to tear our empire to shreds. Yes the government is doing their best to handle what they've been dealt, but if we had been able to fight on, who knows the hand we would have now. Yes it could have ended worse, but more likely we could have much more to gain if we had not surrendered. Now my extended family must move, because their home is now in Poland, and our nations most valuable lands have been taken from us. What of Alsaise-Lorraine? what right did they have in taking that land? And what of Czechoslovakia? Do they have the right to form new countries for the soul purpose of cutting us apart? So many are unemployed now, because we can't have a military of any substance. The government has truly betrayed us, and I see no way that they can be considered doing the right thing.
ReplyDeleteAs a German citizen, though democracy is a brilliant thing, this government lacks the experience and aptitude we need as a nation right now.
Jeanine, I agree with you that the government should not have quit during the war... especially when we were so close to the capital of France (we could have had them). however, we still could have lost the war and we had already lost so many soldiers to the war, we can't be sure if it would have been a better idea for us to continue fighting till the end. If we had continued to fight, and had still lost, our debt would probably be even higher than it is after we gave up the war. On the other hand, you are very probably right that if we had kept on fighting and we had won, the reward would likely have been great!
ReplyDeleteBut we did give up and now the new government has a load on its hands and it doesn't know what to do.