Aftermath of the Great War

The aftermath of the Great War was way more chaotic than I could have ever imagined. I know that it would have been hard to restore the damage done the Germany and that the reparations they owed were absolutely outlandish, but I did not know that Germany had to resort to the barter system after inflation made their money virtually worthless, as noted on page 210 of Germany, A New History. After the Great War, there was a power struggle. Honestly, I could hardly keep up with all of the names being thrown around in the beginning of the chapter, but from what I understood, two different parties wanted to be in power, until one party finally came into power and the short time of the Weimar Republic came about until Hitler took control in 1933. I found it very interesting to read about the chaotic aftermath of the Great War, because I could only imagine what happens after a war of this stature occurs, but now I actually have a better idea of what happens.
Germany almost ceased to exist at one point, because there was so much debt incurred, and they had to pay back reparations. According to page 209, Germany had to pay "132 billion marks in gold, to be paid off with six percent annual interest". At this point, the people of Germany did not have any money worth anything. There had been so much money printed off that it became utterly worthless. The coal mine that had helped Germany prosper before had become obsolete, and they had to bring in coal from outside sources, only putting them further into debt. I found the chart on page 212 very interesting. The chart shows how much a two pound loaf of bread would cost a person as time progressed. Starting in December 1919, a loaf cost 2.80 marks and by December 1923, a loaf of bread cost 399,000,000,000 marks. Just seeing this huge difference after four years is very shocking, but the chart is a very helpful visual aid in seeing this progression. It would not have been as effective just seeing the numbers written out.
Not only did they have to pay reparations to other countries, but Germany also had to think about rebuilding itself after all the destruction. People were tired and broken down and had lost all their moral. I could see why this would have been a dark time for Germany history, with the struggle for power within, everything being destroyed, having an economy that was no longer useful, and being repressed by the conditions of the peace treaty of Versailles.
According to the treaty, Germany was stripped of its military power and forced to become a democracy, on top of paying reparations and their poor economy. I am surprised Germany was able to eventually unify and overcome not only this rough period in time, but all of the rough times in their history leading up to their unification and establishment of a united Germany as well as the events that occurred afterward. This just shows how powerful of a nation Germany is. Because even at their lowest points, they are able to pull out of their depression and become one of the most powerful countries in the world, in my opinion. Even after dealing with reparations, the Holocaust, repression, and economic instability, Germany is still able to find its footing and pull ahead. Just to read about this progression is amazing.

Word Count: 604

This is an example of a German gold mark from 1914.

This is a picture of the chart I was talking about on page 212.