To what extent did the Treaty of Versailles contribute to the rise of fascism in Germany? The Treaty of Versailles officially ended the war between Germany and the Allies (England, France and the United States) on 28 June 1919. While delegates from the victorious countries should have been concerned with the prospects of future peace in Europe, they instead focused exclusively on make Germany as weak as possible. Graebner and Bennett (2011) argue that “the democratic powers of Versailles had the opportunity in 1919 to set an aggrieved Germany, which hardly resembled Hitler's, on a different path.” Obviously they failed. The Treaty of Versailles was the main cause of the rise of fascism in Germany after the war. Ashley Grimshaw (2008) states that the treaty included a number of heavy restrictions imposed on Germany; in particular the economic effects resulting from the reparations caused enormous unrest for the German people. John Maynard Keynes states: “The reparations under the Treaty of Versailles caused the collapse of the currency and inflation in Germany and with these two events the savings of the German people were wiped out.” (Keynes, 1995, p. 73) The effects were further exacerbated by the Depression of the 1930s, during which there was enormous “unemployment, poverty and famine”. (Mayer, 1967, p.766) As a result, the German people grew tired of their weakness and suffering and began to struggle for power. The failure of the Weimar Republic to deal with the Treaty of Versailles became the root cause of the problems they were experiencing. “Many Germans, especially German nationalists, went so far as to call the acceptance of the treaty treasonous.” (Grunberger, 1964, p.59) Therefore, Hitler offered promises that the current government failed to change and which were extremely attractive to the German people, stating: “The German people liked Hitler's four-year plan which called for the eviction of the slums, housing programs, land reclamation and road building many of the problems that had been created by the Treaty of Versailles." Richard Evans (2003) argues "Hitler's triumph was by no means inevitable in 1918..." With the legacy of the German past appearing to follow a In this particular path there were however many twists and turns between Germany's defeat in 1918 and the rise of the Third Reich in 1933. It is difficult to make the case that capitalism brought Hitler to power; taking advantage of the German economic crisis he forced the German people to choose between the communist alternative and what appeared to be a traditionalist political movement. Indeed during 1932-33 support for the Nazi Party had declined and this occurred at a time of mild economic recovery, suggesting that the support was based on how the German economy was recovering after times of severe economic upheaval. Therefore the Nazi seizure of power in January 1933 was a contingent event and not