Friday, September 1, 2017

Disclaimer

I think with the unfortunate rise of white supremacy especially Neo-Nazism, I must make a disclaimer that by "no means" do I support Nazism or racism of any kind. It's still hard for me to understand the fact that the land of Goethe, Mozart, and the Weimar Republic can produce people that can commit such horrible atrocities. But they did and most horrifically. Such actions should "never" be repeated, but I guess Isis is out to surpass the Nazis.

Not to say that the current generation of Germans are bad. Many of them can be really good people. They are the tree huggers, for a lot of the part. They believe in decency, for the most part. They despise Nazism, for the most part.

I love the French too, they are wise people, though it may take getting to know them to reach this conclusion since a lot of people throughout the world view them as rude. What I try to express in my blogs are truth rather than bias towards one particular group.

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Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Paradise Lost: The Expatriation of Germans from Samoa



First off, I'd like to point out that this blog is written in the 
spirit of honesty, and not intended to put the lovely New Zealand people in a negative light. You're probably wondering, why is this blogger interested in World War I and World War 2 so much? Well, it's quite simple really, other than the fact that it's strongly, strongly reminiscent of political events today, and there's really an endless amount of topics to discuss under this subject, and my family was directly impacted by both. I don't know much about how they were impacted by World War 2 because we eventually lost contact, though I have ideas. What I do know is that after World War I,  the Germans were expatriated from Samoa along with other Germans from other German colonies throughout the world in 1919, then again in 1920 because they weren't finished with us (at least in Samoa). And no it wasn't just "undesirables" who were deported unless "undesirables" meant "Germans." In which case, a colonial power can interpret the Treaty of Versailles article 122 in numerous ways, and you know they took advantage of that! Adults, children, and the elderly alike were deported. If you had a seven year old child who met the qualifications to stay but you didn't, you were deported. If you had a drop of German blood...you were deported. Unless, of course, you were a German man and you married a Samoan lady; in which case the German men married them in scores.



An interesting time capsule of the German plantations in Samoa.

As I mentioned in another blog, not only were Germans expatriated and falsely imprisoned, their possessions were also confiscated, including their plantations and whatever money they had. And so the story goes with expatriation. My great great grandfather, the first immigrant from my family, was really something else...he had to be for it was quite a risk to travel all the way around the other side of the world to a remote island. And no, I really don't feel bad that an alien power brought him to Samoa, it did not. He came by himself not as part of an established German government presence, perhaps for adventure or to retire (or to trade since he was a trader), as was the German trend before Germany annexed Samoa. His peers that came to Samoa in the late 1800s were noted as being old, kindly, bearded businessmen who were willing to help anyone out. Based on certain facts, I truly believe that this is true. The second wave of Germans were different, however...they were younger, and though there were a lot of good Germans in this conservative mix, there were also some racists and opportunists as well. Such is the trend, that throughout history when a country colonizes another one, it brings its racists and opportunists with them- that for sure is nothing new, but hopefully a dead concept in this enlightened new era.

Tid bit: The infamous Samoan taupou, the
high-chief's daughter or princess. Arguably
the most powerful position for a female in Samoan society,
she also has to be very beautiful.


I do not believe that the Samoan Islands should have been divided between the American, German, and British powers, but they were. That's part of history, and nothing can be done about it since history is set in stone, though I'm sure there are people who believe us German Samoans are guilty in some way for being the offspring of colonists. They would even laud that the German presence was extinguished from Samoa (and that it was for the most part except for 1-2 % of the half and maybe full German population...you'll find them all in Australia and New Zealand) because, you know, a European power is not supposed to steal land and oppress the native population. They cause bloodshed, create inequality, injustice ... etc. etc. etc. That is a valid point, but if we look closely, we might see that some good comes out of colonization...beginnings are always messy, two groups of dissimilar people have to adapt to each other, and exercise the virtue of tolerance that much more.  However, everything, including communication, societal roles, social norms, stereotypes, and misunderstandings evolve over time...the United States is a perfect example of that. We are a melting pot with very little differences between the races circa 2015, yet segregation existed in the United States not that long ago. 


King Mataafa, the inevitable winner
of the crown, and friend of Samoa resident
Werner von Bulow

 But, yes, like all other colonies German Samoa was annexed through bloodshed, though not directly. That is the Germans didn't attack Samoa as a foreign power, instead they "volunteered" their military support when two chiefs, neigh three, were vying for the throne of Samoa-Mataafa, Malietoa Laupepa, and Tamasese. Everyone wanted to rule Samoa those days, chiefs and colonial powers alike. Germany's method of gaining control of Samoa was by helping the side they were on with arms (whether it be guns or gunboats) and advice, the willing puppet so to speak, which in this case was Mataafa. The war eventually escalated into a civil war, and at the end the Germans were there conveniently to help the Indigenous population rebuild their country, and simply declared the land theirs - so it was more of a manipulative, vulture thing, actually. Yes, six was the number at play that year and of course the colonists won in the end. But then generations of Germans born and raised there didn't have a choice in their forefathers' decision to annex Samoa and the methods they used to annex it. And why should they pay the price for their forefathers' decisions?
Tid bit: Obvious flower child  and author
 Robert Louis Stevenson in Samoa (though 
his Samoan friends look more Peruvian
 than Samoan), where he wrote 
Treasure Island and other famous works.


It must be pointed out, that one colonial power or another was going to annex Samoa anyway. It's not called the Treasured Islands for nothing... in fact, the British colonial power saw it for what it was- a wealthy jungle teeming with resources. America, Britain, and Germany wanted the lands so bad, they even fought a bloody war between themselves during Samoa's civil war, so a war within a war (Shakespeare would have had a lot of fun with that scenario). To end the feud, they inevitably had to draw up an agreement to divide Samoa between them, without asking the Samoans for permission, of course.The thought probably didn't even cross their mind.  France probably had its eye on Samoa as well, and I know for sure that the Portuguese found it enticing at one point. So, not so surprisingly, one colonial power was exchanged for another after World War I, and a less liberal one at that; because the Germans hired the most benevolent colonial governor, a man way ahead of his time, to govern Samoa.


Governor Wilhelm Solf, the Bill Clinton
of the colonial world.

While some view the banishment of their chiefs as an evil thing, my research shows me otherwise. Governor Wilhelm Solf's regime was by far the most equal of all the colonies- British, French, Spanish, and yes much more equal than other German colonies. The oppressive Junker military presence in the colonial world, particularly Africa, was relatively barbaric and gave Germans a bad reputation throughout the world, so Solf's regime was probably tainted by association as the Big Three were drawing up the Treaty of Versailles.  He was an intellectual with a degree in law and linguistics, however, rather than an oppressive military soldier, and believed in preserving the Samoan people and their culture, which he saw as dying (a delicate endangered country, if you will). That's the reason you see so many traditional villages in Samoa rather than European style towns, he kept it as a garden paradise. The rest of the colonial world transformed their countries into little Europes or Americas, dissolving traces of their ethnic identity, while imposing theirs on the indigenous population.




Dr. Richard Deeken in his cocoa field.

Solf, on the other hand, was so much on the side of the Samoans, that he angered a lot of Germans.  Some Germans were simply annoyed that there was little German imprint on the island, so it was akin to living in pre-annexed Samoa, and not at all like home sweet home in Hamburg, where the majority of Samoa's colonists came from. The plantation owners were particularly irate, however, since the businessmen wanted profits and Solf's policies stifled their efforts. Some schemers, cocoa planter Dr. Richard Deeken in particular (it was he who instigated the cocoa rush which raked in millions...as a means to prove that Solf was wrong about the quality of Samoa's soil), tainted Solf's reputation by presenting him as an oppressive and ineffective leader to the native Samoans, particularly the chiefs, in their attempt to overthrow his regime and replace it with a more oppressive one that mirrored the military presence in Africa (God forbid). However, there is no question that the native Samoans prospered and retained a certain level of equality under Solf's leadership, which is why most of the Samoans, except the chiefs, cooperated with Solf. But nothing deterred Deeken, an unusually determined, trouble-making person, so Solf had to  banish the chiefs who were working in tangent with Deeken, and eventually sent him to prison for defamation of character. In other words, he checkmated Deeken's sly move, and saved Samoans from an unsavory future. 


The Germans actually had a funeral
for the German-Samoan flag,
and this is its headstone.

As for the generations that were born and risen with the Samoan population after the formal annexation, what makes a native Samoan anyway? When they expatriated my family and other German families, they expatriated generations that knew the colony as home, and Germany was certainly a foreign country to them, though outsiders might associate them exclusively with Germany. It was probably a culture shock, though, that all the towns were entirely paved without any palm trees or turtle ponds, and definitely without the fa'a Samoa they were used to. If they went to Mars, it would have been the same difference. The cherry on the topping is that most of them were stuck in Germany after World War I, World War II, and the rise of the communist wall, while people in Samoa were toiling under the Polynesian sun (the violence and communism of the world wars never touched Samoa). Several Germans successfully returned to Samoa after World War I, only to be deported once again during World War 2. 





The story about how a Samoan Lady's Kiwi lover killed
one of the leaders of the Mau movement, Tupua Tamasese Leolofi III, 
on Samoa's Black Friday (another good girl in love with a devil).
Of course, it's been three generations since my family lived in Samoa, so I can't say that I'm from Samoa, I can say I'm an American. I do feel the injustice that accompanied the expatriation one hundred years later (ceding the land over to the New Zealand government is one thing, throwing Germans out is another). Especially considering the fact that Samoa would have prospered with the business-minded, efficient Germans. It is the Samoans' land, of course, as it should remain, but it's a tragedy that they were occupied by another foreign country. If they're going to be occupied by an alien power, it should have been one that could help them advance economically, as they were doing prior to New Zealand's occupation.  In fact, Samoa was well on its way to rival the New Zealand and Australian economies. Very sad loss of potential.

 

Tid bit: Olaf Fredrick Nelson,
 Afakasi (half white, half Samoan) entrepreneur 
and one of the leaders of the Mau movement which 
sought independence from New Zealand.

Perhaps the most beneficial aspect of the German colonization may have been the relative equity hey lived under because, years later, the indigenous inhabitants have full control of their country. Wilhelm Solf's insistence on equality seems to have shown Samoans that there was a better way than another alien power's approach to governance, and that they deserved equal treatment. So he may have indirectly empowered them to fight back, and become the first South Pacific nation to become independent (perhaps, ironically, you can thank Deeken a little bit for that as well). Becoming independent is quite a feat, it really is. America is still colonized, after all. And so is Canada, Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, Tahiti, the list goes on (and by colonized, I mean the initial indigenous peoples have no sovereignty over their land). Even though the Samoans have been relatively maltreated in the past by the colonists, at least they have full control of their country now, so they don't need to worry about being marginalized, at least in Samoa.

I thought it'd be interesting to showcase the modern culture with these beautiful women in the 2014 Miss Samoa pageant. Number 5 and 7 are German Samoans. Latafale (the winner) is from New Zealand, whereas Monica is a descendent of the few Germans who were able to stay in Samoa.


Miss Samoa became Miss Samoa World. And she's doing well
in the Miss World competition so far, having made it to the top 10
in talent, and top 30 overall.

What it all boils down to is this,  I am in the distinctly awkward position of being the offspring of German colonists who unfairly colonized a country, then were unfairly deported from the colony after World War I as part of war reparations that were unfairly astronomical (it was more in line with the World War 2 atrocities). Though Samoans should be sole proprietor of their country,  Germany's removal from Samoa was unjustly executed, and caused my family and many other families to branch out to several countries; which is why I'm in America and why I'll surely find a relative anywhere in the colonial world (and Germany).  And hey, while they were at it, they simply changed the German names on the German plantations to English ones, and spent the profits the German plantation owners earned. None of it went to the Samoans. But that was German Samoa, those days are done so I can put a fork in it, those fourteen years of German occupation are history. Samoa has a new day, she can make of her future whatever she wants. Many of us from the German colonial past can't help looking on her, thinking that she will do the Germans justice and rise like a phoenix from the colonial ashes, and take her place in the first world alongside beautiful New Zealand and Australia.


Samoa is still frequented by the Germans. In this vid the German tourist talks about how the Catholic church is completely open left- right, front- back in the typical fale style construction. He also comments about how the Christmas tree is on the ground.  When he's lying on the beach he talks about it being their last day in Samoa. Unfortunately it was first raining when he arrived there, but now they can now sit under a coconut tree and relax.





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Thursday, November 13, 2014

Part 2 Philosophical Analysis of World War 2 and World War 1,Part 1: The Problems




Let's  bring out the dead philosophers. What would the dead philosophers say about this sadistic era in German history? Well, they would be shocked, stunned, flabbergasted. But they'd also have a lot of material to work with...a lot to share, even more so than our modern philosophers, because they were the best philosophers, and were way ahead of their time. We still have yet to live up to their ideals, even today. I guess you can say we're lucky to have the likes of Deepka Chopra, the Dalai Lama, and David Malet Armstrong (he was added to the world of dead philosophers on May 13, 2004, may he rest in peace), but nothing compares to these masters of thought. 




The Nazis taking advantage of the Germans' Post-Treaty of Versailles angst.
It clearly depicts the bondage the Germans felt by the reparations.

People crushed by laws, have no hope but to evade power. If laws are their enemies, they will be enemies to the law; and those who have the most to hope for and nothing to lose, will always be dangerous.-Edmund Burke

The question is not what the Nazis did 70 years ago that's important when analyzing its political significance in relation to our modern era in 2014, the question is how do we stop a repeat of World War 2. Have we learned our lessons from that war or even World War I, or have we forgotten them, and are

repeating history today? The answer to the later is a resounding, confident, absolute "yes"- we are lock step in the treads of our ancestors, as I'll explain later. The first lesson we should have learned, the important question to ask ourselves, is how they rose in the first place...how did the Nazis get a voice, and why did people listen to them? The Nazis wouldn't have had stood a chance prior to World War I, they simply wouldn't have had an audience, because Germany was at its peak in regards to its reputation and economy, and Jews were assimilated into German society at that point. Most German people prior to Hitler's rise, would have balked at the idea of having someone in power who had an antisemitic agenda...especially a genocidal one. 


The Treaty of Versailles, however, changed all that. The Germans became impoverished with scant hope for the future, and their reputation took an unjustified beating (it took two sides to tango in World War I, after all). So they had nothing to lose by revolting against the Allied Powers, and raising a genocidal figure to the position of chancellor, which eventually culminated into the tragic World War 2. And it was tragic in more than one way, because it came to define what used to be an enlightened group of people. A holocaust in the land of the Weimar Republic, Nietzsche, Karl Jaspers, Goethe, Sigmund Freud, Beethoven, Mozart (Austria was working in tangent with Germany, so I've included a couple of Austrian names).
  


Hitler observing the Brown Shirts march.

During World War 2, it was as if there was collective madness, though it's certain they were being led by a mad man (or mad "men," actually). Many German Jews initially shrugged Hitler off, hoping he was a fad, but he had a remarkable way of sticking around like a splinter, thanks to the Brown Shirts who helped get him into power (he executed many of them shortly thereafter). The steady support Hitler maintained even after killing various members of the Brown Shirts who threatened to replace him, can be attributed to the Nazis' effective propaganda machine, in which many were denied the truth about what was really happening in Germany, and were arrested if they spoke up against it in the slightest way. That was a period of paranoia in Germany because no one could trust anyone, and it was not too dissimilar to the atmosphere in communist Germany years later. 



The German newspapers only printed rosy pictures of what was happening, so instead of mass murder and book burning, the picture the German public had, was that Germany was a charming, cultured place filled with joy, music, and industry. Many people did not know what was happening in Auschwitz or other death camps-Germans or German Jews, because Nazi soldiers quietly picked up their victims and fiendishly lied about where they were taking them. Only foreigners who were allowed to have access to international newspapers, really knew what was going on, especially after two Jews escaped Auschwitz on April 7, 1944. The Allies quickly responded by invading Germany on June 6th.


On the other hand, some knew what was going on and didn't care...they dangerously thought that they needed someone strong to get Germany out of its deep depression, and his methods didn't matter to them, since they viewed such a person as a temporary, but necessary fix. Obviously the combination of poverty and dishonor created their deafening tone to Hitler's sadistic agendas. As Edmund Burke put it, those with nothing to lose are dangerous to the rest of mankind, because they'll revert to any level to survive. Others knew first hand what was going on, and were executed for speaking out against the Nazis.

In general, the Jews received minimal support from the public anyway, because the Nazis controlled every aspect of the media...the entertainment media as well public media.Loud speakers were placed in the streets and radios in cafes, so no one could escape Hitler's antisemitic, fascist speeches if he or she wished to. Propaganda films such as Nos Feratu and The Eternal Jew were created to depict Jews in a negative, false light; while Triump of the Will was created to shore up public support for the Nazi cause. 


Bin Laden and Hitler, brothers from another mother.

It's worth noting that prior to World War 2, Hitler ignored the Treaty of Versailles, and the Allied Powers didn't care to enforce it. That was a bright spot, showing that there was a more promising, ethical future for Germany, if it weren't for Hitler's ethnic cleansing. What a shame, really, a golden opportunity that was missed. Perhaps, after some reflection, the Allied Powers realized the damage done by the treaty. And while many people can't fully grasp that era, being close to one hundred years ago (World War 1 started in 1914 and World War 2 started in 1939), it truly is a mirror of history today. The Nazis have morphed into radical Islamic groups. These groups, the most extreme groups in modern history if not history in general, have had the opportunity to rise in the Middle East due to poverty, infrastructure destruction caused by wars, and a tattered reputation throughout the world. Sound familiar? Is it any wonder that the mass genocide has returned?

One question that I'm still trying to analyze, is why radical Muslims and the Nazis feel that it's necessary to exterminate groups people they discriminate against. Why kill them when you can simply expatriate them? No,there must be something bigger than their ideology that gives them this imperative to kill groups of people they loath, which leads us to the next quote:





Religious wars are not caused by the fact that there is more than one religion, but by the spirit of intolerance...the spread of which can only be regarded as the total eclipse of human reason.- Charles de Montesquieu

A caricature of Hermann Goering
that depicts his madness very well.

In this instance, you have to question whether terrorist groups like the Nazis and Al Qaeda, instead of fighting a war to spread their version of reality, are, in fact, being guided by a deep-seeded intolerance instead. I mean Hitler didn't act alone, he was helped by the likes of the nutter Hermann Goering who invented the concentration camp
concept (he was a special kind of crazy), so to a certain extent there must have been an underling antisemitism to actually single out Jewish people in the first place. At least in some of the Germans, since many were forced to become Nazis. Of course, Hitler was the pied piper inspiring this hatred in his disenfranchised followers who were hungry for salvation. The gifted orator basically convinced them that they were a super race (which wasn't hard to do), and that the Jewish people were responsible for all their ills. Since he claimed to have a way out of their misery, he was given their stamp of approval. It was that simple. 




Yet, at he same time, it's the total eclipse of human reason to even entertain such evil ideas, or even worse, to accept its racially fumed, intolerant tenets. I mean, there is 0 logic behind it since Jews didn't cause their economic collapse, unemployment, home foreclosures, and starvation. That is why if you ask the Nazis to reflect on why they harbor this hatred for Jews, it would be for some fallacious, irrelevant, biased reason that has nothing to do with reality, but does stand up to fiction. Perhaps it was the general European attitude towards Jews at that time, which was antisemitic in nature, that inevitably made Jewish people natural scapegoats. Bavaria in particular was a hotbed of antisemitism, and influenced the young dictator, Adolf Hitler, who initially had a good relationship with Jews (what a shame there as well).
 
Rather than reason, both groups, the Nazis and radical Islam (not to be confused with moderate Islam), were or are guided by passion...a pure hatred for their circumstances and for the wrong people altogether. Like bullies, the Nazis and radical Muslims did not pick on the people who helped cause their plight-the people with power. Instead, they chose helpless victims who had no means to defend themselves. Perhaps the underlying cause, other than discrimination, has to do with the need to feel empowered, but they simply don't know how to do so without violence. It's brawn over brain for these people, who could definitely benefit from more education (especially a philosophical one). Of course, there was or is underlying megalomaniac aspirations as well, and inevitably both factors come into play.







American soldiers posing as the Ubermensch.


But why weren't either the Nazis or radical Muslims inclusive like the rest of the world?

Both have a superiority complex, an intolerance for people who are different than themselves. On the Nazis' side, by separating the Jewish people from the German people, or Aryan people from the rest of mankind, they were practicing their wholly fictitious tale of the "Ubermensch," or superior race. It was really Friedrich Nietzche's concept for becoming better than our full potential, better than our biologically imposed limits, but the Nazis bastardized Nietzsche's concept, and pluralized the concept of Superman into an entire race (Hitler obviously misinterpreted Nietzsche's work Zarathustra). 

 Rather than promoting a genetically superior race of demigods who have dominion over mankind, Nietzsche was arguing that such a goal was unattainable. Rather, he emphasized the "will to power," which doesn't endorse the perspective of reaching for an unattainable goal, but being energized to maximize one's own full potential. On Maslow's hierarchy of needs, the self-actualized person is at the pinnacle of the pyramid...the realization of his or her highest potential creatively, self-sustainingly, self-assuredly- the happy individual who would live their life over again exactly as it transpired throughout his or her own life. 



But Hitler interpreted Nietzsche's work to mean a genetically more evolved race, the Aryan, must have dominion over, and even worse, must rid the world of less evolved beings from older civilizations, otherwise known as the "Untermensch," or "inferior men." Radical Muslims feel that radical Islam is the superior religion, so all the people who won't convert to their religion, must be exterminated. Sound familiar? The worth of the human person has been degraded to stereotypes by these groups, thus humanity and  individuality has lost its meaning, and the imperative to self-actualize has been diminished. In its place is the goal to conform to and please a group, in other words the herd mentality has usurped individuality and self-actualization. And the groups they are conforming to, rather than regarding the soul of an individual person, view the collective human race or religion as a machine, and the outdated versions must be thrown out. There is little to no free-will with these groups who subscribed to and enforce slave morality.

Nietzsche, well, without question he was turning in his grave during World War 2. Any philosopher would be if a mass murderer twisted their philosophy to suit an evil agenda which eventually killed millions (especially one who fervently opposed antisemitism like Nietzsche). As for survival of the fittest via natural selection, Nietzsche argues against the Darwinian theory that the most evolved of our human species, the "Ubermensch," will survive in the end; a concept the Nazis subscribed to whole heartedly. According to Nietzsche, the two beings duking it out in the end will, instead, be the cockaroach and gonorrhea bacillus. In other words, lesser evolved species will be the ones to survive. 

 Either way, the Nazis used his work as a philosophical guideline, but interpreted in a way which suited their own agenda, much like how radical Muslims interpret their Koran in a way that promotes their agendas. The only difference between the two seems to be that the Nazis used scientific eugenics as their tool, while radical Muslims use religion. But science doesn't support the Nazis' claims, and a benevolent God wouldn't advocate the use of violence, intolerance, and hatred to spread his word. So, what is the answer? What are effective tools that oppressed groups can use to solve their problems without resorting to violence? And how do governments prevent a war, especially one on the scale of World War 2? I discuss these issues in my next blog.







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Sergeant Stubby the War Hero
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Sunday, September 28, 2014

The Big Three: the Catalysts for World War II


 Without 20/20 vision, we are bound to repeat the mistakes of the past, instead of learning from the past to create a better future-Montesquieu's Table

I'm dividing this blog into two sections. It seems to me that it would be impossible for me to analyze this problem philosophically, without discussing its historical context first. Hopefully we'll recognize some of the same problems happening in the Middle East, genocide for example,  thanks to the radical Islamic group Isis. In fact, genocide is a real and present danger to us in the U.S, England, France, and globally if Isis succeeds. Examining the past is the first place to start when attempting to secure the
future. 




World War 2 History
 Most of us remember our  World War II history-six million Jews dead in the most heinous ways imaginable, Jews being forced to hide from the Nazis in every nook and cranny they could find, people who provided shelter for the Jews were also killed if they were found, and one man held the entire German population hostage, or should I say "the entire world?" It was a period of insanity that no one can fully explain or top...though Isis to coming pretty close. How could the land of the Weimar Republic and Goethe descend so low into sadism and ignorance? That's something you'd expect from third world extremists, not from a democratic superpower that is one of the two philosophical powerhouses in Europe (the other one is France).





World War I History

Of course, no one but the Nazis were responsible for the deaths of 6 million Jews, in their genocidal efforts to bring Germany and Austria back to their former glory in the worst ways imaginable...that is clear. But could it be that someone else was responsible for their rise? That answer is yes, but the culprits go largely unnoticed. I mean, there aren't that many books written about their culpability, or at least none that I can think of at the top of my head. Usually it's the "good ole boys" story- the Allies defeat an evil foe in war, becoming everyone's favorite hero, and bringing pride to their countries, but no one is certain how it started, nor who to point the finger at. 
Perhaps we can examine that question a little bit. The march towards WWI started with the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand on the 28th of June, 1914 in Sarajevo, Serbia by the terrorist group "Black Hand." Yes, the murder of one man started it all. Austria reacted to his death by enlisting the help of Germany, then issuing Serbia an ultimatum on July 23 to bring the assassins to justice and halt the anti-Austrian hatred, or they'd mobilize their army. That is a sign that Austria felt the Serbian government was implicated in the assassination, and maybe they were. They expected Serbia to accept part of the ultimatum, but Serbia went directly to Russia, instead, for backing against the newly formed Austrian-German alliance, also known as the "Central Powers." Perhaps going to Russia not only confirms Austria's suspicion of their complicity, but also proves that the Serbian government wanted to  instigate a war against Austria who had territory that they wanted to free from Austro-Hungarian rule (frankly, that's very understandable).  On July 28, 1914, the Central Powers finally declared war on the Serbian-Russian alliance, which grew to include France and the United Kingdom, otherwise known as the "Allied Forces."

Russia had a very powerful military, of course, so the Central Powers decided against attacking them directly. Instead, they decided to open the war by enacting the Schlieffen Plan, and attacked France by going through Belgium (you see how this got worse by the minute). That officially brought Britain into the war. France then enacted their own plan, Plan XVII, and quickly mobilized against Germany. The Central Powers eventually moved South into France, and the Allied Forces moved in from the North. It was the United States' turn to join the war, but we had an isolationist policy, so they practically had to beg the U.S. to join the Allied Forces. The U.S. finally  relented on April 6th, 1917, creating a buffer when Russia exited that same year to work on an internal revolution to removed their czar. This is also when Germany's chances of winning the war diminishes. All of this eventually led to the bloody battle in the trenches in which Germany launched thousands of shells filled with chlorine to weaken or kill their enemies (though France was the first to introduce chemical warfare into the war with 26 mm grenades filled with tear gas). And this had the desired affect the Germans were looking for, as it injured many of the Allied soldiers' eyes, throat, and lungs, if they weren't killed by asphyxiation. The entire war lasted four years from 1914 through 1918, and accumulated a 
grand total of 37,466,904 casualties (8,528, 831 deaths alone).

Photo from Mountain View Mirror


The Treaty of Versailles

But the question remains, who was ultimately responsible for starting the first world war? Was it the Central Powers and their hasty move into war or the Black Hand who assassinated Austria's archduke?  It doesn't matter, because the Central Powers were forced to take full responsibility for starting the war. But even that was not enough to give rise to the Nazi party...it was the creation of  the ill-conceived diktat, the Treaty of Versailles, which was created without consulting Germany or Austria, and was fueled by destructive revenge to bring Germany to its knees, especially on the part of France who really didn't care if it turned Germany into a third world country or not.

While this was partly warranted because of the casualties and devastation the Central Powers left behind, the three people who drafted the document-Prime Minister David Lloyd George of Great Britain; who recognized the unfairness of the treaty but caved in to public pressure, Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau of France; the most radical of the treaty signers who wanted to both punish Germany and prevent it from starting another war against France, and President Woodrow Wilson of the United States; who wasn't allowed to implement his fair 14 Points Peace Plan, were unwittingly catalysts to even bigger problems. In fact, with their pens, the Big Three completely changed history because without the Treaty of Versailles, the Nazis wouldn't have risen to power, World War 2 wouldn't happen, 6 million Jews would have still been alive, communism wouldn't have grown, the Soviets wouldn't have been in power in Russia, there wouldn't have been a Soviet Block, and there wouldn't have been a Cold War. Such was the environment they helped create in Germany and Austria, that allowed all those events to occur.  

As for reparations in the treaty, they divided them into four categories- territorial, military, financial, and general:

Territory

 As far as territory was concerned, twelve territories and their populations were given to the Allied Powers. Alsace-Lorraine, for example, was to be given to France (that must have hurt), Eupen and Malmedy was given to Belgium, Northern Schleswig was given to Denmark, Hultschin was given to Czechoslovakia, the list goes on-Germany was lucky that it was still one country. They even overreached and took Germany's colonial possessions, so German citizens who had nothing to do with the war because they lived thousands of miles away in distant countries like Africa, China, and German Samoa, had to surrender their countries and businesses to the League of Nations, which basically is equivalent to England and France who already had a monopoly on colonial territory. 




Military

Germany and Austria had to reduced their military to 100, 000 men. They were not allowed tanks, an air force, submarines, but they were allowed to keep 6 capital naval ships...out of generosity I'm sure (the Germans sunk those in retaliation for being forced to turn over their entire Navy). And of course there were the demilitarized zones, which were located west of the Rhineland and 50 kilometers east of the Rhine River. God forbid if they had to defend themselves in the future...they were equivalent to defenseless, which is just what France liked, because in their faulty logic Germany would be unable to start another war (that theory worked out real well, didn't it...). And the threesome felt they were armed enough to ward off communism, which was perhaps unrealistic. In the colonies, they didn't have enough military power to fend off the Allies from taking their countries, especially since Germany's military was reduced significantly. But that wasn't enough for the Big Three- the German colonial people throughout the world were interned for four to five years. That is, they were prisoners of war for no fault of their own. Fathers couldn't see their wives or children, who had to grow up without them, and families were displaced.


Financial

As far as the financial aspect of the treaty was concerned, Germany had to give The Big Three a blank check...to be cashed at a later date when they decided how much all the devastation cost, and they weren't going dutch. They eventually decided that the entire war, structural damage included, cost 186.3 billion dollars, which is an astronomically price especially in the early 1900s, and far beyond Germany's means to repay.  The loss of industrial territory and probably the overseas plantations, hampered Germany's ability to revitalize their economies. The Big Three even prevented Germany and Austria from uniting as a super-state, which would have increased their economic potential, should have decided to have a modest standard of living in future.  In the colonies, as I previously mentioned, the plantation owners had to cede their plantation over to France and England, but it didn't stop there...they had to cede "all" their property including money, so many of them went broke overnight with nowhere to go.


General

The general aspect of the treaty sure delivered a blow to Germany's reputation and finances. It was divided into 3 clauses...1. The "War Guilt Clause," where Germany's guilt would be echoed internationally for decades and even centuries yet to come. 2. The war damages clause which stated that Germany was responsible for all the collective damages accumulated during the war, and therefore had to pay reparations. And 3. The League of Nations Clause which formed the peace keeping organization. This was the brightest aspect of the treaty, if not the only one. It was an intergovernmental organization with the goal of maintaining world peace through collective security and disarmament, as well as settling global disputes through negotiations and arbitrations, supervising labor conditions, ensuring equal treatment of citizens, stopping human and drug trafficking...the list goes on. It was the U.N. of its time, effectively. In fact,  it was replaced by the U.N. after World War II on April 20th, 1946.   

a
The General Effects of the Treaty of Versailles

Germans were understandably outraged with the unfairness of the Treaty of Versailles, which was no less than unethically severe, so the democratic party in power, the Weimar National Assembly, was fragile. It didn't help that their leader, Frederick Ebert, was the person who signed the treaty in the first place. The German public revolted and labeled his party the "November Criminals," which also weakened the Weimar Republic's Enlightenment movement, thus a period of expansive creativity, philosophy, and scientific discovery was cut short. The Kapp Putsch Rebellion, which attempted to overthrow the Weimar Republic but failed, created the chaotic atmosphere that would fester and grow, and cause the Germans to seek radical solution to their problems.  

Of course, with a lack of economy, comes the inability to pay debts. Though I have a high regard for the French and Belgian people, when they invaded the Ruhr in 1923 because Germany couldn't pay her debts, they became even more of a catalyst to Germany's economic decline.  Usually the military is used in war, not as a means to pressure people to pay their debts. Since the people in the Ruhr didn't have any military power to fight back, they were forced to protest peacefully, so they stopped producing goods. As Germany's industrial epicenter, when goods weren't being produced, hyperinflation (or "rising prices") set in, so their currency, the Deutsch Mark, was degraded and had little to no value. Thus the German Depression began. Jobs were scarce and 25% the German workforce was unemployed. Many Germans couldn't afford their homes, so they had to forsake them, becoming homeless (which reminds me of the foreclosure period during Bush's term). Many couldn't even afford basic necessities like food, so starvation rampant. On the positive side, the Germans learned a peaceful method to solving an international crisis-protesting peacefully without arms. If only that method had a lasting effect...

Here comes the scary part, the leadership vacuum in Germany needed to be filled, and the Germans were turning to two radical parties vying for power to solve their problems...the extreme left Communist Party (KPD) and the extreme right Nazi Party  (NSDAP). Their moderate parties the Center Party (ZP) and Democratic Party (DDP) didn't stand a chance.  That is, they were clinging to straws because they needed someone with a sense of vision to bring Germany out of her economic slump and restore her to her former glory. The Ruhr industrialists found those characteristics in Hitler, the infamous genocidal psychopath I referred to before. I think it's such a pity that the enlightenment didn't have time to take hold of the German public, instead of Nazi barbaric ideology. Needless to say, Hitler didn't bring Germany back to her former glory, but damaged her reputation even more. And Jews who shared in Germany's Post World War I plight because they were Germans as well, became the scapegoats. As for America, we can be proud that Harry Truman lent Germany money after World War II. When Germany's prosperity grew, so did their anti-Nazi stance, and peaceful position in the world. In fact, there is currently a growth spurt in the Jewish population in Germany, as a newer generation makes Germany their home. Six million Jewish people, of course, will never come back, but perhaps their lasting legacy is that we can use World War II (and World War I) as a road map on how to deal with our current problem with radical Islamic terrorist groups who tout their genocidal plans.






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