This Dolchstosslegende (stab-in-the-back legend) was initiated and fanned by retired German wartime military leaders, who, well aware in 1918 that Germany could no longer wage war, had advised the Kaiser to sue for peace. They recalled only that the German Left-Socialists, Communists, and Jews, in common imagination-had surrendered German honor to a disgraceful peace when no foreign armies had even set foot on German soil. Many Germans forgot that they had applauded the fall of the emperor (the Kaiser), had initially welcomed parliamentary democratic reform, and had rejoiced at the armistice. The harsh provisions of the Treaty of Versailles led many in the general population to believe that Germany had been 'stabbed in the back' by the 'November criminals.' By 'November Criminals' they meant those who had helped to form the new Weimar government and broker the peace which Germans had so desperately wanted, but which had ended so disastrously in the Versailles Treaty. The social and economic upheaval that followed World War I gave rise to many radical right wing parties in Weimar Germany. Many Germans felt that Germany's prestige should be regained through remilitarization and expansion.

Įfforts of the western European powers to marginalize Germany undermined and isolated its democratic leaders.

German words in english wwi