Which factor most directly led to the rise of Nazism in Germany?
- The Franco-Prussian war
- The Heligoland treaty
- The Second World War
- The Versailles Treaty
Show answer and solution
Correct answer: D. The Versailles Treaty
1. Germans found the terms imposed by the Versailles Treaty extremely difficult to meet.
2. That crisis created demand for a leader who promised to carry the nation through it.
3. Nazism grew popular by appealing to exactly that feeling, so the treaty is the direct cause.
4. The Franco-Prussian war and the Heligoland treaty belong to the 1870s and 1880s, far too early to have caused it.
5. The Second World War broke out when Nazism was already in power, so it is a consequence rather than a cause.
_Source: NECTA CSEE 2023 History 012, Question 1: Multiple Choice Items, item (viii)_