The Treaty of Versailles

Defeat in the First World War created a number of problems for the new democracy and meant that Democratic politicians had to sign the armistice that ended the war in November 1918.  This meant that many Germans unfairly blamed them for the defeat, and were named the 'November Criminals' by the right. It was falsely portrayed that cause of the German loss was the betrayal of democratic and socialist politicians, which served to undermine support for Weimar Germany. 

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