The Treaty of Versailles

Most exam specifications (for GCSE anyway) only require you to know about the responses to the Treaty of Versailles. But, you should also draw on the fact that it made the government unpopular etc.

Think about this paragraph plan as a starter;

P: One reason why the Treaty of Versailles was very unpopular with the German population was because they considered the terms of the treaty as being exceptionally harsh.
E: Territorial terms of the Treaty stated that West Prussia and Upper Silesia, Germany's rich farming lands, were to be given to Poland. Furthermore, the Saar coalfield, which was a large part of Germany's economy, was to be stripped away from the country and administered by the League of Nations, who would then take a vote of national importance after 15 years in order to decide whether or not Germany would regain control of this land. Furthermore, Germany were to lose their entire overseas colonies; including her eleven african colonies and her colonies in the Far East.
A: Therefore, not only did the Allies strip Germany of its empire that had taken the country many years and huge amounts of effort to build and keep under their control, but they also deliberately removed all of the land that led the country's economy and generated huge amounts of money every year. This meant that the population saw the terms as being too harsh as they knew that Germany would suffer economically and internationally, which would have made it difficult for the country and its people to recover after the disasterous impacts of its loss of the First World War.

You could then go on to discuss about the War Guilt Clause (Article 231), which stated that Germany was to take the whole blame for the First World War and how this was humiliating for the country (think about national pride and how other country's also had a part to play in the war etc) - Unfair as it was not entirely their fault because they were not the only country involved. Also mention how they were one of the only countries not invited to join the League of Nations and how this made them feel abandoned as a country and untrusted - proved how they had lost their international and political power. You could discuss the miitary terms, including the fact that the army was reduced to 100,000 men and how this may have made the country feel vulnerable due to the fact that other country's did not disarm etc. Talk about limitations to the navy and how no military aircraft was allowed either. Think abut how the German population believed that the Treaty of Versailles was a 'diktat,' which means 'dictated peace.' Believed that it was a 'diktat' due to the fact that they were being controlled by the other countries and told what to do etc - Only country that really suffered after the First World War

Hope I helped