I didn't dive into this deeper, but that's at least how it was being thought at school here in Belgium (~year 2000). Summarized from memory: At the end of the

I didn't dive into this deeper, but that's at least how it was being thought at school here in Belgium (~year 2000). Summarized from memory: At the end of the 1st world war, Germany was given a huge fine. The Deutsche Mark, deliberatly or not, devalued a lot. The large recession and poverty gave the opportunity for facism and the Nazi party to gain popularity. After the 2nd world war the allied forces realized that giving Germany a huge fine had been a mistake, and thus they didn't repeat that after the 2nd world war.