Chapter 1 Flashcards
Effects of WW1 on Germany
- 11 million Germans fought
- 2 million died
- 4 million wounded
- cost of war meant that German governments debt trebled between 1914-1918 (50 billion marks- 150 billion marks)
- the British navy blockaded German ports meaning 750000 Germans died due to food shortages in WW1
The German revolution
November 1918
Kaiser Wilhelms government had lost control to strikers and rioters
Unofficial councils were rising in local towns to replace the kaisers officials
The abdication of the kaiser
9 November 1918
Kaiser was at army head quarters 700 km from Berlin
At first he refused to give up his position
But he lost the support of his soldiers and when told this by General Wilhelm Groener he had no choice
He abdicated and then in the early hours of 10 November he went into exile in Holland
The declaration of a republic
9 November
People gathered outside the reichstag and inside was Phillip scheidemann (leader of SDP)
Armed rioters were preparing to announce a communist government in Berlin
Scheidemann didn’t want this to happen and rushed to an open window to proclaim that the kaiser had gone and that there was a new German republic
The council of people’s representatives
The SDP had to work quickly to establish the new republic
- 9 November the kaisers chancellor Max Von Baden handed over his office to friedrich Ebert (leader of SDP)
- 10 November Ebert made an agreement with general groener for the army to work with the government to keep the communists out of power
- 10 November ebert suspended the old reichstag (parliament) and named six moderate politicians who would form the council of people’s representatives
The armistice
11 November 1918
Eberts representative Matthias Erzberger signed the armistice - a formal agreement between Germany and the allies to end WW1
Setting up the Weimar Republic- how did ebert increase people’s confidence in the new republic
- ebert arranged for civil servants who had helped run Germany under the kaiser to stay in office - they were instructed to work alongside soldiers and workers councils that local people had set up - this ensured that the state would keep running
- he reassured groener that the army would not be reformed - officers kept their ranks and agreed to help keep the new republic in power
- ebert reasurred leaders of industry that the new republic would not confiscate land or factories and that there would be no nationalisation of private industries. This ensured that businesses and the economy continued to operate
- ebert won the support of the trade unions - he promised their leader that the new republic would try and achieve an 8 hour working day
The elections to select a National Assembly
19 January 1919
82% of the electorate voted
Moderate parties gained the most seats (40% SPD, 20% centre party)
Met for the first time in February 1919 at weimar (about 250km away) because Berlin was too violent
It took 6 months to reach an agreement
31 July the assembly agreed a new constitution
The new republic became known as the Weimar Republic
Strengths of the Weimar constitution
- Democractic - article 1 of the constitution confirmed this
Women and men over age 21 could vote
Proportional representation- every party was allocated one representative for each 60000 votes in its favour - The constitution was carefully constructed so that no one person or one group could have too much power
Weaknesses of the constitution
- Coalitions
- Weakness in crisis - article 48 said that the chancellor could ask the president to pass a necessary law by decree without the support of the reichstag in a crisis
- Based on division and violence
Several parties elected to the reichstag opposed to democracy and openly despised the new constitution
The treaty of Versailles 1919
Once the armistice was signed, the allied leaders decided the terms of peace which was eventually signed on 28 June 1919
Why was the treaty of Versailles unpopular
-the diktat
Germans were not allowed to negotiate the terms of the treaty they were imposed
-war guilt
Article 231 stated that Germany had caused the war meaning they had to pay reparations and their armed forces had to face reductions to prevent future wars
-the terms of the treaty
In 1921 they had to pay reparations of 136,000 million marks (£6.6 billion)
Germany lost all of its colonies in Africa and the Far East
The army was limited to 100000 men with no heavy artillery, to be used only within Germany
The navy was extremely limited
No Air Force was allowed
The Rhineland was demilitarised
Lost lots of land
The output of the rich Saar coalfields was to go to France for 15 years
Overall Germany lost :
10% of its population and 13% of its European territory
All its overseas property and investments
Almost 50% of its iron and 15% of its coal reserves
Dolchtoss- the idea that the army wasn’t actually defeated in the war and they felt ‘stabbed in the back’ by politicians
The impact of the treat of Versailles on the Weimar Republic
Heavily damaged the economy
Made the republic politically weak
The treaty was so harsh that people resented the new leaders that signed it and they became known as the “November criminals”
Election June 1920
Moderate parties only had 45% of the seats
Extreme left and right wing parties had 20% each
The rest was shared amongst smaller parties
The Spartacist revolt
4 January 1919 - left wing uprising
Ebert sacked Emil eichhorn , the police chief in Berlin who was popular among the workers
On the next day thousands of workers took to the streets in protest
The spartacists saw this as their chance to undermine the government
6 January 100000 workers took to the streets
They seized the governments newspaper and telegraph offices
The weimar government was losing control of the capital
