Early Challenges to the Republic, 1919-23

Question 1

Describe the Unpopularity of the Weimar Republic

Answer 1

-The Weimar Republic did not formally start until July 1919.

-However, the politicians who set up and ran the Weimar Republic were the same ones who surrendered at the end of the First World War and accepted an unpopular peace treaty.

-The Weimar Republic was therefore always linked to surrender and harsh peace treaty terms.

Question 2

Describe the Treaty of Versailles

Answer 2

-Once the Armistice was signed, the Allied leaders decided the terms of the peace. The peace treaty was eventually signed in a French palace at Versailles on 28 June 1919.

-Peace was popular with the German people, as they had suffered greatly during the war.

-Even so, the terms of the Treaty of Versailles were very unpopular with the German people and also made the Weimar Republic unpopular.

Question 3

Describe the Diktat

Answer 3

-Most Germans assumed that Germany would be able to negotiate the terms of the peace treaty.

-However, the Allies refused to allow any German representatives to join in the treaty discussions.

-The treaty was a ‘diktat’ meaning that the terms were imposed, not agreed. Germany had 15 days to make comments.

-The Germans were bitterly opposed to the treaty terms and asked for concessions. All were refused.

Question 4

Describe the War Guilt Clause.

Answer 4

-Article 231 of the treaty stated that Germany had caused the war. Germany did not agree. Germans hated the war guilt clause.

-War guilt meant that, since they were to blame for the war, Germany had to pay reparation to the victorious nations.

-To prevent Germany starting another war in the future, the Allies also insisted on reductions in Germany’s armed forces and territory.

Question 5

Describe the Reparations Paid to the Allies

Answer 5

In 1921, reparations were eventually fixed at 136,000 million marks (£6.6 billion).

Question 6

Describe the Loss of German Colonies

Answer 6

The 11 German colonies in Africa and the Far East were given to victorious countries as ‘mandates’- territories to look after.

Question 7

Describe the Reduction in German Military Strength

Answer 7

-The army was limited to 100,000 men, with no heavy artillery, to be used only within Germany.

-The navy was limited to six battleships, six cruisers, 12 destroyers and 12 torpedo boats. No submarines were allowed. The rest of the fleet was destroyed.

-No air force was allowed. The existing air force was destroyed.

-The Rhineland was demilitarised. Allied troops were stationed there until 1930.

Question 8

Describe the Loss of German Land

Answer 8

-Alsace and Lorraine were lost to France, Eupen and Malmedy to Belgium and Posen and West Prussia to Poland.

-The loss of Posen and West Prussia put a million Germans under Polish rule. It also divided Germany in two, cutting off East Prussia from the rest of the country.

-Plebiscites took place in other areas to decide whether they should leave Germany. Upper Silesia become part of Poland. Norther Schleswig become part of Denmark.

-Danzig was made an international city. The output of the rich Saar coalfields went to France for 15 years.

-Germany lost 10% of its population, 13% of its European territory, all of its overseas property and investments, almost 50% of its iron and 15% of its coal reserves.

Question 9

Describe the ‘Stab in the Back’

Answer 9

-Another reason why the Treaty of Versailles was unpopular was because the German people didn’t believe their army had been defeated in the war.

-Though it was in retreat by November 1918, the German army was not defeated.

-Critics of the treaty said the army was betrayed by politicians- that they were ‘stabbed in the back’ (Dolchstoss).

-Even Ebert, the chancellor of the new Republic greeted the German army in December 1918 with the words “Your sacrifice and deeds are without parallel. No army defeated you!”

Question 10

Describe the Impact of the Treaty of Versailles on the Weimar Republic

Answer 10

-The Treaty of Versailles damaged Germany’s economy and imposed heavy reparations, so that it could not start another war.

-This made the economy of the Weimar Republic weak from the outset.

-It also made the Weimar Republic politically weak. The treaty was so harsh that people resented the leaders of the new German Republic who signed it.

-They became known as the ‘November Criminals’ because they surrendered in November 1918. From the outset, the Weimar Republic was linked to defeat, humiliation and weakness.

Question 11

Describe the Members of the National Assembly in 1919

Answer 11

-In the National Assembly, which created the constitution for the new Republic, moderates were in the majority.

-The Social Democrats (SPD) worked with other moderate parties like the Democrats (DDP) and the Centre Party, to create the Weimar Republic

-Combined, they had about 80% of seats in the Assembly.

-However, there were extreme left wing and right wing parties which did not support the Weimar Republic.

Question 12

Describe the Aim of the Extreme Left Wing in the Weimar Republic

Answer 12

-Extreme left wing groups wanted Germany to be controlled by the people.

-They opposed capitalism and wanted to abolish private ownership of land and business and put them into the hands of workers.

-They were internationalists who stressed the co-operation, rather than independence of nations.

-The German Communist Party (KPD) was the main left wing party in 1919

Question 13

Describe the Main Left Wing Parties of the Weimar Republic

Answer 13

-The Communist Party (KPD) were extreme left wing. They opposed the Weimar Republic and were supported by workers and some middle classes.

-The Social Democrats (SPD) were moderate left wing. They supported the Weimar Republic and were supported by workers and middle classes.

-The Democrats (DDP) were moderate left wing. They supported the Weimar Republic and were supported by intellectual middle classes.

-The Centre Party (ZP) were moderate. They supported the Weimar Republic and were supported by conservatives. They were originally the party of the Catholic Church.

Question 14

Describe the Aim of the Extreme Right Wing in the Weimar Republic

Answer 14

-Extreme right wing groups wanted a return to a strong government, with a strong army, headed by a powerful leader, like the Kaiser.

-They supported capitalism and championed families, law and order and traditional values.

-They tended to place the interests of the nation over the individual.

-The National Party (DNVP) was the main right wing party in 1919.

Question 15

Describe the Main Right Wing Parties of the Weimar Republic

Answer 15

-The People’s Party (DVP) were moderate right wing. They sometimes supported the Weimar Republic and were supported by upper middle classes.

-The National Party (DNVP) were right wing. They grudgingly accepted the Weimar Republic and were supported by landowners, the wealthy and big business.

-The Nazi Party (NSDAP) were extreme right wing. They opposed the Weimar Republic. They were founded in 1920 and were the eventual main party of Germany in the 1930s.

Question 16

Describe the Challenge of the Left and Right Wing in the Reichstag

Answer 16

-Although the three main moderate parties had 77% of the seats in the National Assembly, after the elections of 6 June 1920, they only had 45% of the seats in the new Reichstag.

-The extreme left wing and right wing parties each had about 20% of seats each. The rest were divided among smaller parties.

-For most of the 1920s, the moderate parties struggled to form majority coalitions, whilst being constantly attacked in the Reichstag by extremist politicians from the left and right wings.

Question 17

Describe the Backers of the Spartacist Revolt

Answer 17

-The German Communist Party (KPD) was set up in December 1918. It was backed by the Soviet Union and so was well funded. It soon had 33 daily newspapers and 400,000 members.

-The communists were supported by the Spartacist League. The Spartacist League were extreme socialists from the USPD, the Independent Socialist Party based in Berlin.

-The Spartacists supported the communists and were led by Rosa Luxemburg (‘Red Rosa’) and Karl Liebknecht.

Question 18

Describe the Spartacist Revolt

Answer 18

-On 4 January 1919, Ebert sacked Emil Eichhorn, the police chief in Berlin, who was popular with 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.

-They called for an uprising and a general strike in Berlin and on 6 January, over 100,000 workers took to the streets.

-They seized the government’s newspaper and telegraph offices. The Weimar government was losing control of the Capital.

Question 19

Describe the Purpose of the Freikorps

Answer 19

-Ebert needed to put down the Spartacist rebels. However, so soon after the war, the German army (the Reichswehr) was in no shape to put down the revolt alone.

-Thousands of soldiers released from the army had returned to Germany in November 1918, but had kept their weapons. Many were right wing and opposed to the communists.

-Ebert ordered Reichswehr officers to organise these demobilised units into Freikorps (Free Corps) units. It is estimated that the Freikorps numbered 250,000 men by March 1919.

Question 20

Describe the End of the Spartacist Revolt

Answer 20

-As the Spartacist Revolt grew, Ebert turned the Freikorps on the rioters. The mainly unarmed workers were no match for them.

-By 13 January, the rebels had been driven off the streets.

-On 16 January, Luxemburg and Liebknecht were arrested and killed by Freikorps.

-For the time being, the left wing communist rebellion had been suppressed.

Question 21

Describe the Kapp Putsch

Answer 21

-By 1920, Ebert’s government were struggling to control the Freikorps.

-In March 1920, Freikorps units near Berlin were due to be disbanded. Fearing unemployment, they turned their arms against the Republic. 5,000 armed men marched on Berlin.

-When Ebert ordered General Seeckt, the head of the Reichswehr, to resist the rebels, he replied “Reichswehr does not fire upon Reichswehr.”

-Soon, the rebels controlled the city. They put forward a nationalist politician, Wolfgang Kapp, as a figurehead leader. They declared a new government and invited the Kaiser to return.

-Fearing for their lives, members of the real government fled to Weimar and then Stuttgart.

Question 22

Describe the End of the Kapp Putsch

Answer 22

-Unable to put the revolt down by force, they urged people not to co-operate and instead go on strike.

-Many workers obliged as they had socialist leanings and no desire to see the Kaiser return from exile.

-Essential services- gas, electricity, water, transport- stopped and the capital ground to a halt.

-After four days, Kapp realised he could not govern. He fled but was caught and put in prison where he later died. The rebellion collapsed and the Weimar ministers returned.

Question 23

Describe the Political Assassinations in the Weimar Republic

Answer 23

-Hugo Haasse, one of Ebert’s Council of People Representatives, was murdered in 1919.

-Matthias Erzberger, the politician who signed the surrender to the Allies in 1918, was shot and killed in August 1921.

-Walther Rathenau, the Weimar foreign minister was machine-gunned to death in Berlin in June 1922.

-Between 1919 and 1922, there were 376 political murders, mostly of left wing or moderate politicians.

-Not a single right wing murderer was convicted and executed while ten left wing assassins were. Judges sympathetic to the right wing even undermined the Weimar Republic in the courts.

Question 24

Describe the Creation of Private Political Armies

Answer 24

-Amidst all of the political violence, most political parties hired armed men to guard their meetings. They mainly recruited ex-soldiers who were unemployed.

-The KPD set up a private army called Rotfrontkampfer (Red Front Fighters).

-The DNVP were supported by the Stahlhelm (Steel Helmets).

-Even the moderate SPD had the Reichsbanner Schwartz-Rot-Gold. (Black Red Gold Flag).

-At first, these private political armies were for protection, but their presence often caused political meetings and marches to become violent.

Question 25

Explain why the Weimar Republic Failed to Pay Reparations in 1923

Answer 25

-Germany’s biggest problem was that its government was bankrupt- its reserves of gold had all been spent in the war.

-The Treaty of Versailles made things worse. It deprived Germany of wealth earning areas such as the coalfields in Silesia. It also made the German government pay reparations.

-Germany asked for reductions but some Allied countries, especially France, needed money to pay war debts to the USA.

-With no gold reserves and falling income, by 1923, Germany could no longer pay reparations.

Question 26

Describe the French Occupation of the Ruhr

Answer 26

-In December 1922, Germany failed to send coal to France from the Ruhr coalfields as they were supposed to under the reparations agreement.

-In retaliation, the French sent troops into the German industrial area of the Ruhr in January 1923. They confiscated raw materials, manufactured goods and industrial machinery.

-The German government urged passive resistance- workers went on strike and there was even some sabotage.

-The French responded by arresting those who obstructed them and bringing in their own workers.

Question 27

Describe the Impact of the French Occupation of the Ruhr

Answer 27

-The Germans bitterly resented what the French had done. However, many Germans also resented the failure of the Weimar Republic to resist the French even though realistically they had no choice.

-The occupation of the Ruhr crippled Germany as it contained many factories and around 80% of German coal, iron and steel reserves.

-The disruption increased Germany’s debts, increased unemployment and worsened the shortage of goods.

Question 28

Explain why the Weimar Republic Printed More Money

Answer 28

-The government needed money to pay their debts, but unemployment and failing factories meant they received less money from taxes.

-During 1919-23, government income was only a quarter of what was required. Unable to gain more money from taxes, the government printed more money.

-In 1923, the government had 300 paper mills and 2,000 printing shops dedicated to printing more bank notes.

Question 29

Describe the Cause of Hyperinflation

Answer 29

-Initially, printing extra money made it easier for the government to pay reparations but it also made inflation worse.

-It was a vicious cycle: the more prices rose, the more money was printed and this made prices rise again.

-By 1923, prices reached spectacular heights. 1 loaf of bread cost 200,000 billion marks.

Question 30

Describe the Impact of Hyperinflation on Normal Living

Answer 30

-Printing presses could not produce enough currency. People had to pin money to letters because stamps were useless.

-They had to carry bundles of money in baskets and even wheelbarrows. Many workers were paid twice a day so they could rush out and buy goods before prices rose even further.

-Some shops refused to take money at all, asking for payment in kind (swapping goods). Some people raided shops because they couldn’t afford food.

Question 31

Describe the Impact of Hyperinflation on Shortages

Answer 31

-Hyperinflation meant that everyone suffered from shortages. This was because German marks became worthless for importing goods.

-In 1918, buying £1 worth of foreign goods cost 20 marks; by November 1923, buying £1 of foreign goods cost 20 billion marks.

-Foreign suppliers refused to accept German marks for goods so imports dried up and shortages of food and other goods got worse.

Question 32

Describe the Impact of Hyperinflation on Savings

Answer 32

-Any money in savings accounts became worthless. The middle classes were the worst affected.

-However, people who took out loans found that the value of the money they owed went down.

-Others hoarded goods and then sold them for a large profit as prices went up.

-Foreign visitors also benefitted as the value of their own currency rose against the German mark so they could buy more with their money.

-The German people bitterly resented people who made money out of their suffering.