Early Years Of The Weimar Republic

Question 1

Why did the Kaiser abdicate?

Answer 1

The Kaiser abdicated because Germany wanted to be on better terms with the allies and they did not want a humiliating defeat. They needed to get rid of the Kaiser because they needed to be a democracy as to get on the US president Wilson’s good side and less harsh sanctions after the war was over. With the Kaiser, there was no way they would have become democratic so they forced the Kaiser out. They have to appease Wilson.

Question 2

What were Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points?

Answer 2

Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points were divised as a means of dealing fairly with the aftermath of war. Some points, such as the return of Alsace-Lorraine to France, were quite specific and punitive towards Germany. However, there were also some general principles, such as the establishment of a League of Nations to monitor future disputes and self-determination, whereby different nations should rule themselves, together with general disarmament and Wilson’s determination to create a peace that would last and prevent another war.

Some of his points included:

• no more secret treaties.
• countries must seek to reduce their weapons and their armed forces.
• national self-determination should allow people of the same nationality to govern themselves and one nationality should not have the power to govern another.
• all countries should belong to the League of Nations.

Question 3

What were the October reforms?

Answer 3

In October, following the recommendations of Ludendorff, the Kaiser began a series of reforms that effectively ended his autocratic rule:

• He appointed Prince Max of Baden as his new Chancellor
• The Chancellor was to be responsible to the Reichstag and he established a new government based on the majority parties in the Reichstag, including the German Social Democratic Part (SPD)
• The armed forces were put under the control of the civil government.

These reforms were a major consitiutional transformation in Germany but they did not come about as a result of popular pressure, nor because of pressure from the main democratic parties in the Reichstag. They amounted to a ‘revolution from above’ which was not only designed to save Germany from humiliation, but also to save the Kaiser’s rule.

Question 4

What was the Peace Note?

Answer 4

On 3 October, Prince Max wrote to President Wilson asking for an armistice
It took nearly three weeks for Wilson to reply, largely becuase he was suspiscious that the German High Council was using the request for armistice as a means of buying time to regroup and prepare for a new offensive.

When Wilson replied, he demanded that Germany must leave all occupied terriroty, call an end to submarine warfare and fully democratise its political system. These terms, which effectively demanded a German surrender and the Kaiser’s abdication, were too much for Ludendorff to accept. He tried to gather support for a last ditch military effort but it failed and he resigned.

Question 5

How did Germans react to the Peace Note?

Answer 5

The news that Prince Max’s government was asking for an armistice was a shattering blow to the morale of the German people and to their armed forces. Civilians who had borne the hardships of food shortages with fortitude were no longer prepared to show restraint. Many soldiers and sailors lost respect for their officers.

The Kaiser was increasingly seen as an obstacle to peace but he resolutelty refused to abdicate. During a strike in Friedrichsafen on 22 October, workers shouted ‘The Kaiser is a scoundrel’ and ‘Up with the German Republic’. On 28 October, when the German navy’s high command, in one last futile act of resistance to a humiliating peace, ordered ships from Willhelmshaven to attack British ships in the English Channel, the crews of two cruisers refused to obey orders. This naval mutiny was the beginning of a much broader revolutionary movement.

Question 6

What was the November Revolution of 1918?

Answer 6

Unrest in the navy led to the main German naval base at Kiel. On 3 November sailers there mutinied against their officers and took control of the base. The next day the revokt had soread to the city and workers’ and soldiers’ councils were established. Revolt spread all aroun Germany. Most members of the councils were patriotic Germans who wanted the Kaiser to abdicate and a democratic republic to be established.

Question 7

How did Prnice Max handle the situation?

Answer 7

The SPD called on workers in Berlin to join a general strike and threatened to withdraw support from Prince Max’s government unless the Kaiser abdicated within 24 hours. Max knew he couldn’t continue to govern without the SPD so he released a press statement claiming the Kaiser had abdicated even though he had no constitutional authority to act this way.

Question 8

Who took over as Chancellor after Prince Max resigned on the 9th November?

Answer 8

On the same day, Prince Max resigned as Chancellor and gave the position to Ebert, the leader of the SPD. Ebert declared that the German republic was now in existence.

Later in the day, General Groener told the Kaiser that the army would no longer fight for him.

Question 9

What was the Ebert-Groener pact?

Answer 9

1918 10th November - General Groener telephoned Ebert to assure him that the army leadership would support the government. In return, Groener demanded that Ebert should resist the demands of the soldiers’ councils to democratise the army and defend Germany against communist revolution. Ebert assured him that the government was determined to resist further revolution and to uphold the existing command structure in the army. This agreement became known as the Ebert Groener Pact.

Question 10

What was the Spartacist Revolt?

Answer 10

1919 5th January - The Pact was seen by Ebert’s critics from the left as an abject betrayal of the revolution. The struggle for power continued. On 6th December a Spartacist deomnstration in Berlin was fired upon by soldiers, killing 16. On 23-24 December, a sailor’s revolt against the government in Berlin was put down by the army. In protest, the three USPD ministers in the government resigned. On 5th January, theSpartacists launched an armed revolt against the government in what became known as the January Revolution, or the Spartacist Uprising. After a week of heavy fighting in Berlin, the revolt was crushed.

Question 11

How did Ebert deal with the pressure from the left?

Answer 11

Ebert’s efforts to contain the revolution were further threatened by pressure for more radical change from the left. The workers’ and soliders’ councils, in which the USPD and the Spartacists had established a foothold, were not about to allow Ebert’s government to take the key decisions without any reference to them. On 22 November an agreement was reached between the new government and the Berlin workers’ and soldiers’ councils whereby the government accepted that it only exercised power in the name of these councils. This was merely a temporary compromise. Many in the USPD, whose leaders were part of Ebert’s government, saw the councils as the true expression of the revolutionary will of the people and the means by which the revolution could be extended. They believed that the aristocratic system of the government would not finally be abloshied unless the aristocratic estates were broken up, the army, civil service and judiciary were democratised, and the key industries were nationalised under workers’ control.

Question 12

How was the Weimar Constitution in 1919 established?

Answer 12

The elections for the Consitituent Assembly were held on 19 January 1919. Women were allowed to vote for the first time. The SPD secured the largest share of the vote and the largest number of seats in the Assembly but they did not have an overall majority and would, therefore, have to compromise with other parties in order to establish a new constitution and govern the country. The Assmebly met in Weimar rather than Berlin because it was still unstable in the aftermath of the January Revolution. This is how the new political order received its name - the Weimar Republic.

Question 13

Who was elected as the first President and how did the Weimar Consitution in 1919 initially decide?

Answer 13

Ebert was elected by the Assembly as the first President of the Republic and a new government, led by Philipp Sheidemann, was formed by the SPD in coalition with the Centre and German Democratic parties. Thr workers’ and soldiers’ council handed over their powers to the Consituent Assembly, which could then concentrate on the business of drawing up new a new consitution.

There was general agreement that it should represent a clear break with the autocratic constitution drawn up by Otto von Bismarck for the German Empire in 1871. It, therefore, began with the clear declaration that ‘Political authority derives from the people’, and the consitution was designed to enshrine a d guarantee the rights and powers of the people.

Question 14

What were the strenghts of the Weimar Constitution 1919?

Answer 14

• The new German constitution provided a wider right to vote than in countries such as Britain and France. Women were able to vote on the same terms as men and they were allowed to become deputies in the Reichstag and state parliaments.
• The system of proportional representation enabled even the smaller parties to win seats in the Reichstag and influence government decisions. The country was divided into 35 electoral districts, each with about one million votes.
• There was a full deomcracy in local government as well was central government. Unlike in the Second Empire, the largest state Prussia, was not in a position to dominate the rest of Germany.
• The consititution also set out clearly the rights of the individual. The Fundamental Rights and Duties of German citizens were guaranteed in the second part of the constitution. Statements included: ‘all Germans are equal before the law’; ‘personal liberty is inviolable’; ‘censorship is forbidden’; ‘the right of property is guaranteed’; and ‘all inhabitants enjoy full religious freedom’. It gave illegitimate children the same rights as legitimate ones and promised ‘economic freedom for the individual’.
• Referendums could be called for by the President, the Reichstrat, or by people’s request’ if a tenth of the electorate applied for one.

Question 15

What were the weaknesses of the Weimar consitution in 1919?

Answer 15

Proprtional representation was designed ro ensure that all shades of political opniojnwere represented in the Reichstag, since parties were allocated seats in proportion to to the percentage of votes that they received in an election. This was a very fair system but it had two clear consequences:

• The proliferation of small parties: Smaller parties could gain representation in Reichstag - something that does not usually happen in a system of elections based on the first-past-the-post principle (Britain uses this election process). This enabled smaller parties - many of whom were anti-republican - to exploit the parliamentary system to gain publicity. Proportional representation did not, in itself, create the fragmented party system. This was due to the deep divisions in German society and the lack of a national consensus.
• Coalition governments: Because of the proliferation of small parties, none of the largest parties could gain an overall majority in the Reichstag. Since governments had to command majority support in the Reichstag, all governments in the Weimar Republic were coalitions, many of which were short lived.

Question 16

What was Article 48?

Answer 16

Article 48 of the constitution gave the President the power to rule by decree in exceptional circumstances. The granting of such power was not remarkable in itself - indeed, all democratic constitutions allow for an executive authority to use exceptional powers in a time of national emergency.

Ebert used Article 48 powers on 136 occasions. Some of these occasions could be deemed to be genuine emergencies but Ebert also used hus power in non-emergency situations when he simply wanted to override opposition in the Reichstag. There was no effective safeguards since a president could threaten to dissolve the Reichstag and call new elections if it refused to agree to a presidential decree.

Ironic, that Ebert, who had been a leading voice for the cause of parliamentary democracy in the 1918-1919 revolutionary upheavals, should, as President, undermine democracy through his overuse of Article 48.

Question 17

What was wrong with Weimar’s democracy?

Answer 17

• Article 102 of the constitution guaranteed the independence of the judges. This would be a basic requirement in any democratic constitution but in Weimar Germany the judges who had served the Second Empire remained in their posts. They supported an anti-democratic government, the government was now democratic, but they stayed in power and therefore were able to show their bias in legal judgements.
• Key centres of power in Germany - the landowners, the officer corps, the civil service and judiciary, and the owners of big business - were largely untouched and unreformed. People felt betrayed.

Question 18

How did undemocratic instiutions survive?

Answer 18

Army officers, senior civil servants and judges were recruited from the aristocracy and looked with disdain on democratic politicians. The new constitution could have reformed these institutions but, because they placed the need for stability above the desire to for a thoroughly democratic system of government, they didn’t.

Question 19

How did the undemocratic institution of the army act?

Answer 19

The full force of military power would be used against left-wing revolts whilst conspirators from the Right were often supported by elements within the army. General Hans von Seeckt, who was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the army in 1920, believed that the army owed loyalty not to the Republic, which he regarded as temporary, but to a timeless Reich that was the true expression of German nationhood. Although he would not allow his officers to meddle in politics on their own initiative, he nevertheless believed that the army as a whole, and under his command, could intervene in politics whenever he saw fit.

Question 20

How did the undemocratic institution of the civil service act?

Answer 20

Under the Weimar Constitution, civil servants were given a guarantee of their ‘well-earned rights’ and of their freedom of political opinion and expression as long as this did not conflict with their duty of loyalty to the state. This meant that government administration in the new republic was left in the hands of those who were anti-democratic in their outlook. Top civil servants could wield enormous power, especially when ministers in coalition governments were frequently changing.

Question 21

How did the undemocratic institution of the judiciary act?

Answer 21

Article 102 of the consitution guaranteed the independence of the judges. This would be a basic requirement in any democratoc constitution but in Weimar Germany the judges who had served the Second Empire remained in their posts. These men were staunchly monarchist and anti-democratic and showed their bias in their legal judgements. The penal code of the Republic stipulated that anyone attempting to overthrow the constitution by force should be sentenced to life imprisonment. Members of left-wing groups who were brought before the courts were punished with great severity. Right wing conspirators, on the other hand, were treated very leniently.

Question 22

When was the armistice agreed and what was it?

Answer 22

The war had ended with the armistice agreement on 11 November 1918. Although Germany was on the brink of defeat, the armistice was not a surrender. It was an agreement to stop fighting and withdraw German forces from occupied territory, pending a full peace settlement.

Question 23

How was the Treaty of Versailles conducted?

Answer 23

When Germany agreed to the Armistice, it was assumed that there would be negotiations with the Allies and that these negotiations would take place on the basis of Wilson’s 14 points. These were proposals for a peace without annexations which had been put foward by the US President Wilson in January 1918 - that is, when the stalemate on the Western Front had not yet been broken. The 14 points were largely ignored, and there were no negotiations: Allies first gave the German delegation in Paris 3 weeks to make ‘observations’ on the terms and then, on 16 June, insisted on acceptance of the terms within 5 days. Feeling unjustly treated, the Germans branded the Versailles Treaty a diktat - a dictated peace.

Question 24

What did the Treaty of Versailles do?

Answer 24

Germany took on the war guilt and had to pay reparations which were overly excessive. Limited army to 100,000 men. No air-force. Six battleships - sunk the rest rather than letting them fall into British hands. France wanted to make them pay after tge Franco-Prussian war. Posen given to Poland. They lost the Polish corridor. Rhineland was to be a demilitarised zone. Disarmament. Abolish conscription. Germany to become democratic to appease the Western allies in hopes of less harsh treatment. The Saarland was put under control of the League of Nations and the people of these regions would be allowed to vote to stay in Germany or not in a future referendum. France wanted the Saarland for coal; they were given to France for 15 years, Germany no longer had it. Germany could not join the new League of Nations. Germany and Austria banned from uniting. Colonies were given away, West Prussia became part of Poland, Alsace and Lorraine to France. They had been denied the right of self-determination; a right protected for other nations. £6600 million in Gold marks. They forbid Germany from uniting with Austria. Anschluss (political reunification) was forbidden.

Question 25

How did politicans and extremists view the TOV?

Answer 25

When the Allies’ peace terms were published in May 1919, they were condemned not only by the extreme right, but also by all shades of political opinion in Germany. Scheidermann’s SPD - Centre Party - Democratic Party coalition government even considered restarting the war rather than accept the peace terms. Extreme right-wingers, however, condemned the terms, and TOV more ferociously than anyone. Throughout the 1920s, they sought to exploit popular indignation over the Treaty in order to undermine the Republic.

Question 26

How was the loss of territory viewed?

Answer 26

The loss of territory to Poland was deeply resented because the Poles were viewed by the extreme right as Lausevolk (‘lice people’), backward and primitive, but there were other reasons too. Firstly, over a million Germans found themselves under Polish control with no say in the matter. Second, East Prussia was cut off from the remainder of Germany.

Question 27

How was the ‘war guilt’ viewed and how were reparations viewed?

Answer 27

Reparations provisions were condemned as unjustifiable. The basis of the Allies’ reparations demands was Article 231 of the Treaty - the war guilt clause - which Germang was forced to accept. The ‘war guilt lie’ became target of the extreme right; Germans denied they alone bore responsibility for the war. In 1919 the Allies made it clear that the cost of the war pensions as well as physical damage would be included in the reparations bill and they demanded an immediate £1000 million payment on account.

Question 28

What myth did the extreme right push about the TOV and the people who signed it?

Answer 28

Extreme right claimed that the Allies’ aim was to turn Germany into what one of its newspaper called an ‘economic corpse’.

‘November Criminals’ was the nickname given to the politicans who signed the armistice in November 1918.

The ‘stab in the back’ myth was the myth that right wing politicians used to accentuate the idea that Germany had been betrayed by the politicians who signed the armistice. ‘If they didn’t sign, then Germany would have won’. The view that the army had not really lost WW1 and unpatriotic groups like socialists, democrats and Jews, had undermined it. Unsurprisingly this view was popular with army leaders such as Ludendorff and right-wing groups (like Nazi) who used it to attack Weimar democracy and shift the blame away from the German army.

Because the new Weimar democracy was forced to accept the armistice and later sign the TOV - it was associated with defeat and humiliation. The stab in the back myth severely weakened Weimar democracy from the start by undermining popular support for Weimar government. Ludendorff and Hindenburg perpetuated the ‘stab in the back’ idea.

Question 29

4 reasons why Germans hated the TOV:

Answer 29

• humuiliating. Once a great military poeer and now reduced to nothing.
• looked like they were winning the war. People angry.
• unemployment in the war.
• absurd reparation bill. Sole guilt placed upon them. Punishments were way too harsh. Signing a bland cheque to the Allies.

Territory that was seen as ‘German’ put under foreign rule - e.g. Austria, Danzig, Sudetenland, Saar. This went against the principle of self-determination.

Question 30

What was the Kapp Putsch, 1920?

Answer 30

Kapp Putsch was an extreme right wing attempt to overthrow the Weimar Republic. Under the TOV, Germany was required to reduce its armed forces to a maximum of 100,000. Freikorps units therefore had to be disbanded.

In March 1920 orders were issued for the disarmament of the Marinebrigade Ehrhardt. Its leaders were determined to resist dissolution and appealed to General Lüttwitz, commander of the Berlin Reichswehr, for support. Lüttwitz, responded by calling on Ebert and Noske to stop the whole programme of troop reductions. When Ebert refused, Lüttwitz, ordered the Marinebrigade Ehrhardt to march on “Workers! Party Comrades! Workers! Comrades! Stop work! Strike! Paralyse all economic activity!”.

Question 31

What did Lloyd George say, talking about the TOV in 1919?

Answer 31

“We shall have to fight another war again in 25 years time”

Question 32

Treaty of Versailles Key events

Answer 32

• 1918 11 November - Armistice agreement to end the fighting on the Western Front
• 1919 18 January - Peace Conference convened at Palace of Versailles
• 7 May - German delegates given document containing first draft terms of the treaty.
• 16 June - Germans given seven days to sign the treaty
• 20 June - Coalition cabinet collapsed becuase of divisions over signing treaty.
• 22 June - Reichstag voted to accept the treaty
• 28 June - German delegates signed the TOV

Question 33

“German reactions to the treaty were justified”

Answer 33

• Whilst Wilson’s fourteen points stressed the importance of the right of national self-determination as a basis for a just peace, this right was denied to German themselves. Millions of people who spoke German and considered themselves to be German were now living in non-German states as Czechoslovakia and Poland. The separation of East Prussia from the rest of Germany by the so-called Polish corridor was a major source of resentment.
• The ‘war guilt clause’. They believed they had been forced into a just war against the Allies, who had attempted to encircle Germany.
• Reaparations would cripple the economy
• Germany had lost the coal mines in the Saarland. They were given to France. German nationalists outraged by the outlawing of nationalist groups and banning of German patritoic songs and festivals in areas under French control.
• The disarming of German and its exclusion from the League of Nations were seen as unjust discrimination.
• Had to pay the reparations and pay the war guilt in gold so it wouldn’t lose its its value over time, like money would.

Question 34

“German reactions to the treaty were not justified”

Answer 34

• Wilson’s fourteen points and the armistice agreement had made it clear that Alsace-Lorrain would have to be returned to France, that a new state of Poland with access to the sea would be created, that Germany would be expected to hand over same of her assets and that considerable German disarmament would be expected.
• The treaty was not as sever as it might have been. Had Clemenceau had his way, he would have extended the French border to the Rhine, or annexed the Saar coalfields and created an independent Rhineland. The French wanted to ensure that Germany could not threaten them again, but the other Allies resisted this as they wanted Germany to remain strong enough to withstand the spread of communism from Russia.
• The treaty did not punish Germany as severly as the Germans had punished Russia in the Treaty of Brest-Litvosk in March 1918. Then, Germany had broken up the western part of the Russian Empire and annexed large swathes of territory. In the Reichstag debate on that treaty, only the USPD had voted against this action.
• Germany’s war aims of 1914 had included the annexation of territory from its enemies, the expansion of Germany’s colonial empire and a very severe reparations bill to be paid by the defeated Allies. So if Germany had won the war, the peace settlement, would have been very harsh on the defeated Allies.
• The reparations bill was much lower than demanded by the French. Although reparations were a continuing source of friction between Germany and the Allies during the life of the Weimar Republic, it was not beyond Germany’s capacity to pay.

Question 35

Why did Scheidmann resign in June 1919?

Answer 35

Scheidmann and some of his ministers wanted to reject the treat (seeing it as incompatible with German honour), whereas the majority of the cabinet and of the SPD members of the Reichstag believed that Germany had no other choice but to sign the treaty. So Scheidmann resigned because he could not support it.

Question 36

How did the TOV impact pro-republican parties?

Answer 36

They knew it would impact their popularity and it divided the parties. SPD even thought the support of other parties to publicly declare that they were not ‘unpatriotic’. They began the policy of ‘Fulfilment’ - to publicly follow the treaty and secretly try to modify it.

Question 37

What economic problem was the government facing in the 1920s?

Answer 37

The new government of the Weimar Republic was faced with a debt of 1.44 billion marks. In situations like these where the national debt needs to reduced, governments can either raise taxes or recude spending, or both. As there was political instability of the early years of the Weimar Republic, both of these policies carried serious risks. A rise in taxation would risk alienating support for the new republic as anti-republican parties would see right through the need for rising taxes to pay reparations to the allies. Although military expenditure was dramatically reduced, there was civil servants to be paid. Support for the new republic was crucial and as the successive governments were so fragile they avoided making civil servants redundant and even extended welfare benefits. Over the years inflation rose, prices had quadrupled in the space between 1919 and 1920.

Question 38

What were the causes of the economic problem?

Answer 38

• Legacy of war
• Versailles settlement
• Reparations
• Inflation
• Hyperinflation

Question 39

How did reparations cause economic problems?

Answer 39

For all the countries involved , the war effort required unprecedented levels of government spending. In Britain, this was financed through a combination of higher taxes and government borrowing. In Germany, however, wartime governments chose to finance the war through increased borrowing and by printing more money, which backfired majorly. Germany had to pay heavy reparations and had to pay for the war guilt.

Question 40

How did inflation continue?

Answer 40

Germany had allowed inflation to continue unchecked which was a policy fraught with danger. Prices, which had doubled between 1908 and 1909, had quadrupled again between 1919 and 1920, reaching a point where it was higher than in 1913. Governments allowed this to happen partly due to politics. Many powerful German industries were benefitting from the inflation by taking short term loans from Germany’s central bank to expand the Centre Party’s businesses. By the time the loans were due for repayment, their real value had been significantly reduced by inflation.

Question 41

How were the effects of inflation becoming uncontrollable?

Answer 41

Left unchecked, inflation eventually became uncontrollable and by 1923, Germany’s high inflation became hyperinflation. Money lost its worth as prices soared to unimaginable levels. Banks were endlessly supplied with worthless paper money. Workers collected their wages and salaries in wheelbarrows and shopping baskets, and tried ro spend their money immediately before prices rose even further. Food began to run short as specualtors hoarded supplies in anticipation of higher prices in the future. In many areas this led to a breakdown in law and order where there were food riots when crowds looted shops and gangs of city dwellers travelled to the countryside to take food from farms. There was a large increase in the number of convictions for theft. People bartered their possessions in exchange for vital supplies.

Question 42

How did the constitution contribute to the hyperinflation crisis of 1923?

Answer 42

The constitution contributed to hyperinflation crisis of 1923 by making a social security a constitutional right - the government had to support the unemployed. The costs of introducing social reforms and welfare (e.g. housing and benefits for the disabled, orphans, war widows etc) increased national debt and worsened inflation of the currency.

Question 43

Why did inflation go unchecked?

Answer 43

• Lessened the government’s burden of debt
• By 1921, unemployment in Germany was only 1.8% compared with nearly 7% in Britain.
• This in turn encouraged investment, especially from the USA.
• The devaluation of the mark meant German exports became cheaper and foreign trade boomed.
• Many powerful German industries benefitted from inflation by taking short-term loans from Germany’s bank to expand their businesses.

Question 44

Who were the winners of hyperinflation?

Answer 44

• Black-markateers who bought up food stocks and sold them at vastly inflated prices.
• Those who had debts, mortgages and loans did well since they could pay off the money they owned in worthless currency.
• Hyperinflation also helped enterprising business people who took out new loans and repaid them once the currency had devalued further.
• Those leasing property on long-term fixed rents gained because the real value of the rents they were paying decreased.
• Owners of foreign exchange and foreigners living in Germany could also benefit.
• In the countryside, most farmers coped well since food was in demand and money was less important in rural communities.

Question 45

Who were the losers of hyperinflation?

Answer 45

Those relying on savings, investments, fixed income or welfare support. Among these were students, the retired and the sick.

• Pensioners were particulalry badly hit, including war widows living on state pensions.
• Those who had patriotically lent money to the government in wartime by purchasing fixed interest rate ‘war bonds’ because the interest payments decreased in value.
• Landlords reliant on fixed rents were hit badly.
• Of the workers, the unskilled and those who did not belong to trade unions fared the worst. Although workers were given wage increases, these did not keep up with rising prices, so standards of living declined. By 1923, there was also an increase in unemployment and
  short-time working; at the end of the year, only 29.3% of the workforce was fully employed.
• Artisans and small business owners - the Mittlestand- were badly hit. Their costs rose and the prices they charged could not keep pace with inflation. They also paid a disproportionate share of taxes.
• The sick were very badly hit. The costs of medical care increased whilst the rapid rise in food prices led to widespread malnutrition. Death rates in large cities increased. The suicide rate also went up.
• Amongst children suffering from malnutrition, the incidence of diseases such as tuberculosis and rickets - both of which are associated with dietary deficiency - increased.

Question 46

Invasion of the Ruhr Key Events

Answer 46

• Germany couldn’t pay war reparations. They paid in other ways, one of which was that they had to give all of the coal and industry from the saad region to the various allied powers.
• They had to pay in all these gold marks which they couldn’t do, so the payment kept on being delayed resulting in angry allied powers.
• In 1923, the Germans were extremely far behind on the reparation payment so the French and the Belgiums decided to invae a region called the Ruhr.
• They specifically invaded the Ruhr because it was an incredibly industrialised area. France always had the iron mines, Germany always had the coal mines and the Ruhr was the region with the most coal mines in germany. This region was then occupied by France and Belgium soldiers.
• It was a demilitarised zone so there was no one defending it. The Germans couldn’t fight because the TOV had decreased the number of troops they could have in the army; they also had no submarines, 6 battleships and no air force. They did outnumber the French and the Belgium but if they attacked it could have resulted in another war and Germany was in no fit state to start another war.
• The French and Belgian establish a new government called thr Renish Republic. They then moved 150,000 Germans out of the area who weren’t involved in the coal industry. The remaining workers were forced to stay. They dumped the 150,000 over the border into Germany and barred them from entering again. German right wing and the nationalist elements of German society were especially enraged.
• The Germans went on strike and thr French and Belgians replied by firing into the crow killing a lot of protestors.
• People in the Ruhr as well as people in Kaikoura and nationalist movements outside of Germany caused problems for the French and Belgium as they sabotaged and blew places up. They hoped that this would apply pressure to their own government.
• Weimar tell the workers to keep the strike going and they persuaded them by still paying them even though they were on strike. This caused Germany to print a lot of more money.
• Leads to huge inflation. Germans carrying wheelbarrows of money just to pay for bread. Whole savings would just be enough to get a Freddo.
• People continued to strike so the French and Belgian occupiers became progressively more brutal in their attempts to surpress it with machine gun posts set around the streets. One incident of a seven year old boy led to outrage around the world.

Question 47

How did social welfare increase the crisis?

Answer 47

After WW1 there was an increased number of people who required support (injured soldiers).

Weimar came from a place of revolution as a result of poor conditions (November 1918, soldiers and workers)

In the new Weimar republic they had a constitutional right for work or welfare.

E.G. Limited working day Act (1919) National Youth Welfare Act

Hugely expensive

By November 1923 the exchange rate stood at 4.2 billion marks to the dollar.

Some 200 factories worked full time to produce bank notes

In 1914 a loaf of bread cost 1 mark and by late 1923 a loaf cost 100 billion marks.

Question 48

Beer Hall Putsch in Munich Key Events

Answer 48

• In November 1923, Hitler made a bid to seize power.
• Knowing the key to success was the support of powerful figures, and having secured the support of Ludendorff, he set out to win over Gustav Ritter von Kahr and Otto von Lossow, the local army commander.
• 8 November - Burst into Munich Beer Hall, where the two were addressing a meeting of 200, surrounding it with his Stormtroopers (SA) and announcing that the revolution had begun.
• At gun point by Hitler in a side room, Kahr and von Lossow were persuaded to agree to his plan to march on Berlin and to install Ludendorff as the new Commander-in-Chief.
• Their support evaporated over night and so too did Hitler’s chances of persuading others. The Stormtroopers were unable to gain control of the Munich army barracks and by the next day, 9 November, if was clear that Hitler’s original plan had failed.
• Nevertheless, he went ahead. Gun battle with police occurred and later became part of the folklore of the ‘courageous’ Nazis,
• Hitler fell and dislocated his shoulder, possibly in response to the shooting of Ludendorff with whom he had linked arms. He fled, only to be captured the next day, and Ludendorff handed himself over to the police straight up.
• Showed importance of the army to the political survival of the regime. General Seeckt sent in troops to deal with the aftermath of the abortive putsch, and central control over Bavaria was soon re-imposed.
• The Nazis were banned and Hitler imprisoned (although he served just nine months of his five year sentence). Hitler became famous through speech, but Hitler knew judges would be lenient. Wrote Mein Kapff in prison although it was not widely read until 1932 and more so in January 1933.

Question 49

“Extremism posed a serious threat to Weimar in its early years (1919-1923)

Answer 49

• Hitler and Nazis - 50,000 in the munich march. WW1 veteran Ludendorff helped lead it. Although Hitler was captured, it was good for him because the Putsch trial was heavily televised and documented giving him a staging ground to convince people that his cause was right and just and how he wanted to see Germany rise from the ashes of loss and defeat. Very good speaker. Many were convinced. Judge sentenced him to 5 years but only served 9 months because he was such a good speaker. Imprisonment allowed him to write his manifesto disguised as an autobiography. Posed a serious threat to the Weimar Republic because Hitler appealed to the extreme right wing and the Freikorps who were very aggressive. Not only that but he was very charismatic and could speak well making him a beacon of hope. As he was a right wing nationalist he was given unlimited time to speak. His charisma and the fact that the trial was documented made Hitler a celebrity. He posed enough of a threat to be voted in.
• Freikorps were a serious threat because they were very aggressive and were full of army personel. The Freikorps and Kapp Putsch attempt to seize power in Berlin. The only reason they left was because of the workers strike as there was no power, no electricty and the railroads had stopped. They got into Berlin nonetheless. They recruited junior officers and NCOs. When it suited them, the government used them showing how much power they actually had. Led by WW1 veteran General Walther von Lüttwitz.
• Many Freikorps members joined the SA and Nazi Party (Rohm).
• The Kapp Putsch were able to overthrow the government and were only taken down because of the workers strike.

Question 50

“Extremism was not a serious threat to Weimar in its early years (1919-1923)”

Answer 50

• Left wing extremists. Protests and uprisings were consistently stopped by the Freikorps. Disagreements among L/W revolts’ aims and priorities lessened their threat level because it was confusing what they aimed to do which showed in the fact that they lacked popular support. 50,000 Spartacist revolt, 300 in Hamburg (1923) Minority of working class. Lacked funds and resources to get weapons for revolutionary struggle. The Government and the Freikorps and the army were all committed to put down communists. Buchrucker Putsch and army depose left wing govt. in Saxony and Thuringia.
• The Freikorps were undisciplined. They attracted students, drifters and junior officers. They took hold of Berlin for a while but it was veey brief as the workers went on strike.
• Beer Hall Putsch failed miserably. Police fired on the march and Hitler was injured. Hoped to gain support along the way, only gained 50,000. Ludendorff gave himself up. Stopped very quickly. 10 Nazis and 4 police officerd killed.

Question 51

Spartaist Uprising key events

Answer 51

• 5 January 1919 - Spartacist League, led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, staged an armed uprising in Berlin to overthrow Ebert’s government and set up a revolutionary communist regime.
• Newspaper offices and pubkic buildingd were occupied. Revolt was poorly prepared and poorly supported, as the Spartacists had not secured the support of the majority of the working class in Berlin, in whose name they claimed to be acting.
• Ebert’s government relied upon the army, but General Groener had few reliable military units at his command. He therefore had to use the irregular forces of the new Freikorps.
• By 13 January, the Spartacist rising had been crushed after brutal street fighting in which many prisoners, including Liebknecht and Luxemburg, were executed.
• Defeat of the uprising cleared the way for the goverment to hold elections to the Constituent Assembly later in January, but the brutality with which the revolt had been suppressed, and Ebert’s reliance on the army and the Freikorps, deepened the divisions on the Left for many years to come.

Question 52

Left wing risings timeline

Answer 52

• March 1919 - There was another Spartacist Rising in Berlin. In Bavaria, a communist government based on workers’ councils, were established. These were both suppressed.
• April 1919 - There was a wave of strikes in Germany’s industrial heartlands of Halle and the Ruhr galley. As well as asking for shorter hours, the strikes demanded more control over their own industries and a government based on workers’ councils.
• 1920 - The troubles continued, and after the workers had shown their power in defeating the right wing Kapp Putsch with a general strike in Berlin, communists formed a ‘Red Army’ of 50000 workers and seized control of the Ruhr. A virtual civil war followed as the regular army and Freikorps struggled to crush the rising. Troubles also broke out in Halle and Dresden, and over 1000 workers and 250 soldiers and police were killed. More disturbances in Saxony and Thuringia, where the workers organised self-defence units, were also put down in April.
• March 1921 - The KPD tried to force a revolution, beginning with a rising in Saxony. The strike disruption spread ro Hamburg and the Ruhr, but the risings were crushed by the police and 145 people were killed.
• 1923 - There was a further bout of strike activity at the time of Germany’s economic collapse. This was again centred in Saxony and Hamburg, but it too was suppressed.

Question 53

What were the consequences of the left wing uprisings?

Answer 53

The government was never seriously threatened by these left wing revolts, but continued working class rebellions did damage the Republic as fear of a ‘red revolution’ frightened the law-abiding middle classes into supporting right wing parties.

Question 54

How many political assassinations were there?

Answer 54

In total there had been 376 political assassinations between 1919 and 1923. The right-wing nationalists were more aggressive compared to the left, carrying out 354 assassinations as opposed to a measly 22 by the left. This is because of the right-wing’s hatred towards the new government. In July 1922, the Reichstag passed a law ‘for the protection of the Republic,’ which introduced severe punishments for those involved in conspiracy to murder and banned extremist organisations. Organisation Consul was forcibly disbanded, but the law was not effective due to the judges (who had to enforce it) were often right-wing sympathisers. In Bavaria, the conservative government even refused to implement the new law allowing the Nazi movement to establish itself. Whilst 326 right-wing murderers went unpunished and only one was convicted and sentenced to severe punishment until 1923, 10 left-wing murderers were sentenced to death.

Question 55

Assassination of Erzberger

Answer 55

In August 1921, the former finance minister, Matthias Erzberger, was assassinated in the Black Forest by two members of the terrorist league Organisation Consul. He had already been shot in January and left wounded, but the assassins were determined to complete the job. Erzberger had led the German delegation for the signing of the armistice and had signed the Treaty of Versailles. He was also German’s representative on the reparations committee. Even after he was buried, his widow continued to receive abusive letters, including threats to defile his grave.

Question 56

Assassination of Rathenau

Answer 56

On 24 June 1922, it was the turn of the foreign minister, Walther Rathenau. He was driving to work in an open-top car when four assassins from Organisation Consul shot at him and hurled a hand grenade for good measure. Rathenau’s ‘crimes’ were to be a Jew and a leading minister in the republican government. He had participated in the signing of the armistice and had negotiated with the Allies to try and improve the Treaty of Versailles. Nevertheless Rathenau had been a popular figure and the following day over 700,000 protesters lined the streets of Berlin. The assassination had an impact abroad too; the value of the mark fell as other countries feared the repercussions.

Question 57

What was the political impact of the invasion of the Ruhr?

Answer 57

Germany was swept by a wave of anti-French feeling and the country was more united than at any time since the end of the war. However, many blamed the government for what happened and middle-class support for the Republic was severely damaged. Organisations representing the Mittlestand accused the government of failing in its responsibility to protect independent small traders and artisans. On the left, the communists tried to use the crisis to stage uprisings in some areas. Moreover, after the ending of passive resistance, the nationalist right accused the government of betrayal. The occupation of the Ruhr, and the subsequent hyperinflation crisis, were the backdrop to the last attempt to overthrow the Republic by force in 1923 by a small Bavarian-based party known as the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP or Nazi Party).