Germany: Weimar Flashcards
January elections
. Sweeping victory for parties favouring democracy
. SPD, USPD, Zentrum: won 80% of vote between em
. Newly elected assembly met in Weimar in Feb 1919 . Berlin: violent clashes between Spartacists and military was reckoned to be too dangerous
Hugo Preuss
. A liberal law professor, already begun work on new constitution + assembly debated his proposals
. He favoured a strong central gov, others wanted more decentralised federal structure that’d give power to individual Lander
. Compromise: accepted by 262 votes to 72 in Aug
New Constitution
. Lander govs given control of their police, schools + judges
. Taxation + military in hands of central gov
. Prussia + Bavaria also lost their monarchies
New Constitution - President (Head of State)
. Elected every 7yrs by men + women over 20
. Appointed + dismissed ministers + could dissolve Reichstag + call new elections
. Supreme commander of the armed forces
. Under Article 48: reserve powers to rule by decree in an emergency without the Reichstag’s consent
. Answerable to the Reichstag
New Constitution - Chancellor
. Appointed by President . Had to have support of at least half the Reichstag . Proposed new laws to Reichstag . Drafts laws for Reichstag to debate . Advised by The Reichsrat
New Constitution - The Reichsrat
. The 2nd chamber of the German parliament, made up of 67 reps from separate 17 states
. Repped in proportion to population, but no state had 40%+ of the seats to prevent Prussian dominance
. Could provide advice on laws but could be overridden by the Reichstag
New Constitution - Individual voter’s rights
. Vote for Reichstag every 4yrs + Pres for every 7yrs
. Vote occasionally on important issues
. ‘All Germans are equal before the law’
. Freedom of speech, conscience and travel
. Right to belong to trade unions, political parties etc
. Employees equal rights w employers to determine working conditions + wages
. Use intellectual + physical powers in interest of community
New Constitution - the Reichstag
. Elected every 4yrs by all Germans over 20 using proportional representation
. Chancellor + ministers responsible to Reichstag
. Voted on budget; new laws had to originate in Reichstag and required approval of a majority of Reichstag deputies
New Constitution - Other features
. Supreme court, independent of the Reichstag and the President
. The Republic had a federal system whereby there were separate state govs in the 17 Lander which kept control of their own internal affairs
Spartacists
. Angered by the dismissal of prominent USPD officials, a left wing demonstration broke out 5 Jan
. Karl Liebknecht + Rosa Luxembourg gave speeches to encourage the workers’ rebellion + inspire them to overthrow the SPD gov before elections took place
. SPD’s newspaper offices were occupied + a revolutionary committee formed
Ebert’s response to Spartacists
. He turned to General Noske, Defense Minister
. Noske acted severely, using bands of Freikorps who hated Communists
. 10-12 Jan: savage street fighting, 100+ workers killed
. Rosa + Karl captured + killed despite gov orders
. Left wing no longer saw SPD as their saviour but as their enemy, felt v betrayed
Other left wing unrest 1919
- March ‘19: another Spartacist uprising in Berlin
. Communist Gov established in Bavaria after Kurt Eisner’s assassination in Feb, worker’s soviets announced in Munich - April-May: strikes in Halle + Ruhr valley, demanded worker’s control over industry, a gov based on soviets + shorter hrs. Gov called on Freikorps, 1200 workers killed in Berlin, further 700 in Bavaria - new Communist gov overthrown in favour of right wing regime
Other left wing unrest 1920
. March: General strike in Berlin helped defeat right wing coup. ‘Red army’ formed of 50,000 workers + seized control of Ruhr. Also struggles in Halle + Dresden: 1000+ workers + 250 soldiers + police killed
. Dec: USPD (400,000 members) voted to join KPD (78,000 members). Increased left wing strength + confidence
Other left wing unrest 1921-23
. March ‘21: attempted Communist rising in Merseburg in Saxony. Strike disruption in Hamburg + Ruhr. Risings crushed + 145 killed in Ruhr
. ‘23: further strike activity, at a time of economic collapse, w main centres being in Saxony + Hamburg
. Also 22 political assassinations during period
Right wing Opposition
. ‘stab in the back’ myth: victory snatched from Germany by revolutionary disruption
. hatred of Treaty of Versailles
. referred to treaty as a ‘diktat’ - ‘dictated’ peace without Germany’s consultation
. hostility directed at politicians for agreeing to it
Harbors of right wing opposition
. Freikorps
. Army
. Large landowners, industrialists, civil servants, police + judges were traditional, conservative
. Bc of wealth + influence, they wielded considerable amount of power
Right wing opposition - 1920
. Jan: the gov started to reduce size of army + to disband some Freikorps units in accordance w demands of Treaty of Versailles
. Feb: Noske ordered 2 Freikorps units, stationed 12 miles from Berlin + comprising 12,000 men to disband
- General Walther von Luttwitz, commanding general, refused + gov ordered his arrest
Kapp Putsch
. March ‘20: Luttwitz + Freikorps leader, Captain Hermann Erhardt, sympathisers + politician Wolfgang Kapp marched troops into Berlin
. Kapp proclaimed himself Chancellor
. Ebert’s gov fled to Dresden + ordered army to crush
. General von Seeckt: “Troops do not fire on troops”
. Workers called a strike across all of Germany
. Berlin to a standstill, Putsch collapsed after 4 days
Result of Kapp Putsch
. Kapp + Luttwitz forced to flee
. Showed the army couldn’t be trusted
. Without army support, Weimar gov weak
. The leniency shown by right wing judges towards those brought to trial, only one defendant punished, contrasted strongly w harsh treatment of left wing
Right-wing leagues
. Vaterlandische Verbande (Patriotic Leagues)
. Committed to elimination of prominent politicians + those who betrayed Germany
. Often formed from old Freikorps units + acted as fiercely anti-Republican paramilitaries
. Some actively supported by regular army
Victims of Right Wing Leagues
. USPD Hugo Haase shot in front of the Reichstag in Oct 1919
. Aug 1921: former Finance Minister Matthias Erzberger, assassinated by terrorist league ‘Organisation Consul’
. June 1922: Foreign Minister Walther Rathenau killed by same organisation
. 354 right wing political assassinations 1919-23
‘For the Protection of the Republic’
. July 1922, 5 year law
. Placed severe penalties on those involved in conspiracy to murder
. Outlawed extreme organisations, Organisation Consul forced to disband
. Limited effect bc right wing sympathies of judges
. Conservative gov in Bavaria refused to implement
. 326 right wing murders unpunished, only 1 convicted + sentenced to severe punishment before 1923
Reparations
. £6.6bil in total, 66 annual instalments of £100mil
. 1923: Inter-Allied Commission declared Germany were in arrears w timber + coal payments
. 11 Jan: French + Belgian troops went into Ruhr to take coal, steel + manufactured goods from Germany as reparations
Occupation of the Ruhr
. Gov responded w ‘passive resistance’, Germans refused to work for the French
. Workers given strike pay + told not to co-operate
. French reacted brutally: shooting, hostages, aggressive house searches
. 132 lost their lives, 150,000 expelled from area
. French brought in own workers, but by May 1923 mines were producing only third of average for 1922 + overall output in Ruhr fell by a fifth