The Establishment of the Weimar Republic and Its Early Problems

Question 1

Why had the first world war caused suffering among Germans

Answer 1

• There were dreadful food shortages due to low domestic production and because the Allies had imposed a naval blockade to prevent imports of food
• Germany promised quick victory in 1914, however, after 4 years of fighting German troops had been forced to retreat and the country facd the threat of military occupation
• In late October 1918 German commanders at Kiel ordered the ships to fight against British naval forces, the sailors led a mutiny and refused to fight. Over the next fortnight there were strikes and protests across Germany and other soldiers also mutinied

Question 2

Why did the Kaiser abdicate

Answer 2

The Allies insisted that peace could not come until the Kaiser abdicated, but he would not stand down. On the 9th of November 1918 the Kaiser accepted that he could not continue to rule and abdicated. He fled to Holland to live in exile.

Question 3

When was the armistice signed and by who

Answer 3

On the 10th of November 1918 a new republic was set up and a new president took office, Friedrich Ebert. The next day an armistice was agreed by Germany and the Allies, Ebert’s representative, Matthias Erzberger, signed the armistice to officially end WW1.

Question 4

Why did Germans see the politicians who signed the armistice as traitors

Answer 4

Senior members of the German army claimed that Germany was close to victory and that it did not need to surrender, many Germans chose to believe this and did not accept they had lost the war. To these people the politicians who signed the armistice were traitors and this came to be known as the ‘stab in the back’.

Question 5

The Weimar Republic

Answer 5

• The Weimar constitution guaranteed every German citizen freedom of speech and religion, and equality under the law
• All men and women over the age of 20 had the right to vote
• It was set up as a parliamentary democracy in which the elected Reichstag made the laws and appointed the government
• The head of the government was the chancellor, he was elected every 7 years and could use his powers to provide checks and balances to the Reichstag
• The Weimar republic consisted of 18 states organised as a federation, each had its own parliament, passed its own laws and ran its own police force

Question 6

What was Ebert’s approach

Answer 6

He tried to reach out to different interest groups in Germany through a mixture of compromises and alliances:

• Kept the state running smoothly by keeping civil servants from previous government and telling them to work with the new workers’ and soldiers’ councils
• Reassured industry leaders that the new government would not take state control over private industries
• Promised trade unions that the new republic would try to reduce working hours to an 8-hour day

Question 7

Why did the new republic face opposition from the start

Answer 7

• Many of the country’s senior figures such as army leaders and judges did not support the new democratic republic
• Many other Germans wanted the Kaiser to return
• Others influenced by the 1917 Russian revolution wanted a communist revolution in Germany to get rid of the industrialists and the traditional ruling class

Question 8

Weaknesses of the Weimar Constitution

Answer 8

• Germany was politically divided and economically damaged, for the new system to be a success politicians and other powerful forces in Germany would have to work together. However, there was a lack of commitment to do this
• The system of proportional representation gave many different political views a say, however, this type of political system requires cooperation and compromise and post war Germany had no experience in running a political system this way

Question 9

Why was proportional representation a weakness

Answer 9

• Many small and sometimes extremist parties on seats, this led to an unstable government because no individual party had a majority and several parties had to form a coalition
• Coalitions often broke down this caused a series of short-term governments that were unable to effectively address Germany’s problems as a nation. The politicians were seen as unhelpful and self-interested which led to resentment among the general public

Question 10

After the armistice Germany expected to be punished but it was hopeful the treaty would not be too harsh since:

Answer 10

• Most Germans believed they had been forced into the war and that all the countries involved should take responsibility
• The Allies might want to give the new German government a chance to restore stability as a harsh treaty would make that difficult
• The president of the USA Woodrow Wilson was a key figure in negotiations and was keen to make the treaty fair because he thought that harsh terms would lead to German bitterness and desire for revenge in the longer term
• The Allies wouldn’t blame the new government for the decisions of the Kaiser?

Question 11

What did France want/ Georges Clemenceau

Answer 11

• Wanted to make Germany pay for the terrible destruction that had occurred in France during the war
• Wanted to weaken German forces to prevent another attack on France from Germany

Question 12

What did Britain/David Lloyd George want

Answer 12

• Keen to avoid a peace settlement that might lead to war in the future
• However wouldn’t let off Germany lightly as he had won the election during the campaign where they promised to ‘squeeze the German lemon until the pips squeak’

Question 13

Germany had to give up land both in Germany and overseas

Answer 13

Germany lost about 13% of its European territories, as a result it lost almost 50% of its iron reserves and 15% of its coal reserves. Furthermore, it lost all of its colonies in Africa and the Far east

Question 14

What were the terms in the treaty of Versailles

Answer 14

• Give up land in Germany and overseas
• Germany had to accept the blame for the war - War guilt
• Germany had to pay reparations to the allies of 132 billion marks
• German military forces were cut (100,000 soldiers to be used internally only, the navy was limited, no tanks, no submarines, and no air force)

Question 15

German reaction to the treaty

Answer 15

Germany was shocked by the harshness of the treaty as it had not been allowed to participate in the negotiations. At first it refused to sign however the allies threatened to restart the war if they didn’t. War guilt caused a lot of resentment among Germans as it justified the allies for wanting reparations and blamed Germany for the war. Many German people felt that the Allies were seeking to weaken them with the treaty and labelled the politicians who signed the treaty as the ‘November Criminals’. Several politicians who argued that Germany had no choice but to sign were assassinated.

Question 16

What was the Spartacist Uprising

Answer 16

After the abdication of the Kaiser, the Spartacus league tried to set up a communist government in Berlin on the 5th of January 1919. They organised a revolt and occupied the headquarters of the government newspaper and telephone offices and attempted to bring about a general strike. The government found it hard to put this down as the treaty of versailles had limited the army, however, the freikorps (units of volunteer soldiers) who hated communism soon ended the revolt. The leaders Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, were shot by freikorp fighters.

Question 17

What was the Kapp Putsch

Answer 17

When the treaty reduced the army to only 100,000 soldiers many ex-soldiers felt unable to adjust to the civilian life. These men joined together to from the volunteer freikorps. In March of 1920, Ebert tried to disband two freikorp units. The freikorps revolted marching to Berlin and declaring Dr Wolfgang Kapp as Germany’s new leader. Kapp was an extreme nationalist who had the support of a number of army officers, the German army refused to stop the freikorps as they felt sympathy for the aim of the putsch. Ebert was forced to appeal to the people for support and encouraged people to go on a general strike to stop the revolt. As soon as the city could no longer function Kapp realised he didn’t have the necessary support to Govern Germany and so fled to Sweden, the government returned to Berlin and the freikorps were disbanded.

Question 18

What did the Putsch show

Answer 18

• It showed that the government had little military power and could not control its own capital
• It also revealed that the government seemed to have the support of the majority of the people in Berlin, or at least they preferred Ebert’s government to Kapp’s extreme right wing politics

Question 19

Why was Germany close to bankruptcy in 1918

Answer 19

Due to the cost of the war

Question 20

What led to the invasion of the Ruhr

Answer 20

Germany was already close to bankruptcy, the allies made this even worse by demanding huge reparations payments. The Allies took away some of Germany’s income generating areas and so Germany struggled to make the payments and asked for them to be reduced. However, the Allies had taken loans during the war and they needed the money from Germany to repay the money they owed to the US. When in late 1922 Germany failed to pay some instalments and in December 1922 missed another payment it led to French retaliation.

Question 21

What was the invasion of the Ruhr

Answer 21

In January 1923 Belgian and French troops marched into the Ruhr, the centre of Germany’s production of iron, steel and coal. Germans had fallen behind with their payments and the French and Belgians decided to take industrial products instead. German government was angered by this but could not take military action and so encouraged the workers in the Ruhr to carry out passive resistance. German workers went on strike and stopped producing goods that the French could seize. Some sabotaged factories and mines so that production had to stop. In response the French brought in their own workers. There was fighting between the French and the Germans however the occupation did not end until 1925 after the Dawes Plan was signed.

Question 22

Effects of the invasion of the Ruhr

Answer 22

• It brought the government temporary popularity as they provided strike pay for those taking part in passive resistance and united the German nation against the French and Belgians
• Germany lost income as a result of of France and Belgium taking industrial products this forced Germany to print more money to pay the striking workers which resulted in the fall of value of the notes and caused Germany to enter a period of hyperinflation

Question 23

Causes Hyperinflation in 1923

Answer 23

During the first world war the German government started to print more money to pay for the cost of the war. After it lost the war, it printed even more money so it could pay for the reparations demanded by the treaty. After the invasion of the Ruhr it was forced to print yet more money to pay the striking workers. The value of the mark dropped dramatically between 1914 and 1923, this caused prices to rise drastically.

Question 24

Effects of Hyperinflation

Answer 24

• Hyperinflation forced millions of Germans into poverty, people on fixed incomes such as pensioners were affected the most badly
• The value of peoples savings or insurance policies was also wiped out overnight
• For people in work the situation was not that bad because their wages rose as well, however, the increase in wages was always slower than the price rises
• People with loans and mortgages benefitted from hyperinflation as they could pay them off more easily because the real value of the loan had fallen, this helped some businesses as they were able to pay off their business loans more quickly
• People who owned possessions such as land or buildings were generally protected as the value of these possessions rose in line with inflation
• Most farmers benefited because the food produced could be sold at higher prices

Although some were able to benefit hyperinflation was a disaster for Germany. Millions of middle-class Germans were thrown into poverty and blamed the Weimar government for their problems. People were desperate and there was a danger that the government might be overthrown if the country’s economic problems were not resolved.