Weimar Germany Flashcards
WW1 was devastating for Germany:
- Near war’s end, German people were suffering severe hardship.
- Allies had set up naval blockades which prevented imports of food and essential goods. By 1918 Germany as starving.
- Public opinion turned against Kaiser Wilhelm, who ruled the German Empire. Many Germans wanted democracy and an end to the war - there was widespread unrest.
- October 1918 German navy mutinied in Kiel which sparked rebellions all over Germany.
Social unrest in Germany caused by them losing the war turned into revolution:
- By Nov 1918 situation in Germany verged on civil war. Huge public protest in Berlin + members of Social Democratic Party (SPD) called for Kaiser’s resignation.
- Nov 9th 1918 Kaiser abdicated and two socialist parties (SPD + USPD) declared a republic - Germany was no longer an empire + had a chance to become a democracy.
The signing of the armistice:
- Nov 11th 1918 Ebert, (Chancellor of newly declared German Republic) signed the Armistice, accepting the ceasefire.
- The Armistice wasn’t supported by some right-wing Germans who saw the truce as a betrayal (dolschtos) because they believed Germany could still win the war if they kept fighting.
- They called Ebert + the Weimar Republic the November Criminals.
The socialists set up a temporary government when Kaiser abdicated:
- After abdication of the Kaiser, Germany was disorganised - different political parties had claimed control over different towns.
- A temporary national government was established, consisting of SPD + USPD (Council of People’s Representatives).
- It controlled Germany until Jan 1919, when elections were held for a new Reichstag.
The Weimar Republic was formed:
- Council of People’s Representatives organised elections Jam 1919 to create new Reichstag.
- For the first time Germany was a democracy, so the German people would have a say in how the country was run.
- Ebert (leader of SPD) became the first President, with Scheidemann as Chancellor.
- Feb 1919 members of new Reichstag met at Weimar to create a new constitution for Germany. The Weimar Republic was formed.
The Weimar Constitution made Germany more democratic:
+President elected every 7 years by the population.
+Reichstag members elected every 4 years (using proportional representation) by the population.
+Men + women had the vote at the age of 20.
+Chancellor needs the confidence of the Reichstag.
+No single party had all the power.
The Weimar Constitution had weaknesses:
- Proportional representation meant that even parties with few votes were guaranteed to get into the Reichstag - no party could get the majority.
- This made it difficult to make decisions because there were lots of parties + they all had different views.
- Article 48 allowed the President to pass laws without the Reichstag’s consent in the case of an emergency.
- This undermined the new democracy.
Ebert signed the Treaty of Versailles:
- After the Armistice, a peace treaty called the Treaty of Versailles was imposed on Germany. It’s terms were mostly decided by the Allied leaders (Britain, France, USA).
- The new German government wasn’t to the peace conference in 1919 and had no say in the TofV.
- Ebert had little choice but to sign the TofV as German was too weak to risk restarting conflict.
The terms of the Treaty of Versailles were severe:
1) Article 231 said Germany had to take the blame for the war.
2) The army was limited to 100,000 soldiers, and the navy to 15,000. They could only have 6 warships and no submarines, tanks or aircraft.
3) Germany forced to pay £6.6 billion in reparations for damage caused in the war.
4) Germany lost its overseas colonies - they became ‘mandates’ run by the Allies on behalf of the League of Nations.
5) Rhineland would be occupied by the Allies for 15 years and no German troops allowed in the area.
Why was the Weimar Republic so unpopular?
- Germans called it ‘Diktat’ - a treaty forced upon Germany.
- Many Germans felt betrayed by the Weimar Republic for accepting the TofV unnecessarily as they believed they could have won the war.
- Weimar Republic became associated with the pain and humiliation caused by the Treaty of Versailles.
- This played an important part in the failure of the WR as it harmed their popularity and created unrest that hindered the WR for years.
- Germany lost 10% of its industry and 15% of its agriculture, weakening its economy.
Left-wing revolutionaries (Spartacus League)
- Getting rid of the Kaiser was just the beginning. Now they wanted real social revolution like the Russian Revolution of 1917.
- They did not trust Ebert + the Social Democrats to look after the interests of working people.
- The main group of revolutionaries was known as the Spartacus League.
- Many members of the League wanted to try to seize power from the Social Democrats straight away while Berlin was still in turmoil.
- But their leader, Rosa Luxemberg, thought they would need to wait until the workers in Germany were disillusioned with Ebert’s government.
Social Democrats (right-wing)
- For the Social Democrats, getting rid of the Kaiser was the end of the revolution.
- They liked communist ideas, however they wouldn’t actually follow through with a communist revolution.
- They were too afraid of losing the support of the rich elite (landowners; industrialists) who had been so important to Germany’s success before the war.
- Their problem now was how to keep control of Germany + prevent the more extreme left wing revolutionaries from taking over.
- Ebert used the army and the Freikorps (volunteer ex-soldiers) to help do this.
Spartacist League Uprising, January 1919
Left-wing attempt to overthrow govt in Jan 1919:
—>Thought WR wasn’t going far enough.
—>Wanted to turn Germany into Communist country, influenced by Bolshevik Revolution in Russia (1917).
—>Over 500 people were killed in the uprising.
—>Leaders of the Spartacists, Rosa Luxemburg + Karl Liebknecht, were brutally killed by the Freikorps.
—>Underlined weakness of WG - it’s level of opposition + need for army support.
—>Jews became Germany’s scapegoats since it was mostly the Jews who wanted Bolshevikism.
Kapp Putsch, March 1920
Right-wing attempt to overthrow govt in March 1920:
—>The terms of Treaty of Versailles meant Germany’s army had to be significantly reduced and the Freikorps had to be disbanded.
—>This mass unemployment triggered the rebellion as members of the Freikorps didn’t want to become unemployed again as they had after the WW1, so they turned against the govt.
—> Leader of Berlin Freikorps, Erdhardt joined with Wolfgang Kapp, a leading right-wing politician, to set up a new govt with Kapp as Chancellor.
—>When 5000 Freikorps marched on Berlin, Ebert ordered the German Army to stop the rebellion. However, the Army refused to do anything as they did not wish to act against former soldiers.
—>Ebert called on the workers of Berlin to go on strike and refuse to cooperate. Kapp fled to Sweden and Ebert had won.
—>After this no one trusts the WR, but they appear stronger since they had the support of the workers.
Why was 1923 a bad year in Germany?
- Germany couldn’t pay TofV reparations in full, so the French decided to take it by force.
- Jan 1923 France + Belgium soldiers occupied the Ruhr (heart of Germany’s industry) - Ruhr is in Rhineland, so no German troops there to stop them.
- The French aimed to extract the unpaid reparations and took control of key industries and natural resources.
- WR instructed the Ruhr workers to go on strike, instead of helping the French - passive resistance.
- WR started to print more money in order to pay the striking German workers in the Ruhr.
- Money lost its value and this led to hyperinflation.
- Gustav Stresemann becomes new Chancellor 1923 + tries to fix hyperinflation.
- Munich Putsch 1923 - Hitler gathers Nazis + with General Ludendorff, tries to take over while Germany is still weak. (Right-wing coup fails, not enough Nazis.)
