Weimar Republic Flashcards
Control of Germany - Social Democrats
Moderates but called each other ‘comrade’.
Wanted to keep support of the elite
Led by Friedrich Ebert
Control of Germany - Left Wing
Wanted social revolution like Russians
Main group - Spartacus League led by Rosa Luxemburg
Disagreed on full frontal assault or waiting until failure of Ebert’s government
Spartacist Uprising
Attempted revolution in Berlin
Captured government telegraph office but didn’t get support of other left wing groups - easily crushed by Freikorps.
Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht murdered by Freikorps
Spartacists never recover
Reasons for a more lenient Treaty of Versailles
Kaiser had gone - New Democratic republic
New republic needed support
Wilson believed in a fair treaty
Germany was not solely to blame for the war
Dire economic state
Weimar Constitution
Equal rights for Germans
Proportional Representation in Reichstag
Strong president needed to safeguard country
States governed their own affairs
Crises of 1923 - Occupation of Ruhr
Germany didn’t keep up its reparations payments
France invade German industrial land
Passive resistance by Germans
No money brought in for the German government
Crises of 1923 - Hyperinflation
Germany printed more money to counteract lack of money from Ruhr
Hyperinflation ensued - costs tripling in days
Loaf of bread goes from 400dm to 130 million dm
Unemployment skyrockets
Weimar Republic blamed for it
Crises of 1923 - Munich Putsch
Attempted coup by Hitler and the nazi party
Didn’t get support of the army or the state government which was heavily right wing
Hitler thrown in jail
How Weimar Republic dealt with crises in 1923
Stresemann becomes chancellor - calls off passive resistance
Government abandons old currency in favour of reichsmark
Gets right wing army to depose left wing states so they would be more willing to take down right wing Bavarian government
German government resumes reparations under the Dawes Plan
Political Recovery 1924-29
Constant coalition - Never a one party majority in Reichstag
Hindenburg becomes president in 1925
More stable governments with similar ideals
Economic recovery 1924-29
Dawes plan restructures reparations
Unemployment still a large problem
Agricultural income declines
Industrial output goes down
Foreign Policy 1924-29
Germany signs Locarno treaty 1925
Enters League of Nations in 1926
Earned a permanent seat on the council
Young Plan reduces reparations amount
Weimar Culture
Painting - everyday life shown in an objective way - new objectivity
George Grosz and Otto Dix notable painters now
Architecture - Bauhaus movement
Cabaret and Theatre very popular in Berlin
Berlin described as sleazy and corrupt by outside Germans
