Revision Diary

Weimar Germany

         

Origins of the Weimar Republic; effects of the Treaty of Versailles on Germany;

Problems of the Weimar Republic, 1918-1924: political weakness; challenges from the Left and Right; Spartacists; Kapp Putsch; invasion of the Ruhr; hyperinflation.

Recovery of the economy; the Dawes and Young Plans; the role of Stresemann.

  

Make sure you have detailed factual knowledge about AND HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT the following issues and topics:

  

HOW FAR DID the early problems of the Weimar Republic suggest that it was doomed from the start?

1.  A description of the Weimar republic.

2.  The effects of the Treaty of Versailles on Germany.

3.  The STORY of the Weimar Republic's problems 1918-1924, including:

a.  the Spartacist revolt

b.  the Kapp Putsch

c.  the STORY of the crisis of 1923 (invasion of Ruhr / hyperinflation)

d.  the effects of hyperinflation

4.  How did the Weimar Republic survive?

  

How far did the Weimar Republic recover under Stresemann?

5.  The period of Weimar Prosperity

6.  the role of Stresemann.

 

 

and that you are able to explain:

 

    

  

  

HOW FAR DID the early problems of the Weimar Republic suggest that it was doomed from the start?

     

The Weimar Constitution

Background

•     At the end of October 1918, the German navy mutinied. Rebellion spread throughout the country.  

•     In November Germany dropped out of the First World War.  

•     Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated and fled the country.  A Republic was declared.  

•     The Allies made sure that Germany got a different kind of government.   Under Wilhelm II, Germany was almost a military autocracy; after 1919, it was a parliamentary democracy.   

•     In January 1919, elections were held for a new Reichstag.

•     In February 1919, in the town of Weimar, the new government was agreed.

Meat

•     A Bill of Rights guaranteed equality, and religious & political freedom.

•     The Reichstag was elected by all men and women over 20

•     The President (Freidrich Ebert) was elected.

•     The government had to be the ruling party in the Reichstag.

End

•     "The Constitution was a brave attempt to set up a democratic government" EXCEPT...

•     The elections were held by proportional representation (= problem).

•     Article 48 gave the President the right to make laws by decree in an emergency (= problem).

 

        

The Effects of Versailles on Germany

Revision Focus

This is a Paper 2 topic, so you need to have factual KNOWLEDGE IN DEPTH but also a degree of understanding which will allow you in the exam to write MULTI-CAUSAL EXPLANATIONS of the key issues.

  

Links

e-books on the Weimar Constitution , the problems of 1918-24 and the years of prosperity, as well as a detailed account of hyperinflation

   

  

Online revision sheet  

  

  

 

Term of the Treaty

Effect upon Germany

Reaction of Germans

• Germany not involved/ forced to sign/ Treaty didn't include 14 Points

• Brockdorff-Rantzau refuses to sign

• Entire government resigns

• Newspapers outraged

• Weimar politicians who signed the Treaty were regarded as traitors - the 'November criminals'

• Felt cheated - 'Stab in the back' legend - Germans don't accept they lost the war

• Kapp Putsch

War Guilt

• Article 231

• 'Such a confession in my mouth would be a lie' (Brockdorff-Rantzau)

•

• 1928: Hindenburg denied war-guilt.

Economic

• Reparations

• loss of Saar (coal)

• loss of Posen (wheat)

• damages German economy already ruined by war

• leads to failure to pay reparations = invasion of Ruhr = hyperinflation

• dependent on American loans

• ruined by hyperinflation

• hate Dawes 'charity'

• 1933 Hitler refuses to pay reparations

Territorial

• Loss of territory

• Loss of colonies

• Anschluss fobidden

• Families split

• Germans under foreign rule

• Germany only country in Europe which didn't get self-determination

• "We will win back what we deserve." (Deutsche Zeitung, 1919)

• Nationalism

• Hitler overturns the Treaty - Saar (1935)/ Anschluss & Sudetenland (1938)/ Polish corridor (1939).

Military

• Navy cut to 6 ships

• Army cut to 100,000

• Rhineland demilitarised

• weakened

• isolated

• Felt humiliated

• Re-armament after 1935

  

  

Weimar Problems, 1918-24

Background

•    German economy ruined - millions dead - government collapsed.

•    Communists - inspired by the Russian Revolution - trying to take over

•    Nationalists - angered by Versailles - trying to destroy the government

•    Private armies of disbanded soldiers (Freikorps)

•    Army (led by Seekt) unreliable - enjoyed killing Communists, but refused to attack the Freikorps

•    Proportional Representations meant no government ever had a majority of Reichstag seats

•    The judges and officials had all served under the Kaiser ... and wanted him back

Meat

•    1919: Spartacists revolt/ Communist 'People's Government seizes power in Bavaria.

•    1920: Kapp Putsch/ 'Red Army' (communist) rebellion in the Ruhr

•    1921: assassination of Matthias Erzberger

•    1922: assassination of Walter Rathenau

End

•    1923: France invades the Ruhr = strike and hyperinflation ... leads to Black Reichswehr rebellion/ Rhineland declared independence/ Communists take power in Saxony and Thuringia/ Hitler's Munich Putsch

 

        

Spartacists

Background

•     German economy ruined - millions dead - government collapsed.

•     Communists inspired by the Russian Revolution

•     Communists had taken over Bavaria

Meat

•     Led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, who founded the German Communist Party in 1918.  

•     Published pamphlets and terrorist acts.

•     In Jan 1919 they rebelled in Berlin - declared a General Strike and occupy key buildings

•     Ebert was forced to flee to Weimar to proclaim the new government

End

•     Brutally put down by the Freikorps and the Army

•     Communists shot when captured

•     Liebknecht and Luxemburg captured and murdered

 

        

Kapp Putsch

Background

•     German economy ruined - millions dead - government collapsed.

•     Nationalists - angered by Versailles - trying to destroy the government

•     Private armies of disbanded soldiers (Freikorps)

•     Kapp had been a civil servant at the ministry of Agriculture pre-1918, and was elected as a Monarchist member of the Reichstag in 1920.

Meat

•     In March 1920, a number of Freikorps bands rebelled, led by Herman Ehrhardt and General Luttwitz.   Ehrhardt asked Kapp to lead the Putsch and Kapp was declared 'Chancellor'

•     Army (led by Seekt) refused to attack the Freikorps

•     Ebert was forced to flee to Dresden.

End

•     The workers of Berlin went on General Strike - without power or transport, Kapp could not run a government and the Putsch collapsed.

 

        

Crisis of 1923

Background

•     German economy ruined by the war.

•     Unable (and unwilling) to pay reparations.

Meat

•     In January 1923, Germany failed to make a payment, and France invaded the Ruhr.  

•     This humiliated the government, which undermined its authority.

•     The government ordered a general strike but paid the strikers by printing more money, causing hyperinflation.

•     The result was rebellions, and the government almost collapsed:

•     In Berlin on 1 October 1923, nationalists calling themselves Black Reichswehr rebelled, led by Bruno Buchrucker.

•     The Rhineland declared independence (21–22 October).

•     In Saxony and Thuringia the Communists took power

•     On 8–9 November 1923, Hitler’s Nazis tried to take control of Bavaria (the Munich Putsch).

End

•     Stresemann called off the strike.

•     Dawes Plan

 

        

Effects of Hyperinflation

IF YOU ARE ASKED THIS, MAKE SURE YOU GIVE SOME FACTS AS WELL.

1.   Huge rise in prices - money became worthless (people carrying wages in wheelbarrow/ using money to light the fire/ run to shops).

2.   Bartering became common (e.g. a haircut for 2 eggs/ workers paid in food)

3.   People who lived on savings or fixed incomes (e.g. pensioners, clergy) were ruined.

4.   Wages earner had to renegotiate their wages every day - even they fell behind.

5.   Opportunities for businessmen to make huge fortunes - e.g. pay off their debts.   The power of landowners and businessmen who had capital assets was strengthened.

  

6.   Hungry people loot food shops and lorries.

7.   Hatred of Jews, many of whom owned businesses and were accused of profiteering.

8.   Hatred of foreigners, who took advantage of the favourable exchange rate to go to Germany to buy luxuries very cheaply.

9.   Reputation of central government ruined - local towns printed their own money.   People looked to extremists such as Hitler for a solution.

10. General anger and hopelessness - 'Life was madness, nightmare, desperation, chaos' - people never forgave the Weimar government

 

    

How did the Weimar Republic Survive?

(Stresemann Gets Everything Fine)

  

NOTE: there is a lot in this section, but you can also use it to answer questions about Weimar prosperity and the role of Stresemann.

  

1.   SURVIVED THE REBELLIONS

a.   Set one against the other - The Freikorps and the Army enjoyed putting down Communist uprisings.   When the Freikorps rebelled in 1920, the trade unions declared a General Strike.   The two extremes destroyed each other and the government survived.

  

2.   GREAT COALITION

a.   Great Coalition - Stresemann arranged a 'Great Coalition' of the moderate pro-democracy parties (based around the SDP, the Centre party and Stresemann's own 'German people's Party', the DVP).   United together, they were able to resist the criticism from smaller extremist parties, and in this way, he overcame the effects of proportional representation - the government had enough members of the Reichstag supporting it to pass the laws it needed.

  

3.   ECONOMY/ PROSPERITY

a.   Inflation controlled, Nov 1923 - Stresemann called in all the old, worthless marks and burned them.   He replaced them with a new Rentenmark (worth 3,000 million old marks).

b.   Dawes Plan, 1924 - gave Germany longer to make the payments (and the Young Plan of 1929 reduced the payments).   Dawes also arranged for Germany to borrow 25,000 million gold marks, mainly from America.   This was used to build roads, railways and factories.   The economy boomed and led to prosperity.   Cultural life also boomed (the Roaring Twenties).

c.   Reforms - Stresemann introduced reforms to make life better for the working classes - Labour Exchanges (1927) and unemployment pay. Also, 3 million new houses were built.

 

4.   FOREIGN AFFAIRS

a.   French leave the Ruhr, April 1924 - Stresemann called off the 1923 Ruhr strike and started to pay reparations again.   Eventually, the French left.

b.   Locarno Treaty (1925) - agreeing to the loss of Alsace-Lorraine (relations with France began to improve).  

c.   League of Nations (1926) - Germany was allowed to join the League of Nations (Germany had become a world power again).

  

  

  

How far did the Weimar Republic recover under Stresemann?

  

Weimar Prosperity

(TAKE THE RELEVANT BITS FROM WHY DID THE REPUBLIC SURVIVE, i.e:)

Background

•     Dawes Plan and American loans PLUS Stresemann reforms (Rentenmark/ Labour Exchanges/ housing) brought prosperity

•     Stresemann restored political stability ('Great Coalition') and made Germany a world power again

Meat

•     No rebellions after 1923

•     American loans were used to build roads, railways and factories.   The economy boomed and led to prosperity.

•     Cultural life also boomed (the Roaring Twenties), e.g.:

•     the Bauhaus school of architecture, founded by Walter Gropius

•     the artist Paul Klee.

•     the singer and film star Marlene Dietrich,

•     the artist Otto Dix (famous for his harsh paintings of World War One trenches),

•     the novelist Erich Maria Remarque, who wrote the anti-war novel All Quiet on the Western Front

•     Locarno and joining the League of Nations meant that Germany became a world power again.

End

•     Germany was only stable on the surface - weaknesses remained:

•     It depended on prosperity, which depended on American loans = when the loans ended, the Republic collapsed.

•     'Great Coalition' organised by Stresemann soon fell apart = political weakness remained.

•     Right-wing nationalists still hated the 'November criminals' = waiting for a chance to attack the Weimar government.

  

  

The Role of Stresemann

(TAKE THE RELEVANT BITS FROM WHY DID THE REPUBLIC SURVIVE, i.e:)

(DIFFERS)

1.   Dawes Plan - Stresemann called off the 1923 Ruhr strike and started to pay reparations again, but the Dawes Plan gave Germany longer to make the payments (and the Young Plan of 1929 reduced the payments) = prosperity.  

2.   Inflation controlled, Nov 1923 - Stresemann replaced the old, worthless marks with a new Rentenmark (worth 3,000 million old marks) = economic stability

3.   French leave the Ruhr, April 1924 - Stresemann persuaded the French to leave.

4.   Foreign Affairs - Stresemann signed the Locarno Treaty (1925) and joined the League of Nations (1926) = made Germany become a world power again.

5.   Economic Growth - 25,000 million gold marks of American loans built roads, railways and factories = economic and cultural boom.

6.   Reforms - Stresemann brought in Labour Exchanges, unemployment pay and 3 million new houses = life better for the working classes.

7.   Strength at the Centre - Stresemann arranged the 'Great Coalition' alliance of the moderate pro-democracy parties (based around the SDP, the Centre party and Stresemann's own 'German people's Party', the DVP) against the extremist parties = overcame the effects of proportional representation (the government had enough members in the Reichstag to pass laws).