Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Germany Revision
(1918-1923)
- Germany pre WWI
- Germany was an autocratic society
which was ruled by a Kaiser, the
German verison of a King
- One man - one rule - one
say
- The power was with the kaiser and Chancellor. There was
a Parliament but it had little to no power.
- Germany entered the war as a
power house, with financial and
military stability
- in 1871, Germany formed a nation
- Before this, Germany was a
collection of states and kingdoms,
including Bavaria and Prussia
- The second Reich, in 1871 ended after the
Franco-Prussian War. Whilhelm I was appointed the
Kaiser after this. Germany became a semi-constitutional monarchy
- Prussia (Germany) defeats France, gaining
territories of Alsace and Lorraine. France remained
bitter as the new Kaiser was ccoronated in
versailles
- The First World War
- World War I began on the 28th
July, 1914 after the assasination of
Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand.
- Serbian group - the
black hand was
responsible
- Long term causes - Militarism,
Alliances, Imperialism (expanding
empires) and Nationalism
- The Austrian-Hungarian empire
declared war on Serbia, calling all
allied, including Germany to an
official World War
- Triple alliance - Italy,
Germany and
Austria-Hungary
- Triple Entente - France,
Britain and Russia
- Germany, through the Zimmerman
telegram and sinking of the Lusitania
forced America to enter the war as a
supreme industrial opposition
- The British blockade was
collapsing German resources.
The people were starving and
they no longer wanted war
- As a result, a Social Democrats
(left of centre) leader Ebert,
along with returned soldiers,
forced the Kaiser to abdicate
and flee the capital of Berlin in
shame
- Germany - A new Democracy?
- Ebert acted quickly, creating a
German Constitution, with a major
loophole named article 48
- Article 48 allowed the President to
create legislation without
consulting Parliament. This
became relevant in a hung
parliament throughout the late
1920's/early 1930's
- Germany surrendered via
the armastice on 11th
November, 1918
- Whilst the new Government was
in power, severe consequences
were sure to follow
- Germany elected the
Reichstag and Reichsrat under
proportional representation.
This meant that no party held
a true and clear majority of
votes
- The treaty of Versailles
- Versailles peace conference -
1919, was where tth treaty of
Germany's confession was
signed
- 1) War guilt - Germany had to confess to being
the instigator of world warfare. The blame was
theirs and theirs alone
- 2) Germany had to give up all conquered lands. Including
Alsace and Lorraine
- 3) reparations totalling to billions of German marks were to be paid,
mainly to France which Germany invaded during WWI
- 4) The German national army had to be limited ti 100,00 men and their
navy was crippled
- 5) The Rhineland was forced to be demobilised as a buffer
zone between France and Germany if the Germans ever
invaded again.
- Germany did not attempt to fight the treaty conditions, which was a sign of
betrayal to the people
- Revoultions and
tensions of the 1920's
- The Spartacists, a left wing group, led by Rosa
Luxemburg broke away from the Social Democrats
- The Sparatcist cause had the
support of Russia and some of
the trade unions
- Leibnecht and Luxemburg had no
actual plans. They were theoretical
leaders, not strong in practicality
- Ebert called on the support of the
Freikorps (voluntary army), a right wing
group for support. They obliged and the
uprising was crushed
- Despite the specified non-violence
ideology that Germany wanted,
Luxemburg and Leibnecht were killed by
members of the army
- Soviets were councils elected by the
common people. They included
Merchants, soldiers and workers
- The Freikorps had become a vital strength in Germany by
the 1920's.
- Allied forces feared the growing numbers of Freikorps and
ordered Germany to demobilise to lessen their military strength
- The Freikorps, under the leadership of a man named Kapp, refused
to lessen their numbers, marching on Berlin and declaring a new
Government.
- Leaders such as Ebert had to flee the capital, in fear of
violence and destruction
- Ebert gained the support of the workers, who
ground public services to a halt. Without this,
Germany could not develop in regards to industry
and economics
- The revolution collapsed and Ebert's Government was re-instated.
There was no punishment for anyone involved
- However, in under a few years, Ebert had been forced to rely on the left and
right wing groups of Germany. He and his Government possessed little power in
truth.
- Facism/Nazism analysis
- Nationalism
- Use of history, flags and propaganda to
evoke support for one's nation; even to the
extent of sacrificing one's life for their nation
- Rights
- Elimination of freedoms such as press,
association and speech. No fair trials leading
to Police power. No oppposition
- Scapegoats
- Fascists often blame another group for
previous problems. eg - the Jewish race
- Military
- Needs to be strong for territorial gain in the future
- Business
- Suppression of Labour movements (no opposition) - see rights
- Support of big business to support goals
- Corruption and cronyism is hight
- Society
- Strict control over media and the arts
- Removal of groups such as religion (see
rights and business)
- Return to conservatism (economic policy)
- 1923 Crisis'
- Occupation of the Ruhr
- Germany could not afford to
pay the second war reparation
to France. As a result, France
occupied the Ruhr, a German
mining magnate for coal.
- Chancellor Stressmann
ordered passive resistance
and the German people
within the Ruhr refused to
work, infuriating the French
- Unfortunately, the passive
resistance was causing more
harm than good. Stressmann,
after some time, called it off and
decided to continue paying the
reparations
- The German people felt betrayed
and the German's people's party's
opposition saw this as a flaw which
could be used; inability to fight for
one's nation
- Hyper-inflatiojn
- Germany was a collapsing
economy, and attempted to
resolve the issue by printing
more money, a process
called hyper inflation
- The value of money dropped
substantially and Germany once more
were forced into a state of economic
catastrophe.
- Charles Dawes, an American
banker and politician, created the
solution of America loaning money
to Germany in assistance.
- A new currency called the Rentenmark
was created, which stabilized the
economy.
- Reichsmark became the
currency in 1924
- in 1929, when the Great
Depression hit, Germany once
more was dragged into disaster.
America wanted their loan back
but Germany could not pay it
back.
- The Munich Putsch
- Hitler believed the German
Government was weak at
that the time to strike was
now (in 1923)
- He gained the support of
Khar and Losse but was
backstabbed and worked at
forcing them to support him at
gunpoint
- The Putsch was successful until
Ludendorff let Khar and
associates leave. They informed
the authorities and the Putsch
was crushed
- Hitler was imprisoned for
nine months and wrote
Mein Kampf - 'My
struggle.' He outlined his
intentions for the future of
Germany
- This was when Hitler realised he
could not take Germany by force
but could succeed through
diplomatic election