Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Impact of the First World War
Anmerkungen:
- The First World War began in August 1914. Germany and Austria went to war against France, Britain,Russia, Belgium and Serbia. More joined over the next 4 years
- Timeline : Germany’s reaction during the war
- In 1914
- The war was popular and patriotic Germans thought it would end quickly
- Soon the British navy stopped ships getting food into Germany,leading to food and other shortages
- In the 1915-16
- In Germany, protesters demanded an end to the war. Demonstrating increased from 500 to 10,000 people. War weariness
- On the front line, soldiers were worn down by bombs, gas and machine fire
- Politically unstable
- Germany was close to defeat. A flu epidemic killed many already weak from poor diet
- In October, Army General Ludendorff stated Germany could not win the war. He advised the Kaiser to make the country more democratic so the winning Allies ( France, Britain and the USA) would treat Germany more fairly
- The Kaiser allowed the main political parties to form a new government, and transferred some of his power to the Reichstag. But the German people were not satisfied and more demonstrations followed
- Impact of the war on Germany by 1918
- Virtually bankrupt
- Owed vast sums of money that it had borrowed to pay for the war
- Lent some of its own money on its allied
- Factories were exhausted
- War pensions would cost the government a future
- Society divided further
- Some factory owners had made a fortune during the war, while workers had restrictions placed on their wages
- Women worked on the factories during the war. Some people thought this damaged
Traditional family values
- Politically unstable
- There was mutiny and revolution all over Germany
- Many ex-soldiers and civilians felt that politicians had betrayed Germany by ending the war
- The woman republic
- Temporary leader Ebert declared that Germany would be a democratic republic and arranged for elections for a new parliament to take place in January. A group of communists in Germany to be run by small councils of soldiers and workers. On 6 January 1919, the Spartacists seized power in Britain
- Ebert sent in a group of 2000 tough ex-soldiers, Known as the Free Corps ( Freikorps ), to attack the Spartacists
- After three days of brutal street fighting, the free Corps recaptured buildings and arrested ( and later killed) the Sparticist leaders