Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Was the Weimar Republic
doomed from the start?
- How did Germany emerge from defeat in the First World War?
- The Revolution of 1918-19
- By 1918 Germany was losing the war
- However, many Germans still
believed Germany was winning
- Food shortages and
problems caused chaos
- Revolts - such as the
sailor's mutiny at Kiel -
started all over Germany
- People, including
soldiers, took to the
streets to call for peace
- Kaiser was persuaded to
abdicate
- Germany's leading politicians signed the
armistice on the 11th Nov. 1918
- These politicians were later called the "November
Criminals" by Hitler
- He said that they betrayed Germany by surrendering to the
Allies when Germany could have won the war
- Spartacists (left-wing) tried to take control of Germany
- Their leaders, Rosa Luxemburg and Karl
Liebknecht, were killed in Jan. 1919 and the
Freikorps defeated the uprising
- In Feb. 1919 a new democratic government, the Weimar Republic, was declared
- The Establishment of the Weimar Government
- Republic was formed in the small town of Weimar
because it was still too unstable and dangerous in Berlin
- It was a parliamentary democracy
- Elections were held under proportional representation
- An elected president was head of the government
- A Chancellor was in charge of the Reichstag
- A mixture of parties made up the Weimar Republic (coalition
government)
- Issues challenging the Weimar Republic from the start
- The army, civil service, legal system and universities
still employed many who'd been part of the old
German empire and who didn't like the changes
- Few political parties supported the Republic's democracy
- Germany was in an awful state after the war
- The Weimar Republic was
associated with the Treaty of
Versailles
- The Weimar Constitution
- Signed in August 1919
- Strengths
- It was a democracy. All men and women over the
age of 20 could vote in elections for the president
and members of the Reichstag
- The bill of rights gave Germans the right to freedom of
speech and religion
- Weaknesses
- Proportional Representation
- Led to a coalition government
- Made it hard to reach agreements within the government
- Article 48
- Often called the "suicide clause"
as it contributed to the downfall of
the republic
- The clause gave the president the right
to take charge in case of an emergency,
however, it didn't state what an
emergency was
- Hitler later used this to gain more power
- If Parties could not agree, the president
could rule by decree (he had the last
say and could make the laws)
- What was the economic and political impact of the
Treaty of Versailles on the Weimar Republic?
- Main things in the Treaty that affected Germany
- 'War Guilt'
- Germany had to accept blame for the
war and the damage caused
- Impact: Humiliation. Germans felt
that this was very unfair and some
blamed the Weimar Politicians for
accepting this clause
- Reparations
- Germany had to pay for
this damage (£6.6 Mil)
- Impact: Economic problems at
a time when Germany was
trying to recover from the war.
- The coal mines of the Saar were to
be run by the French for 15 years and
Germany had to supply free coal to
France, Belgium and Italy
- Impact: Shortage of good in
Germany seeing as resources
were given to other countries
- Disarmament
- No German forces
west of the river Rhine
to protect France. This
area was demilitarized
and was occupied for
15 years
- Impact: Humiliation and worry. Germans felt
they could not protect themselves and it was a
blow to Germany's pride because it had been a
very strong military country before.
- To prevent future wars the German army
was reduced to 100,000 men, navy reduced
to small ships and no submarines, no air
force
- Loss of Territory
- A lot of German land
was lost: 13% of its
territory, 48% of its iron
production, 15% of its
farmland, 6 million of its
population
- Impact: Humiliation: the
once great German Empire
had been destroyed.
Economic Issues: a lot of
areas were lost that had
made goods or provided
food
- League of Nations
- Germany wasn't allowed to join
- Impact: Isolation, seeing as
Germany wasn't involved in
decision-making in Europe
- Political Disorder, 1920-23
- After WW1, Germany was in chaos
and the T. of V. only made this worse
- These problems
led to unrest
- Kapp Putsch, 1920
- Nationalist Uprising
which wanted to
overthrow the
government and bring
back the Kaiser
- Army refused to stop
the Putsch and it was
only defeated when
workers went on strike
- Communist Uprising, 1920
- Uprising failed, however it made
especially the middle classes
even more fearful of Communism
- Munich Beer Hall Putsch, 1923
- Hitler tried to seize
power by attempting
to take over the State
Government of
Bavaria
- This was meant to be the
start of a march on Berlin
and the establishment of a
Nazi regime in Germany
- The intended Putsch started at a
beer hall in Munich and Hitler was
accompanied by armed SA
(brownshirt) members
- Trouble broke out
between the SA members
and regular soldiers so
the police opened fire and
defeated the uprising
- Hitler was charged with treason for organising the Putsch.
- The judge was sympathetic to his nationalist beliefs so
Hitler only served 9 months of a 5 year sentence in
which he wrote his book "Mein Kampf"
- Germans felt humiliated and
frightened; People struggled
to feed their families
- Many blamed the government for
their problems - November
Criminals, the "stab in the back"
- Occupation of the Ruhr, 1923
- Jan. 1923: French and
Belgium troops occupy the
Ruhr because Germany
had failed to pay
reparations
- Directly linked to the T. of V.
- German government asked the
people who lived there to respond in
the form of passive resistance
- Results
- Nationalists like Hitler opposed
this policy and argued that the
German army should be used to
remove the invadors
- Fact that the gov. did not
use force made Germany
and the Weimar Politicians
in particular seem even
weaker
- Because Germany's
main industrial area
was not producing, the
German economy
collapsed
- Economic Distress and Hyperinflation, 1923
- Economy was in a terrible state and the
value of the German Mark fell drastically
- In response, German government ordered
more bank notes to be printed
- Caused the value of the Mark to fall even more
- Old notes became
useless - children
played with bundles of
worthless banknotes
- Prices went up several times a day
- Over months, this rise was
dramatic: a loaf of bread that
had cost 250 marks in Jan.
cost 200 million marks by
Nov.
- Wages fell and people lost their jobs
- Savings and pensions became useless
- Some people however did benefit,
e.g. people with debt (debt was wiped)
and some big indurtialists who made
profits
- Most of hyperinflation meant poverty and some people died of hunger
- Many people felt that the
government was to blame.
Seemed as though the
Weimar Republic could
not survive especially after
the "year of crisis", 1923
- To what extent did the Weimar Republic recover after 1923?
- Stresemann Era, 1923 - 1929
- At Home
- Stresemann stabalised the Weimar
Republic, heading up a coalition gov. of
pro-democracy parties in the Reichstag
- Introduced the
Rentenmark
- Ended Hyperinflation
- Dawes Plan
- Reparations were reduced
- French and Belgium troops left the Ruhr
- Germany began to produce coal, iron, etc. again
- Germany
borrowed 800
mil. gold marks
from the USA
- Used to help
Germany
recover,
building new
factories and
creating jobs
- Aborad
- Locarno Pact, 1925
- Encouraged French-German
cooperation
- Germany admitted to the League of Nations in 1926
- Kelogg-Briand Pact, 1928
- 60 countries denounced the use of war
- Young Plan, 1929
- Further reduced
reparations by
extending the payment
time by another 58
years
- Underlying Weaknesses of the Weimar Republic
- Political Stability didn't last long
- The coalition of
pro-democracy
parties collapsed
at the end of
1923
- Extremists like Nationalists and
Communists were allowed to exist
- Were actively campaigning throughout this period
- Wasn't a
problem as
long as the
economy was
stable
- Economic Recovery was very fragile
- Depended on loans from the USA
- 2 Events in 1929
shattered
Germany's recovery
- Death of Stresemann
- Wall Street Crash
- Plunged America into depression which meant Germany could no
longer rely on American money and loans were recalled
- What were the achievements of the Weimar Republic?
- The Bauhaus Movement
- Revolutionised architecture
and influenced international art
and design for decades to
come
- Talented Playwrites such as Bertold Brecht flourished
- Cabaret was very popular
- Marlene Dietrich's voice became famous around the world
- Univerities and Science centres were outstanding
- Albert Einstein lived and taught in Berlin
- Important artists such as Paul Klee started their careers during this time
- It was a time of great tolerance
- Homosexuality
- Equality for women
- There were links to Communism in much of
the arts movements of this time and many
leading cultural figures were Jewish
- Nazi's hated these trends and saw
them as signs of a permissive and
degenerative society
- These trends were attacked
mercilessly once Nazis
came to power
- Those who were lucky fled abroad