the government was weak, working class people had no say in how the
country was ran, people were facing starvation, farming was disrupted, many
Germans died from disease, there were lots of political conflicts, Germans
were bitter about losing the war and they wanted someone to blame
why was there a revolution?
the navy refused to fight the British navy and demanded the
abdication of the Kaiser, food couldn't be imported as their
coastline was blockaded, there was a flu epidemic, faming was
disrupted, serious food shortages, Germany went from being
extremely rich to extremely poor
'stab in the back' theory - Germans believed that
they were winning when politicians betrayed
them by signing the armistice
THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES
main terms
lost land
Alsace-Lorraine to France, West Prussia to
Poland, Port of Danzig to the League of
Nations, the Rhineland was demilitarised
resources
Saar coalfields were lost, Port
of Danzig was lost,
£6,600,000,000 in reparations
blame
Article 231 said that Germany had
to take the blame for WW1
power/ strength
Austria and Germany
couldn't unite, lots of
Germans were left
living in Poland and
Czechoslovakia, no
military aircraft or
submarines, only 6
battleships, 15,000
sailors and 100,000
soldiers
huge impact on Germany - had to rebuild the
country while paying off huge reparations, couldn't
defend themselves due to a much smaller military
very negative reactions - German people felt angry and betrayed
THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC
formed in 1918 after
the Kaiser abdicated
strengths
democracy due to President Wilson (USA)
saying that's what they needed
all adults
could
vote and
had equal
rights
proportional
representation -
every party had
a fair share of
seats
weaknesses
proportional representation meant that parties got the same
proportion of seats in the Reichstag as votes, allowed lots of
parties (including extremist parties) into the government so no one
could get a majority
only option was a coalition, but parties couldn't
agree with each other so the government was weak
and the had to keep re-electing it
article 48 - president could make a law
without consulting the Reichstag if
they declared an emergency
states could keep their
own governments -
hostile states could try to
overthrow the Reichstag
it was unpopular because lots of
people wanted a Kaiser back, it
signed the Armistice and the
Treaty of Versailles which made
German people think they'd
given up and admitted defeat
OPPOSITION TO THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC
spartacists
led by Red Rosa
(Rosa
Luxemburg) and
Karl Leibnecht
communists (wanted everything to
be shared out equally)
inspired by the
communists
takeover in Russia in
1917
seized the HQ of
the national
newspaper and
tried to get people
to strike but it was
badly organised
so no one
supported them
many members,
including the
leaders were kiled
kapp putsch (freikorps)
led by Wolfgang Kapp
extreme nationalist
didn't like the Treaty and
believed a new
government should be set
up, ran by him
tried to set up a new
government in Berlin
and organise a strike,
tried to cut off Berlin's
food, gas and electricity
got support from people in Berlin,
but not from the army
Kapp had to leave the country
beginning of the Nazis
Hitler was a war hero who was in charge of
checking up on extremist groups
visited the German Workers' Party and
agreed with their points, he spoke about
how he felt and was liked by the audience
he attracted lots of people and was put in charge of propaganda, bought a
newspaper company and advertised a meeting, nearly 2,000 people turned up
announced the new name - National Socialist
German Workers' Party (NSDAP) or Nazis
by 1921 he gained enough support
to challenge Anton Drexler and
became the leader of the Nazis