Treaty Of Versailles & Unrest in Germany:

the armistice was signed in November 1918, the peace treaty was only signed until the 28th June 1919. Germans expected that the peace treaty would be based on the fourteen point program that wilson constructed however, this treaty was much harsher. Each ally wanted something different, USA didnt want a harsh treaty as they wanted to be able to trade with Germany and thereofre they didnt want their economy to be crushed, due to life Britain had lost the goverment had to have a harsh treaty and Frecnh president Clemenceau wanted to cripple germany so they wouldnt pose a threat to france again.The treaty was extremly harsh and it resulted in germany losing 13% of land, 48% of its iron production and over 6 million citizens. the worst aspect of the treaty was Article 231- The WAR GUILT CLAUSE, they had to take full repsonsibility for starting the war in 1914. this caused extreme embarassment and humiliation for Germany which increased after germany was denied entry into the League of Natio
1. DIKTAT- relating to the citizens approach to the new Weimar constitution. translated to dictated peace. initially the cabinet rejected these harsh terms and on June 19 1919 Schiedemann resigned as chancellor, appalled that Ebert was going to agree with this unjust settlement.
  1. GEWALTFRIEDEN- an enforced peace, this was mentioned by the President himself. he was told that if he refused to accept these terms the allies would invade Germany. this threat remained a secret however, the DOLCHSTOSS idea was reintroduced, causing an increase in anger and frustration towards the government.
Unrest (1918-1923)- while Ebert was trying to establish the constitution, turmoil was rising across Germany. many Germans felt that democracy had been imposed on them rather than it being a choice. moreover, as a result of the British Naval Blockade, germnay were still suffering from food shortages, inflation became a serious problem. in Russia, in October 1917, the Bolshevik revolution took place, Ebert feared a revolution in Germany and therefore made a deal with the head of the german army (REICHSWEHR)- if the army was to support and protect Eberts government then he would support and fund the army. for some germans, this utter dependence on the army portrayed the government as weak and their authority decreased.
1. SPARTACIST UPRISING: during the war multiple different groups emerged from the Social Democrat Party and the most radical were known as the spartacist league, led by LIEBKNECHT & LUXEMBERG- they were fighting for communist ideals.
  1. December 1918, their demonstrations clashed with the army resulting in the death of 16 of their own. at the end of the month they formed the German Communist Party (KPD). 6 January 1919, spartacists began to try and overthrow the government, aim was to create a communist state. REICHSWEHR & FREIKORPS put down the rebellion and it was over in a few days. both leaders were captured and killed
    1. even though the rebellion was put down fairly quickly it did encourage other uprisings. March another communist uprising emerged and more than 1000 people were killed as the power of both the reichswehr and the freikorps dominated.
2. the KAPP PUTSCH: having already faced the opposition from the left Weimar had to face opposition from the right in 1920. in march 1920, the government released the plan to reduce the size of the army and disband the Freikorps- leader Ehrhardt refused and formed an alliance with Politician Wolfgang Kapp. they planned to seize Berlin and form a right wing government led by Kapp- they stressed the threat of communism. 13 march 1920, the seizure of Berlin was successful and the government was forced to move, the Reichswehr were asked to stop the rebellion however, they refused. Ebert was forced to ask the public to withdraw their support and go on strike, the Putsch had little support as trade unionists and civil servants liked their new government and so it collapsed. over 400 soldiers were involved but barely were ever punished.
  1. one week after there was a communist uprising in the Ruhr and the uprising had to be put down with violence- hundreds killed. it had been estimated about 376 murders took place(1919-1922), none of the right wingers arrested but 10 left wingers were.two leading Weimar ministers were assassinated.
hyperinflation 1918-1923: as a part of the treaty of Versailles, Germany had to pay £6600 million, £100 million per year. the Weimar republic couldn't pay that much and it was putting a huge strain on the economy. as inflation grew, Germany continued to print more money to pay Belgium and France- value of their money began to fall. 1921- after failing to pay their reparations the French sent in troops to occupy the Ruhr. this was repeated once again in 1923, where they failed to pay once again however, this invasion was met with passive resistance- many Germans went on strike and therefore the economy is disrupted even further as more money had to be printed- had to support the strikers families. this was just another humiliation for the Weimar government as the savings people had collected were worthless.

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Treaty Of Versailles & Unrest in Germany:

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