History DS1: Was the Weimar Republic Doomed from the start?

What was the impact of the Britian's naval blockade on Germany?

- Daily rations dropped to 1000 calories per person; malnutrition

- Shortage of nitrates (fertiliser), fodder, iron, and steel.

- Lack of fodder resulted in government needing to slaughter 1/3 of pigs in 1915

- Less war support

Situation in Germany between Sep 1918 and signing of Armistice in November 1918 (German Revolution)

- Blockades, Spanish flu, Military setbacks

- 4 November: Kiel mutiny of 40,000 sailors

- 7 November: Kurt Eisner declares Bavaria a socialist republic

- 9 November: Kaiser abdicates and Ebert (SPD) proclaims Weimar republic

- 11 November: New government signs armistice

Features of the Weimar Constitution

- Drafted in February 1919 and adopted in July 1919

- All Germans over 20 allowed to vote for Reichstag

- Proportional representation - very democratic

- Chancellor (head of government) appointed by President (head of state)

- Reichstag had the power, not military

- Article 48 could give President emergency powers

Disadvantages of Weimar Constitution

Proportional representation:

- Led to many parties

- Difficult to maintain parliamentary majority/coalitions

- Frequent govt. changes/elections

- Parties which represented very specific interests - eg. Saxon Peasant Party

President:

- Introduced in times of political, social, and economic difficulty

- Article 48 emergency decrees could rule without Reichstag

- Could be used to suspend civil liberties and use force

Economic challenges of the Weimar Republic in 1919

- Close to bankruptcy due to expense of war

- Territorial losses - Saar rich in coal, Alsace-Lorraine rich in iron

- Reparations

- Rising signs of inflation (but not hyperinflation yet!!) - 300% from 1914-1919

Political challenges of the Weimar Republic

- People not used to democracy and coalition governments

- Associated with ToV and 'November Criminals'. (Later on also associated with economic failure and high inflation)

- Right wing officials remained in their positions in army, judiciary, and civil service

- Left wing revolutions; Spartacists

Political threats from the left wing

- 1919 Spartacists: led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg; organised general strikes and armed street fighting; military coup surpressed by Freikorps

- 1919 Bavarian Uprising: declared independent socialist state in 1918; Bavarian communists assassinated Kurt Eisner to declare a societ Republic; surpressed by Freikorps again

- 1920 Red Rising in the Ruhr: Communist clahses with police, army, and Freikorps; 2000 casualties

- 19%KPD vote in January 1920, up from 8% in 1919

- Strikes in Saxony, Thuringia, Ruhr 1920-1923

Political threats from the right wing

- People reminiscent for Kaiser and old system

- March 1920 Kapp Putsch: 5000 Freikorps attempt to take control of Berlin; army refused to surpress; general strike brought capital to halt and saved government (of 700 rebels 1 punished)

- 1922 Foreign Minister Walther Rathenau assassinated by right-wing extremists

- 354 assassinations and 326 unpunished

- 1923 Hitler's Munich Putsch

What were Freikorps?

- Anti-communist ex-soldiers

- Used by government to protect borders against Red Army

- Crushed Spartacist League and murdered Liebnecht and Luxemburg in January 1919

- Many involved in failed Kapp Putsch

- Many joined Hitler and NSDAP

Events contrbuting to the crisis year of 1923

- French occupation of the Ruhr; good sent to Belgium and France; not enough goods in Germany so more inlation

- Germany default on reparations payment in 1922; Belgium and France (legally) invade Ruhe and take goods

- Germany respond with passive resistance; mass strikes - no industrial production; currency collapsed: hyperinflation

- Hyperinflation; government printed more and more money; savings wiped, pensions wortheless, etc.

Assess the significance of the Spartacists

Significant

- Political violence; 1919 Spartacist uprising; took over newspaper offices, street battles, general strikes

- Political takeover; Bavaria turned socialist in 1918; followed by Saxony and Thuringia

- Permanent hostility between communists and socialists; Freikorps used to surpress uprisings; wouldn't support SPD in 1925 presidential election

Not significant

- Easily crushed by Freikorps; divided, leaders killed

- Other factors, e.g. ToV, War Guilt, right-wing violence, etc., more important

Who was Stresemann?

- German Chancellor in 1923 and led German government 1923-29

- Policy of Fulfilment - complied with ToV to gain readmission into international community

Assess Stresemann's economic achievements

Yes

- Ended hyperinflation with the Rentenmark

- Restarted industrial production

- 1924 Dawes plan: 800 million marks loan from USA

But

- Loans could be called in at short notice making economy vulnerable

- Agricultural sector in serious trouble

- 26% in late 1920s compared to 15% in 1913

33x increase in spending on housing, hospitals and schools

Assess cultural achievements of Stresemann Era

Yes

- Floursihing of art, poetry, see New Objectivity Movement - Otto Dix, George Grosz "The Pillars of Society"

- Architecture: Bauhaus (First Bauhaus exhibition has 15,000 visitors)

- Golden age for German cinema: stars like Marlene Dietrich

- No more censorship, fluorishing clubs and nightlife: 900 Berlin dancebands in 1927

But

- Strong opposition from traditional rural population (see Wandervogel movement return to nature)

- Moral decline triggered the 1926 Harmful publications law

- Anger harnessed by Nazis

Assess foreign policy achievements in the Stresemann era

Good:

- 1924 Dawes Plan negotiated to restart economy and resolve reparations conflict

- 1925 Locarno Pact: Germany accepts French and Belgian borders

- 1926 Germany admitted to LoN

- 1928 Kellogg Briand Pact - renouncing use of force

- 1929 Young Plan - further renegotation of reparations and more US loans

- 1929 Allies withdraw from Rhineland

But

- Stresemann attacked by nationalists for accepting ToV, joining League, and signing Locarno

- Communists attacked Locarno as a plot against USSR

Assess political stability of Stresemann era

Yes

- Virtually no more uprisings, democracy seems to work

- Extremists not doing well: Nazis gained less than 3% in 1928

- 73% vote for pro-Weimar parties in 1928

But

- 4 different Chancellors, 30% of electorate still voted for parties opposed to Weimar

- Hindenburg elected President in 1925; opposition to democracy

- Nazis and Communists gradulaly building up their party organisations

Assess the significance of Stresemann in Germany's recovery after 1923

Significant:

- Overcame hyperinflation and the Ruhr Crisis

- Increased foreign confidence and international acceptance; Locarno; Dawes and Young plan; LoN

- Almost no uprisings; reduction of support for minority parties

But:

- Economic recovery based on American loans; couldn't forsee crash and Great Depression

- Conservative forces remained; many resentful of hyperinflation, Weimar culture, ToV, etc.

1920 March

Kapp Putsch - Freikorps stopped by general strike, of 700 rebels 1 punished

1924

Dawes Plan 1924 - An arrangement negotiated in 1924 to reschedule German reparations payments. It stabilised the German currency and opened the way for further American private loans to Germany ($800m).

1925

Locarno Pact 1925 -Recorded an agreement between France and Germany to respect mutual frontiers. Marked the beginning of a brief period of reduced tensions among the European powers.

Treaty of Versailles economic cost

£6.6b reparations

Loss of industrial land such as Alsace Lorraine

Loss of agricultural land to Poland

48% iron ore lost

16% coal lost

Treaty of Versailles military cost

Limits set on the size of the German army - 100,000

Germany prohibited from importing or manufacturing weapons or war material

Germany forbidden to build or buy submarines or have an air force

Treaty of Versailles territorial losses

Germany lost 13% of territory including:

Alsace-Lorraine (to France)

North Schleswig (to Denmark)

Danzig (administered by the League)

Saarland (administered by the League)

Polish Corridor (to Poland)

Upper Silesia (to Poland)

Germany's colonies were made 'mandates' of the League of Nations(controlled by Britain and France), such as Cameroons, Tanganyika), Shandong province in China and others.

Anschluss with Austria banned.

Impact of War 1918

National income 1/3 of what it was pre-war Industrial production 2/3 of 1913

Demobilise 1.5m soldiers

Stab in the back myth

In 1919 3,719 strikes and 2m workers, compared to 562 and 670,000 in 1917

1919

Bavarian Socialist Republic - Kurt Eisner's short-lived attempt to establish a socialist state in the Free State of Bavaria in April and May, overthrown by Freikorps

1919 January

Spartacist putsch led by Communist Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg - suppressed by Freikorps 120 killed

Weimar political instability

14 coalition governments between 1918-1928, none of which lasted more than 8 months. Lots of assassinations. Lots of coups.

40% of the vote went to anti-Weimar parties in 1924

Divided political parties never reached a broad consensus and no single party commands a majority

1925 Hindenburg elected president after Ebert

Weimar economic recovery in 1928

Unemployment still at 8-10% - over 1million

Coal, steel and iron recovered to pre-1913 levels

Exports triple, up to 14m Marks

Reparations burden to 2% of GDP from 8% in 1921

Industrial real wages up by 20-30%

Industrial production back to 1913 levels in 1927

BUT

Government welfare spending 26% in late 1920s compared to 15% in 1913. 33x increase in spending on housing, hospitals and schools

1923

60,000 French occupy the Ruhr - 100 killed and 100,000 protesters expelled from the region.

Passive resistance halted industrial production

Price of Bread in 1923 January cost 200 mark - Price of bread in November 1923 it cost 200,000 million

1918 November 11

Armistice signed ending WW1

1918 November 9

Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates and Weimar republic formed

1923 November 8

Munich Putsch: Hitler took over a political meeting in a beer hall in Munich. 2k SA marched on Munich on 9 November, but it failed when the police opened fire. Hitler was tried in February 1924 and sentenced to 5 years in prison, of which he served 9 months

1926

Germany in League of Nations

1929

Young Plan - Scaled down the German reparations bill when it became clear that the Dawes Plan was not sustainable.

1925

Hindenburg elected president

1919 Elections

77% pro Weimar

38% SPD

1920 Elections

48% pro Weimar

22% SPD

20% Ultra Socialists and Communists

28% Nationalists (DNVP, DVP)

1924 Elections May

13% KPD

20% DNVP

52% pro Weimar

1928 Elections

10% KPD

30% SPD

14% DNVP

2% Nazis (12 seats)

Weimar Culture

Bauhaus architectural style - exhibition has 15,000 visitors

900 dance bands exist in Berlin

Literature - Remarque All Quiet on the Eastern Front, Brecht Threepenny Opera, Thomas Mann,..

New Objectivity Movement - Rejected of impressionism by Max Beckmann, Otto Dix, George Grosz "The Pillars of Society"

BUT unpopular because of Wandervogel movement - country rural values, wholesome

1926 Harmful publications law

1919 June

Treaty of Versailles signed

November Revolution (1918-19)

A revolution from above with Council of Representatives led by Ebert proclaimed the republic after reforms led by Prince von Baden failed in October. Kaiser fled as a result.

Ebert than made a deal with the Army to secure the support of the military to keep order and suppress any more radical left wing protests by USPD and Spartacists (Ebert-Groener Pact)

German National People’s Party (DNVP)

Beliefs in more authoritarian rule like the Kaiser, sceptical of democracy and traditional German values.

- main conservative party but quite divided between willing to cooperate in coalitions or being more right wing protecting industrialist and large landowners

SPD

Social Democrats led by Ebert

Left wing party believing in high taxation to keep a strong welfare state

Founders of Weimar republic, not in government after 1923 and didnt return until 1928

KPD

Revolutionary communist/extreme left wing party wanted to seize power and create a communist state like Russia

Felt betrayed by Ebert in 1918 because despite it seeming like a revolution from below he used the army to suppress radical left wing

Centre Party (Z)

Liberal party with broad appeal across class with the main support from Catholics in South of Germany such as Bavaria

German Democratic Party (DDP)

liberal middle class party, intellectuals who were behind the constitution and in support of the original Weimar coalition

German National Party (DVP)

Beliefs in more authoritarian rule like the Kaiser, sceptical of democracy and traditional German values.

- moderate conservative party protecting industrialists and the Church. Stresemann's party