KT1: The Weimar Republic 1918 - 1929

Background to Weimar Republic (1918)

• Europe had been at war for 4 years

• Kaiser Wilhelm II was facing mutinies/worker strikes/revolts

  • November 1918 - a nine-month German revolution took place

  • Kaiser was forced to abdicate

Why did the Weimar republic face an uphill battle from the start?

• Government was blamed for Germany losing the war

• Had to rebuild a war-torn country

• Struggled to form a constitution that had support of all parts of society

Role of president

• Could suspend constitution

• Appointed the chancellor

• Commander of army

German people’s role in government

• Elect the president

• Elect the Reichstag

• Could send state representatives to the Reichsrat

Define constitution

An agreed set of principles and rules about how a country should be governed and the rights of its citizens

Name the two key tasks of the new Weimar Government

• Deciding on a peace treaty with the the Allies

• Drawing up a new constitution

When did Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicate?

9th November 1918

When did WW1 begin?

1914

Strengths of Weimar Constitution

• Very democratic

• Chancellor (head of government) had to have the support of most of the people in the Reichstag

• Voting was done by proportional representation

Weaknesses of the Weimar Constitution

• Proportional representation meant that smaller parties got seats

  → led to developments of coalition governments

  → lack of clear, strong policies

• Challenge from civil service and judiciary

• Challenge from the army

  → leaders of army wanted the Kaiser to return because their status would be maintained under him

Define dolschstoss

“stab in the back”

When did Germany surrender in WW1?

11th November 1918

Why did the Kaiser abdicate?

The Kiel Mutiny

• German sailors mutinied instead of following orders to attack the British Navy

• This sparked rebellions all over Germany

• Causing government to collapse and hence causing Kaiser to abdicate

Who took over from the Kaiser?

Friedrich Ebert

• Became chancellor and took power over Germany

Acronym to remember terms of the Treaty of Versailles

Land

Army

Money

Blame

Treaty of Versailles: Land

Why did this cause opposition?

• Germany lost all 11 of African colonies

  → weakened Germany as lost money and extra support in war times

• Lost 13% of their land

• Lost Alsace Lorraine to France

  → made Germany angry as they had won AL fairly in 1871 so it dented their pride

Treaty of Versailles: Army

Why did this cause opposition?

• Germany’s army reduced to 100,000, no tanks or air force

  → made Germany vulnerable to attack (internationally + nationally) and made keeping peace difficult

• Rhineland (border between France and Germany) was demilitarised

  → German soldiers were replaced by allied soldiers - caused great humiliation to Germany

• Germany’s navy was reduced to 6 battleships and 24 smaller ships

• Germany was a proud, militaristic country and so having their military removed lowered the morale in Germany

Treaty of Versailles: Money

Why did this cause opposition?

• Had to pay £6.6 billion in reparations

  → put Germany in position of near bankruptcy

  → many felt it was unfair as Germany had to sign in 1919 and the amount was not agreed until 1921

Treaty of Versailles: Blame

Why did this cause opposition?

• Germany had to accept total blame for the war, under the WAR GUILT CLAUSE (Article 231)

  → Many Germans believed the war was an act of self-defence and that they were not the only ones to blame for the war

  → Germany was the 4th country to join the war

Which article was the War Guilt Clause?

Article 231

Why did the War Guilt Clause make it hard for the Weimar Government to build a democracy?

The people were angry with the government who signed

Why did Ebert make a deal with the army?

What was the deal?

What was a disadvantage of this?

• Fear of political arrest

• The army would support the new government against revolution if they continued to be supplied and supported in return

• Dependency on the army weakened authority of new government

What percentage of the Reichstag did extremist parties make up?

20%

Left Wing were…

Communist

Right wing were…

Fascist

Left Wing threats

Communist party (KPD) hated the new government

• Spartacist Uprising January 1919

• March 1919: Berlin uprising - 1000 people killed

• April 1919: Munich uprising - crushed by Freikorps

• March 1920: Red Army rebelled in the Ruhr

Who were the Freikorps?

Ex-military

When was the Spartacist Uprising?

January 1919

Spartacist Uprising January 1919

• Left-wing attempted uprising

• Led by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht

• They had support from the Soviet Union (Russia) - Had 33 newspapers and 400,000 members

• Based in Berlin

• Spartacists took over governments, newspaper and telegraphy bureau and tried to organise a general strike

• Government used the Freikorps to put this down (Freikorps were soldiers released from the army who kept their weapons, they HATED communists)

• Luxemburg and Liebknecht both murdered

Who led the Sparticist Uprising?

Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht

Was the Spartacist Uprising successful?

No

Kapp Putsch 1930

• Right-wing uprising led by Wolfgang Kapp

• Freikorps troops marched on Berlin as they feared being made unemployed because of the Treaty of Versailles

• Army refused to shoot on Freikorps "Troops don't fire on troops"

• Freikorps took over Berlin

• Ebert and the government fled to Dresden and told the population to go on strike. People of Berlin were sick of uprisings, so they listened to the government

• Kapp fled and was NOT put on trial

Why did the Freikorps rebel/the Kapp Putsch happen?

In March 1920, Ebert announced cuts to the army and proposed the disbanding of the Friekorps

Right Wing threats

• Propaganda - emphasised Communist threat, the Dolchstoss theory and the Treaty of Versailles

• Kapp Putsch 1930: Freikorps seized Berlin

Evidence that Ebert feared the Right Wing more

• Around 354/376 of political murders were carried out by right wing

• 10 left wing sentenced to death; no right wing were

• 2 leading Weimar ministers assassinated by right wing - e.g. Erzberger in 1921

• Wolfgang Kapp was not tried for the Kapp Putsch

Why was 1923 arguably the worst year for The Weimar Government?

• Invasion of the Ruhr

• Hyperinflation

• Kapp Putsch

Who was Gustav Streseman?

Chancellor of Germany 1923-29

Crisis 1: Occupation of the Ruhr

• Germany did not keep up with reparations

• In January 1923, French and Belgian troops invaded the Ruhr (legal under ToV)

• Germans responded with passive resistance but this made Germany even poorer

• Since, the government wasn’t able to pay reparations at the agreed upon time they printed more money - hyperinflation

When did French and Belgian troops invade the Ruhr?

Why?

January 1923

Germany weren’t keeping up with reparations

Define passive resistance

Opposition to a government, invading power without using violence

Crisis 2: Hyperinflation

• German government printed extra bank notes to cover costs of reparations

• Value of money goes down

• Prices rise to compensate

• Pensions and savings were lost, wages lost all value

• People blamed the new Weimar Government, which had agreed to reparations under the ToV

Define hyperinflation

A period of rapidly accelerating inflation where prices rise continuously

Example of hyperinflation

• In 1918, a loaf of bread cost 0.6 marks

• By November 1923, it cost 201,000,000,000 marks

Who benefited from hyperinflation?

• People in debt

• Businessesmen, who and borrowed money from banks, could pay it off quickly

• Foreign visitors who could buy lots for little by changing their money for millions of marks

Who suffered from hyperinflation?

• Pensioners (lost pensions)

• Workers with fixed income

• People with savings (lost value)

They could not afford basic necessities, such as food and clothing

Recovery of the Weimar Republic from hyperinflation

Money:

• Dawes Plan 1924 + US loans

• Young Plan 1929

• Rentenmark

International isolation:

• Locarno Pact 1925

• League of Nations 1926

• Kellogg-Briand Pact 1928

Recovery from hyperinflation: Dawes Plan 1924

• Reorganised Germany’s reparation payment plan to match Germany’s capacity to pay

• Payments began at 1 billion marks for the first year and increased over a period of four years to 2.5 billion marks per year

• In return, the French withdrew their troops from the Ruhr

• Also aimed to boost the German economy through US loans

• US gave loans of around $3 billion over the next 6 years

Recovery from hyperinflation: Rentenmark

• Introduced by Streseman in November 1923

• Replaced the German mark

• Restored confidence in German currency

Recovery from hyperinflation: Young Plan 1929

• Germany negotiated further change to reparation plan

• Timescale for payment was set, with Germany making payments until 1988

• Reparation figure was reduced from £6 billion to £1.85 billion

Reducing international isolation: Locarno Pact 1925

• Signed by Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Belgium

• Ended passive resistance in the Ruhr

• Germany agreed to keep its existing borders

Reducing international isolation: League of Nations

• Germany had to become a member of League of Nations for the Locarno Pact to come into operation

• Given a permanent seat in September 1926 - recognised Germany’s return to a great power

When was Germany given a permanent seat in the League of Nations?

Significance?

September 1926

Recognised Germany’s return to being a great power

Reducing international isolation: Kellogg-Briand Pact 1928

• Germany signed alongside 64 other nations

• Agreed that these nations would

  • keep their armies for self-defence

  • resolve all future disputes by ‘peaceful means’

Define interpretation

A historian’s view of a historical event, well-researched and trustworthy

What year was the Dawes Plan?

1924

What year was the Young Plan?

1929

Reasons why Streseman was successful

politically economically

• Greater stability 1924-29

• More support for Weimar Republic, less for extremists

• Social democrats had 53 more seats in 1928 compared to 1924

• Streseman and Hindenburg (vice-president) were very popular

  • Streseman appealed to younger generation

  • Hindenburg appealed to older generations (more traditional)

• US loans led to industrial growth and less business debt

• Wages increased

• Less strikes

Reasons why Streseman wasn’t successful

• No single party won a majority in the Reichstag

• Over dependence on US loans

• Unemployment increased and reached its peak in 1926

• Farmers did not recover due to worldwide agricultural depression

• Economic growth did not benefit everyone equally

What was the ‘Golden Age’?

1924-29

Overview of the ‘Golden Age’

• Change in standards of living

• Changes in position of women

• Lots of new cultural ideas in cinema, architecture, theatre and art

• Many welcomed this and supported the government

• Others criticised - moral decline, non-German values, blamed the government

Reasons why it was a ‘Golden Age’: Wages

• Wages rose by 25% between 1925 and 1928

• 2 million houses were built

• Unemployment Insurance Act 1927 provided money for the sick and jobless

• Number of students in higher education rose from 70,000 to 11,000 between 1914 and 1928

Name the act which provided money for the sick and jobless

Unemployment Insurance Act 1927

Reasons why it wasn’t a ‘Golden Age’: Wages

• Germany relied on US loans for economic recovery (Dawes/Young Plans)

• Small businesses felt under threat by large department stores

Reasons why it was a ‘Golden Age’: Women

• Nearly 10% of Reichstag politicians were women

• Article 109 stated that

  • women had equal rights with men

  • marriage was an equal partnership

  • women could enter into professions on equal basis with men

• Number of female doctors doubled to 5,000 between 1925 and 1932

• New women

New Women

• Bought more clothes

• Short hair

• Wore more makeup

• More revealing clothes

• Went out without

Reasons why it wasn’t a ‘Golden Age’: Women

• Women were paid 33% less than men

• Traditionalists felt that women were neglecting their families and children

• Many women did not have high status jobs

• Some men felt that ’new women’ threatened the role of men in society

• Divorce rates doubled and birth rates fell

Why did the way women were treated change?

• Social Democrats came to power in 1918

• They believed that women should have the right to vote

• Women had worked hard for the war effort, so there were strong arguments for treating women equally to men

• By 1918, 75% of women were doing the jobs previously done by men before the war

Reasons why it was a ‘Golden Age’: Culture

Art:

• Otto Dix and the Expressionist Movement

Architecture:

• Bauhaus School of Design changed architecture

• E.g. Einstein Tower

Cinema:

• German films were very innovative and became very famous

• E.g. Metropolis

  • director = Fritz Lang

Reasons why it wasn’t a ‘Golden Age’: Culture

• Many Germans did not like the change to art as they said it was not traditional German culture

  • said the art reflected decadent and immoral behaviour of urban elites (some of which were Jewish)

• Left wing said funding was wasted on extravagance when working people needed help

• Right Wing said that changes undermined traditional German culture

By 1918, what percentage of women were doing men’s jobs during the war?

75%

Name the Article that stated women should be treated equally to men in marriage and the workplace

Article 109