WEIMAR GERMANY

all heil hitker

germany’s debts after WW1 due to treaty of versailles

32 billion usd

german air force restrictions

Mercedes and BMW forced to transition to cars

germany economic downfall

lost the rhineland and most of its industrial areas (only having the ruhr left). france left to control german coal mines.

dolchstosslegende

a made up lie that the military had no say in the armistice and that the politicians had signed it when germany was “winning the war”, while truthfully the military was behind the armistice

germany’s army reduction

army reduced to 100,000 men. prevented from having an air force and its naval force was significantly reduced. also prohibited from producing serious weapons.

abdication of kaiser willhelm II

9th of november 1918, kaiser fled to holland after the democracy in germany was declared by ebert.

germany in war 1918 notice

290,000 lives of germans killed in 1918 alone. fighting on two fronts and were being pushed back into their own territory.

armistice

armistice was declared on the 11th of november, 1918. hindenburg and ludendorff had realised that germany was in hot water.

treaty of versailles

handed to germany late april 1919. germany had no say or effect in the negotiations, and so was left with brutal terms that they were forced to follow. signed the treaty on the 28th of june 1919.

the weimar constitution

august 11th, 1919. to establish germany as a democratic republic. detailed the structure of the government. included the president, a chancellor (similar to a prime minister), a cabinet, the reichstag and followed proportional representation.

spartacist uprising

jan 5th to the 12th in 1919, the spartacists attempted to create an uprise against the government. the uprising was defeated by the friekorps that were requested by president ebert. rosa luxemburg (one of the primary leaders) was killed after this. spartacists were angry with the democracy, and were communist in belief.

spartacists

spartacists were those with an extreme leftist view in germany. they looked at the rising of communism in moscow, creating the soviet union, and aspired for germany to be led similarily. they were the working class that wanted communism and the working class to rule germany.

freikorps

the freikorps were a right-winged political group that hoped for the return of the monarchy, having distaste for the new german democracy in place. they were primarily soldiers that had been disbanded from the army after the treaty of versailles, prohibiting no more than 100,000 men in the army.

kapp putsch

the kapp putsch was a right-winged attack on the weimar republic, ran be wolfgang kapp and von luttwitz. ludendorff also attended the putsch. this was to overthrow the weimar government. on march 13th, 1920, 5000 friekorps marched into berlin. in retaliation, the government called for all workers to strike (the spartacists). the putsch quickly collapsed.

spd

social democratic party. a political party on the left that most of the time differentiated itself from the left. strived for democracy and was opposed to both the left and right. pro-republican and wanted gradual social reform.

uspd

independent social democratic party. strong leftist party. sought to change the structure of german society. most union workers supported this party.

kpd

communist party of germany. the radical left of germany. formed after the spartacist uprising in 1919, the soviet union was a strong influence on them. were opposed to democracy and the republic.

zentrum

centre-aligned, more extensive than the ddp (german democratic party). offered middle-class support. pro-republican, democratic, yet harshly rejected socialism

ddp

german democratic party. centre-aligned party and were liberal democrats. aimed to support the middle-class.

dvp

the german people’s party. right-winged party. moderate in their beliefs. were anti-communist and anti-socialist ofcourse. democratic but were laissez-faire.

dnvp

german national people’s party. right-winged and conservative. anti-republican and wanted back the monarchy. anti-marxist.

nsdap/nazi

national socialist german workers’ party. were the radical right of germany. anti-everything except for wanting a monarchy/dictatorship.

munich beer hall putsch

on the 8th of november, 1923, adolf hitler led an urpising, attempting to seize control over the bavarian government, marching into munich. was a right-wing uprising that resulted in the arrest of ludendorff and hitler, but both were treated extremely leniently. this case gave hitler fame in a sense.

hyperinflation

after occupation of ruhr, gov decides to just start printing money. value reduced to basically nothing, one usd being worth 201 billion marks in november of 1923. was later replaced by the rentemark in 1924.

article 48

gave the president dictatorial powers, allowing him to pass any law without any negotiation from other powers in the government. uses included the introduction of the rentemark and the destruction of the governments of thuringis and saxony (only including uses within time of weimar germany, but was used significantly by the nazis later on).

passive resistance

french and belgian troops storm into the ruhr 9th nov 1923. the government tells the workers to just stop working. and so for 8 months the workers just don’t work, making germany’s economic and political situation even worse. passive resistance ceased when stresemann began to comply with french authorities.

the judiciary

notoriously biased against the left-winged groups and definitely held some favour for the right. the judiciary was originally for the monarchy, not being touched during the switch from the monarchy to democracy. treated left-winged criminals horribly (example, rosa luxenborg was killed and disposed of poorly). 354 assassinations done by right parties on leftist parties. for right-winged groups whom were behind the kapp putsch and the munich putsch, they got a slap on the wrist.

welfare state

encouraged worker rights, unions, and the increase in wages. this included pension and the unemployment insurance act that helped 17 million stay safe from poverty and homelessness. 2 million homes were built and public works programs were in place all over germany.

dawes’ plan

loans from america. implemented april 1924.

the young plan

1929, reduced amount of money germany needed to repay. reparation reduced to 37 million from its previous 132000 million marks. had now until 1988 to pay the amount.

locarno treaty

december 1st, 1925, guarantee of borders between powers. addressed western borders but not germany’s eastern borders.

rapallo treaty and berlin treaty

16th of april, 1922. allegiance with russia / neutrality. any claims of territory or finance were removed, and agreed to support each other’s militaries. germany was able to get past weapon production restriction. 24th of april, 1926, the treaty of berlin solidified that in the occurrence of a war, both would remain neutral to each other.

league of nations

in 1926, germany was permitted to join the league of nations. the german people opposed this though (not wanting to work with those whom brought them great suffering). in the end, germany joined happily (its gov btw not the people). 8th of september, germany joined the league of nations.

rise of theatre and cinema

rise of cabaret and provocative theatre. sound and film tech improvement in the 1920s. some examples of popular works were ‘metropolis’ and ‘nosferatu’.

literature and architecture in weimar germany

challenged previous lit and arc. reflected mostly on the idea of modernism. architecture focused on being more simple yet more effective and efficient. some examples of literature include ‘all quiet on the western front’ by erich maria remarque, and a famous writer was franz kafka.

modern art in weimar germany

reflected the suffering and hardship of the german people. artists from this period include otto dix and max beckmann.

modernism

the embrace of social change. many enjoyed this social change, taking advantage of the freedoms it brought, but many were against it, saying it tarnished german culture and was disrespectful to their history. right-winged groups would attack the government over this.

women in weimar germany

considered to have freedom and equality. prostitution permitted 1927. 35% of the workforce in germany was women, and they were able to vote under the weimar republic. though they were given lower wages and were not exempt from continuing to play traditional roles.

science and tech advancement

considered to have most educated population in europe. seven nobel prizes won in 1920s by germans. albert einstein one significant figure. radio invented, motor industry expanded (mercedes and bmw). graf zeppelin in 1928.

1928 may election results

SPD - 29.8% of the vote.

NSDAP - 2.6%.

KPD - 10.6%.

1930 september election results

SPD - 24.5% of the vote.

NSDAP - 18.3%.

KPD - 13.1%.

1932 april run-off presidential election results

hindenburg - 53% of the vote.

hitler - 36.8%.

thälmann - 10.2%.

1933 march election results

NSDAP - 43.9% of the vote.

SPD - 18.3%.

KPD - 12.3%.

percentage of factory workers unemployed during 1933

40%

production decrease from 1928 to 1932

40%

amount of foreign investment in german economy by 1924

$25 billion usd

farmer prices beginning to decrease

in 1925, farmer products began to decline in price. the agrarian crisis, in which they could not compete with international produce. the government also failed to support them during a time where farmers were going into debt due to technological advancement

amount of middle class germans whom were unemployed

around 184,000 middle class germans were experiencing poor conditions economically. being taxed lots, unable to claim benefits that the government was giving out, and the hyperinflation that made their savings worthless contributed to this.

decline of foreign investment

by 1928, the injection of foreign investment into the german economy was decreasing, the money instead going more into the stock market. this resulted in the increase in interest rates and the decrease in production

improvement of homelessness rates by 1928

by 1928, homelessness had been reduced by 60%

german production in 1929

germany was producing a third more than they were before ww1

economic assistance during the great depression percentages

15% went without any assistance, 55% received inadequate funds.

unemployment at its peak in germany

between 1932 - 1933, unemployment was at 6 million in a time where the german population was 67 million.

large wage cuts in 1932

wages went down by a third. government following a deflationary policy.

increase in political violence during july 1932 elections

many attacks were conducted on socialist and communist parties. this includes 72 deaths and 497 during the july 1932 elections alone, just including the socialist/communist members. this aided the nazis gaining more seats and power overall.

nazi support from the working class

31.5% of the nazi supporters were of the working class.

nazi support from the middle class

45.3% of nazi supporters of the middle class.

young people and unemployment

half of the youth of germany were unemployed.

coalition government in 1930

5 political parties were apart of the coalition government. in a time of desperation, this caused many disputes, and not many results to come out of it. highlights the weakness of proportional representation and the vast amount of political parties within weimar germany.

kellogg-briand pact

in 1928, internationally it was declared that war should not be used to resolve disputes.

wall street crash

29th of october, 1929. america stopped supporting germany by removing the input on loans, and so while america fell into economic downfall, germany and many other nations fell into economic struggle as well.

hitler becomes chancellor

30th of january, 1933. papen is able to convince hindenburg that hitler will not be a threat to the republic, and so hindenburg dismisses schleicher and appoints hitler.

election of hindenburg

elected 1925, and ran again (reluctantly) in 1932, managing to beat hitler.

germany gdp 1925-1928

25% higher than in 1925.

germany work force in the golden age

highest paid industrial workforce in europe.

unemployment within the golden age

although economic prosperity for many germans was evident, many were experiencing unemployment due to the introduction of assembly lines.

german farmers high tax during golden age

taxes had increased by 37% from before the war, little government expenditure was going to them as well. incomes had only risen by 4.5%, compared to the rest of germany’s income raising by 45%. more people have moved to urban areas, and so there is less labour available. farmers had basically becomes slaves to the stock market.

department stores weimar germany

most of the department stores within germany were owned by jews. this led to the increase in antisemitism in artisans, shopkeepers, and just small businesses in general.

job insecurity

since businesses’ taxes were increasing, businesses would fear that they would have to cut workers. and so, workers in weimar germany bore this sense of job insecurity.

willingness to fight for the republic

3 million members in the largest paramiliary group that were willing to support and defend the democracy weimar germany had built. shows how people were atcually committed to the democracy. around 80% of germans would also vote in elections, emphasising a want to actually have a say.

hindenburg’s place as president

there are two views of hindenburg becoming president: he can be a symbol of how weak the weimar republic was, considering how he, as president, didn’t even support the republic, but he can also be seen as a connection between the people and democracy. he is a figure from past, autocratic germany that many still did admire. as he would now be associated with the weimar republic, this would put the republic in many people’s favour.

german economic stagnation 1928.

by now, the reparation payments to the allied powers was seen by financers in germany to now be ‘too much’. the müller government was hesitant to increase the taxes to the people, fearing that the economy would further stagnate.

brüning’s economic motivations

wanted to increase taxes and further german debt after ww1 to convince the allied powers that it would be impossible for germany to pay off the reparations. the reichstag doesn’t agree, but hindenburg does. he also just wanted t

cancel of reparations

july 1932, reparations agreed to be dismissed.

weimar germany’s ultimate problem

the use one extremist side to beat up the other extremist side, leading to literally just this cycle.

reichstag fire

28th of february, 1933. it was presented as a communist attack on the reichstag, but could have been nazi doing to portray it as a communist attack instead.

the day of potsdam

day to establish the third reich. occurred in potsdam, the place with fredrick the great was buried, and on the same day the second reich was established. on the 21st of march, 1933.

enabling act

two days after potsdam, on the 23rd of march, 1933, hitler proposed the enabling act, making the chancellor separate from both the reichstag and the president.

kpd suppression in 1933

1933, after the march elections, all 84 kpd members did not show to the next elections. this was pretty substantial - the kpd was 12.3% of the reichstag and votes. the nazi party only had the opposition of the spd now.

summary of economic state within germany with bruning chancellorship

50,000 businesses were wiped out. largest bank shut down. cost of living rose significantly, unemployment rates became extreme, taxes continue to increase.

kpd supporter population

had 5 million supporters by the time of the march, 1933 elections. gained one million votes between the start of the great depression and 1932.

nazi party member background

55% of the sa were from the working class. 40% of nazi party members were of similar origins.

stresemann quote

“if a crisis ever hits us and america withdraws their short-term credits we would be bankrupt.”

structuralist view

“hitler… is not a sufficient explanation… he cannot be understood divorced from society.” - richard overy, a british historian whom had publiched various works on ww2 and nazi germany.

intentionalist view

“hitler’s final ascent to the german chancellorship was due to his own political skills… papen… underestimated hitler’s rat-like cunning.” - michael burleigh, a british author whose works centre around nazi germany.