germany and the growth of democracy

the role of the chancellor and government (bundesrat)

made up of ministers who helped run germany. the chancellor was the most important minister in kaisers government. the chancellor proposed laws to the reichstag and only answered to the kaiser. the bundesrat is made up of representatives from each state.

the role of the kaiser

hereditary position and had the job for life. controlled the aarmy, could propose laws, and had little respect for the reichstag. could ignore government advice and make his own decisions. he made all military and foreign policy decisions.

the role of the parliament (reichstag)

members were elected every 3 years. they could agree or reject laws put forqard by the kaiser. they agreed on how money is spent and collected. they were meinly right-wing but they eventually declined in power, whilst the left wing gained more power.

pros of kaiser wilhelm

was related to royal families of russia, norway, spain, greece and britain. he was energetic, enthusiastic and had wide interests. he loved military ceremonies and had an exelent memory. he could be charming

cons of kaiser wilhelm

had a difficult birth which left him with a partly paralysed left arm and a withered left hand. felt edward VII didnt give him the respect he deserved - the british royal family thought wilhelm was arrogant. he had an explosive temper, was known for changing his mind and was very impulsive. he liked to be the centre of attention. he could be very immature. he believed in the divine right of kings

aims of kaiser wilhelm

he aimed to control the political system and make germany a world leading power. he wanted an overseas empire like britain and france - this idea is called weltpolitik.

the influence of prussian militarism

prussia was the most importiant german state. it made up over half its territory and two-thirds of its population. the belief that a country should have strong armed forces was important to prussia. prussian generals, army officers and tactics formed the basis of the new united german army.

the german economy

the germany economy was growing rapidly, as by the late 1800s, germany had began to industrialise. production of iron and coal doubled. by 1913, germany was producing as much coal as britain and more iron and steel. by 1914, germany produced:

• 2/3 of europes stee;

• 1/3 of the wrolds electrical goods

the junkers

they were proud prussian landowners. dominated german politics. held key positions in the army, and supported the ambition for overseas empire.

the growth of socialism

many workers were unhappy with low wages and poor working conditions. workers joined trade unions and organised strikes, hoping to force the government to improve pay and working conditions. by 1914 over 3 million workers had joined trade unions. a new political party (social democrat party/SDP) became popular among workers, for having the beliefs ofL

• socialism - power and wealth should be shared equally among the people

• hoping the kaiser might allow the reichstag to make more social reforms to improve workers rights and conditions

• disagreeing with the power and privileged positions held by land and factory owners

around one and three germans voted for the SDP at this time. some socialists took a more extreme view, and wanted to rebel against the kaisers rule, start a revolution, and allow cities and towns to be governed by councils and workers.

navy laws

between 1898 and 1912, a huge amount of money was spent to rapidly increase the size of the navy and army. the kaiser wanted a large navy to help him take over more countries and protect those already in the german empire. taxes increased and money was borrowed to pay for this. germany would remain in debt for a very long time

arguments in support of industrialisation

• germany began to lead the world in industries such as chemicals and engineering (e.g producing new dyes and mechanical goods) this led to more job opportunities in the cities and towns as more factories were built.

• the german government invested in creating more railways due to the transport and export of goods. this meant goods could be exported quicker, and people were able to move from the countryside to the towns for work

• germany became a great power by 1900, challenging countries such as britain in areas such as coal and steal. the GNP of germany grew by 9%

arguments against industrialisation

• industrialists were concerned about the growth of socialism, which came about due to rapid industrialisation and urbanisation. this caused social tension as industry workers and owners clashed over pay and conditions in the factory. conservative elites were also worried about the growth of socialist parties in politics. parties such as the SPD grew in support and began to dominate the reichstag (had 110 seats by 1912), which threatened the traditional power of the conservative elite

• left-winged parties began to increase in size and support, as a result of industrialisation. by 1912 the SDP had 28% of the seats in parliament and had challenged the governments 1906 budget, causing political tension with the conservative, right-wing parties. trade union membership grew by 3 million, which was the largest in the world in 1900. people turned to trade unions to challenge the poor working and living conditions they faced

• small business owners faced hardships due to global trade increasing. competition from other countries such as the usa threatened their profits

• living conditions in the cities declined. their was limited housing and sanitation was poor so disease spread quickly. people migrated to the cities from the countryside in search of jobs. the growth of the urban population was so fast that berlins population had doubled to two million in 1910. this created pressure and tension as there was only limited housing in these cities.

what difficulties did kaiser wilhelm face whilst ruling germany?

• the reichstag were getting harder to control, as they were becoming more left wing, meaning they were asking for more reforms. he often tried to respond to their demands with reforms and repression (for example, he said he wanted the social democrats to be gunned down)

• socialism and growing social demands for reform - for example, workers benefits were extended and sunday working was banned, but the socialists were still unhappy and pushing for more change

• a lot of money was used to increase the size of the navy and taxes went up, which upset the people

what were the impacts of ww1 on germany?

• political - in october 1918, some crews in the navy mutinied at hamburg. the kaiser abdicated on the 9th of november 1918. this meant that germany became a democratic republic, and it was now ruled by a president and a chancellor. the social democrats became the main party. the german people felt stabbed in the back by the politicians as they had promised they would win the war - this led to them being called the ‘november criminals’. ex soldiers, civilians and right-winged wanted the kaiser to return and hated the new democratic leaders. there were challenges to power from the left and right wing, such as the kapp putsch and the sparticist uprising

• social - over 424,000 germans died because of food shortages - this was because the british navy blockaded food ports, so food couldnt be imported. many poor people survived off of bread and turnips. weakened by the starvation, they were vulnerable to sickness. this led to many dying during the flu epidemic of 1918. 2 million german troops died and 55% of all german troops were casualties - 2 million children were left without fathers

• economic - workers rebelled against their leaders and went on strike in stuttgart and hanover. germany was bankrupt after the war, and government debts trebled between 1914 and 1918 (50 million to 150 million marks). the industrial production was two-thirds of the 1913 level, and the new government had to pay war widow pensions for over 600,000 women

how was the weimar constitution structured?

• president had to be 35 or over. could get rid of the reichstag, chancellor and ministers and rule without them. commanded the army and was elected every 7 years.

• chancellor was responsible for day to day running of the country. is chosen by the president and is like a prime minister

• reichstag voted on new laws. they were elected every 4 years. the system gave small parties a chance to have a say in parliament (proportional presentation)

• the german people elected the president and members of the reichstag. everyone over 20 can vote. there was free speech, equal rights and freedom to trade and own businesses

what were the strengths of the weimar constitution?

germany was now a democracy, so german people had more control. all men and women over 20 could vote, which meant more political participation. electing a president aimed to avoid a dictatorship, and if the president was incompetent they could be replaced after a short period of time.

what were the weaknesses of the weimar constitution?

proportional representation meant that a lot of different political parties were able to win some seats in the reichstag, but it was difficult for one party to get a majority. the leading party had to deal with smaller groups in order to get everything done, making law-making a very slow process. many groups, such as older army generals, judges, and upper-class families, did not like the new democratic system, and preferred it when the kaiser ruled germany. the weimar government were unpopular because they were the reason germany was defeated in ww1. they were described as the november criminals.

what issues did the weimar republic face?

• sparticist uprising, which was caused by the sacking of eichhorn (a police cheif). 100,000 people went on strike. the leaders were killed.

• kapp putsch, which was caused by the treaty of versailles being signed. this meant that the freikorps had to be disbanded. wolfgang kapp attempted to overthrow the government and in opposition, the left called a general strike - transport and postal services came to a stop and the government had to flee berlin

• red rising in the ruhr, which was caused by the kapp putsch. workers continued to strike. nearly lead to a communist revolution and the german army was sent to deal with the strikers - 1000 of them were killed

• munich putsch, where hitler demanded to overthrow the weimar goverment with the SA. the nazi party was popular in bavaria and the bavarian prime minister wanted to rebel against the weimar republic. hitler was imprisoned, the nazi party was banned and the weimar republic lost support from the bavarian government.

• ruhr crisis and hyperinflation. due to missed reparation payments, france and belgium seized assets from germany. stressmann payed workers to strike so that they didnt have anything to take. the printing of more money led to hyperinflation

• there were over 350 political assasinations in germany between 1919 and 1922, mostly carried out by the right-winged. this was because they wanted to eliminate those responsible for the treaty of versailles.

what did the german people think of the treaty of versailles?

• they thought it was harsh, as they lost large areas of land. this meant they lost people, factories, farms and mines. they had to pay a large amount of money to the winners too, which humiliated many germans

• they were ordered to sign the peace treaty, without discussion. they called it a diktat, which means dictated peace

• many germans felt that they had not really lost the war, and that instead germans politicians had betrayed the country by asking for a ceasefire when they kaiser left. some germans believed that germany could have continued fighting, but were betrayed by the politicians who ended the war

what problems did germany face due to the treaty of versailles

• germany was ordered to pay £6.6 billion/132 billion gold marks to the winning countries, for the next 66 years. this put the country into a lot of debt and meant that they could also not recover from the war. they also lost a lot of resources like coal, iron and wood

• the germans could not afford to pay in 1922, so the french and belgian soldiers marched into the ruhr by force and took control of every factory, mine and railway in the region. they took food and goods by force and arrested any germans who stood up to them

• the german government ordered its workers in the ruhr to go on strike instead of helping the french and belgian soldiers remove goods from the country (passive resistance). the german government continued paying the workers on strike. to do this, they printed large amounts on money, which was also used to pay the french and belgians. as workers spent money in the shops, shopkeepers began to put up their prices. the government printed more money, and more prices rose, leading to hyperinflation.

in what ways were german people affected by hyper inflation?

• people with bank savings lost out the most. people had saved all their lives to get 1000 marks in the bank, but by 1923, this couldnt even buy them a loaf of bread. elderly people who lived on fixed pensions found that their income would no longer buy them what they needed. many small businesses collapsed because normal trade became impossible due to the daily price changes

• a loaf of bread had gone up from 1.5 million marks to 201 billion marks and an egg went from 4 million marks to 320 billion marks from september to november 1923

• people who had borrowed money found it very easy to pay off their debts. if a person had borrowed 10000 marks in 1920, they could now pay it off with one bank note

who is gustav stresemann

german foreign minister from 1924-1929 (his death)

what problems did stresemann deal with?

• he stopped the printing of bank notes and replaced the worthless notes with a temporary, new currency called the rentenmark. it was eventually replaced by the reichsmark, which remained for the next 25 years. however, people who lost their saving never got their money back, so they blamed stresemann

• he arranged for the USA to lend money to german (800 million gold marks). then germany re-started its reparations payments. this was known as the dawes plan. the french and belgian troops left the ruhr. however, some germans felt stresemann shouldve demanded a complete and to reparations payments

• he improved germanys relationships with other nations. the locarno pact was signed between britain, france, germany, belgium and italy, where they promised never to invade each other. germany joined the league of nations. they signed the kellogg-briand pact, where participating countries promised never to go to war, unless it was in defence. germany regained its international status and became an important part of the league of nations. however some germans criticised stresemann for not demanding back land taken by the treaty of versailles.

what are some examples of development during the golden age?

• economic prosperity meant that the government could build new swimming pools, sports stadiums and apartment blocks, which created more job opportunities

• films made by german directors were technically advances, and attracted large audiences. however people were disgusted by actresses’ open sexuality (e.g marlene dietrich). she played glamourous, strong willed women and became a global superstar

• clubs became a major past time. by 1927, there were over 900 dance blubs. berlin was known for its nightclubs. some germans were shocked by the club scene in berlin, and believed it showed a moral decline. they wanted a return to simple, traditional family values. many churches spoke against it

• writers produced novels with strong anti-war messages. for example, erich remarque’s book, all quiet on the western front, highlighted the horrors of ww1, and was turned into a successful film. many writers were critical of the weimar republic and glorified the war