Origins of the republic 1918-1919

1918-1919 sup topic 1

Make 4 points about the LEGACY OF WW1

• 55% of German troops had become casualties

• German government’s debt trebled to become 150 bill marks

• Over 750,000 Germans died from starvation due to British naval blockade

• Germany in a state of unrest by Novemver

When was the german revolution and what did this mean for the Kaiser?

• The German revolution had already begun by november 1918

• Kaiser Wilhelm and his government lost control of the city to rioters and strikers

what is the chain of events of the abdication of the kaiser

• 9th november = Ministers told the kaiser he had to abdicate to restore peace, at first he refysed but officers refused to support him

• !0th = went into exile in Holland

What led to the declaration of the republic

• Philip Schiedeman prominent member of the SDP had heard of plots to announce a communist state in Berlin

• Rusged from window of Reichstag to proclaim to crowds that the kasier was gone and appealed fro peaceful transiition into the newer more moderate regime

What was the council of peoples’s representatives, amongst other temp changes

• 9th november, max von baden handed over his office to leader of SPD Freidrich ebert

• 10th = made deal with General Groener to work with government to keep communists out of power

• Ebert suspended old reichstag and replaced it with council of people’s representatives = 6 mioderate politicians

• This council would lead government until new constituition could be agreed on

What was the armistice?

Who signed it?

• foemal agreement between allies and germany to end ww1

• signed by matthias erzberger and ebert

what went into setting up the weimar rep. and ebert achieving fragile control = GARNERING SUPPORT

• was set up between 9th nov 1918 - july 1919

• army not reformed +officers kept their ranks => groener agreed to use army to keep new republic in power

• won support of trade unions by promising leader carl legion, that new rep woul try to achieve 8 hr work day

what went into setting up the weimar rep. and ebert achieving fragile control (2) = STATE OF COUNTRY

• no confiscation of land or nationalisation of private industries to ensure bsunies and economy would keep operating

• civil servants from prev. gov. stayed in office to ensure the state would remain running

What was the national assembly and what was its job?

• replacements for council of representatives

• tasked with creating a new consitution for germany

• this signified the start of democracy

What were the results fo the 19 jan 1919 elections?

• to vote for new gov

• 82% of electorate could vote

• SPD won 40 %

• Centre party won 20%

February 1919 what happened

• gov met for the first time in weimar

• decided on new constitution

• passed 262 votes to 75

What were the democratic strengths of the weimar government?

• Article 1 of constitution confirmed germany was a consititution

• women able to vote as well as men

• voting age reduced from 25 to 21

• propoertonal representation meant smaller parties could be represented in reichstag too

What were the other strengths of the weimar gov?

• No one person or group could have too much power

• president could choose chancellor, dismiss reichstag, call new elections, assume control of army

• BUT president could be changed by electorate every 7 years

• reichstag most powerful but recishtrat could delay new laws passed by them (pres, chanc, stag and strat central)

Weakness of weimar gov

• coalition gov = no single majority due to prop rep, so compromises often had to be made resulting in a lack of strong policies, frequently argues and fell apart

• weakness in crisis = coalition meant lack fo clear decisions in times of crisis. Led to abuse of article 48 which allowed President to pass laws without reichstag support=> weakened consitution + encoraged idea of omnipotent leader rather thsn elected parliament

• based on violence and division = not the choice of the people, german revolution gov relied on army to subdue public riots while meeting in wemar. gave way to extremist parties getting into reichstag who opposed deomcracy

Why was the republic unpopular

politicians who set it up agreed to the unpopular Treaty of versailles thus it was always linked to harsh terms and surrender

What was the diktat of the treaty of versailles?

• allies refused to allow germans any representatives to join in treaty discussions, was imposed

• despite german opposiition to terms all concessions were refused by the allies

What was war guilt and what was its consequence on germany?

• Article 231 stated germany had caused the war even if germany didnt agree

• forced germany to pay reparations to victorious nations,also insisted on reducing germany’s armed forces and territory

Explain main terms of ToV

• germany had to pay reparations to the allies ( 1921 = 136 million marks

• germany lost all its colonies = 11 german colonies in africa and far east given to winners of ww1

• german militarystrength was cut = army limited to 100,000 men, no heavy artillery ( only to be used in germany), navy was limited to 6 battle ships, 6 cruisers, no submarines, no airforce, demitilarised rhineland, allied troops stationed there until 1930

what was dolchstoss and what did this reinforce

• german people didnt believe that they had lost the war, with ebert eevn greeting the army in 1919 saying “no army defeated you”

• thus critics of the treaty said army was “stabbed in the back” by the politicians who signed the treaty

Wha was the impact of ToV on germany?

• damaged germany’s economy

• made weimar gov politically weak

• so harsh that people resented those who signed it (known as november criminals as they surrendered then)

How many seats did the spd and central party have in the reichstag

about 80 %

Who was the extreme right wing party?= 1919

The DNVP (national party)

• supported capitalism

• championed traditional values (families, law and order etc)

• wanted strong government with strong army headed by powerful leader

• prioritised interests of country o

Who was the extreme left party= 1919

the kpd (communist party)

• Wanted germany to be controlled by the people

• opposed capitalism

• internationalists who stressed the cooperation of nations

What were the challlenges of the left and right in the reichstag

• extreme parties had 20% of the votes each

• most of the 1920s = moderate centre parties struggled to form majority coalitions while being attackd by extremist politicians

when was the spartacist uprising?

what was it ?

who was it led by?

What started it?

• left wing, supported by the KPD and backed by the societ union

• 6th Jan to 13th Jan

• rosa luxemburg and karl liebknecht

• 4th jan sacking of emil eichhorn berlin police chief even though he was popular with workers

Why did the spartacist uprising cause such a problem?

Weimar gov was losing control of the capital

• The Spartacists had taken control of the government’s newspaper and various telegraph offices across Berlin

• Over 100,000 workers protested

What was the end of the spartacist revolt?

What was the government’s main problem?

Finances. The government was bankrupt because they had no gold reserves and had failing income and could no longer afford to pay reparations

What led to the French occupation of the Ruhr?

December 1922 - failed to send coal to france from ruhr

January 1923 - french sent troops to the industrial sector of the ruhr to confiscate raw materials, processed goods and industrial machinery

What did the Germans do as a result?

What was its consequences?

German government urged passive resistance- causing workers to go on strike, but as a result the french responded with arrests and bringing their own workers.

What was the impact of the French occupation of the ruhr and why?

Since it contained 80% of german coal, iron and steel reserves, the disruption increased germany’s debts, unemployment andworsened the sHORTAGE OF GOODS

What was led to hyperinflation in weimar germany ?

1919-1923, government income was only a quarter of what wa required leading the government to print mor emoney