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Shock at losing the war
losing the war had left the German population feeling shocked and betrayed by their political and military leaders.
Food and fuel shortages
cold winter of 1916-1917 contributed to severe food and fuel shortages in the cities. It was nicknamed the “turnip winter” because the failure of the potato crop forced the German people to rely heavily on turnips (back then it was animal food).
Civilian deaths
the number of civilian deaths from starvation and hypothermia increased from 121,000 to 293,000 in 1918.
Infant mortality ( children under 1 years old)
The number of child deaths increased by over 50% during the course of the war.
The influenza epidermic
In 1918, Europe was hit by the Spanish flu which killed between 20 million and 40 million people, a higher figure than the casualties in the first world war .It has been cited as the most devastation epidermic recorded because the people’s resistance was lowered due to their poor living conditions.
Inflation
workers were forced to work even longer hours, but wages fell below the inflation rate. Average prices doubled in Germany between 1914-1918 whereas wages rose up only by 50% to 75%.
Casualties
About 2 million Germans were killed, with a further 6 million wounded, many suffering disability. The emotional trauma of all of these soldiers and their families was not easy to put in statistics.
