history - key dates/stats for germany - 1918-1932

Creation of weimar republic

November 1918

When + what was revolution from above

29th Sep-3 Oct 1918 = constitutional monarchy + chancellor in control & Kaiser power to Reichstag but didn’t abdicate + revolution came from top ( people who were in charge remained in charge)

When + what was the revolution from below

9 Nov 1918 - Sailors from Kiel - started a mutiny = set up workers and soldiers councils + regions declared independence e.g Bavaria on 8 Nov & Kaiser abdicates + new SPD gvt formed = creation of liberal democratic state

When + what was the Ebert-Groener pact

10th nov 1918 - leave the military high-command and senior judges in place and in return the more conservative people would support the new democracy

• army would support the new government, and in return, Ebert would support the military leadership and oppose communist revolution

When + what was the Stinnes-Legien agreement

15 nov 1918 - employers agreed to make certain concessions such as recognition of trade unions, establishment of worker committees, better working conditions and the limitation of an 8 hour working day

• Stinnes = leader of German industry

• Legien = head of trade unions

Election results of SPD - highest and lowest

38% in Jan 1919 - 20% in Nov 1932

Election results for pro-weimar parties

72.8% in May 1928

Use of article 48 stat

Used by President Ebert 136 times between 1919 and 1925 = undermined weimar democracy

• 1923–1924: 63 times to deal with economic crisis

When did Von Hindenburg gain power + who was he

Respected military general who took over when Ebert died in 1925

How long was Gustav Streseman in power

German foreign minister for 6yrs from 1923-29 + helped Germany recover from economic crisis e.g Young & Dawes plan

When + what was spartacist uprising

5-12th Jan 1919

• left wing wished to replace German’s centralist gvt

• Ebert used the pact to use army and Freikorps to crush the rebellion - 100 people died & the two leader - Luxemburg&Liebknecht

• Little threat to gvt as easily crushed but showed extra-judicial treatment

When + what was the bavarian republic

March 1919

• left wing (led by Kurt Eisner) wanted a radical gvt for the working people

• Soviet republic declared which established workers’ councils and battalions of the Red Guard committed to defending workers’ power

• Crushed by Freikorps + replaced by right-wing gvt

• Crushed quickly but only with help of Freikorps

When + what was the Kapp Putsch

March 1920

• 1st major right-wing challenge to Weimar democracy

• Gvt disbanded the Ehrhardt Marine Brigade = prompted anger from soldiers but also Ludendorff & Wolfgang Kapp thought this made the new gvt vulnerable and that soldiers would rebel

• 10th March = Von Luttwitz met with Ebert to demand an end to demilitarisation and eletions to form new gvt and Ebert refused = 12,000 Freikorps marched on Berlin - Wolfgang & men occupied gvt buildings

• Army stayed neutral = gvt fled Berlin

• Kapp pronounced new gvt but it lacked support = Ebert called strike to defeat the Putsch = humiliating

• Temporarily big threat as Ebert lost his power

• But in the long term it was still large threat as demonstrated that gvt was weak & relied on the gvt

When + what was the Ruhr uprising

13th March - 6 April 1920

• Industrial heartland of Germany

• Left wing uprising as backlash of leniency of gvt towards right wing extremism + a weakening of workers’ rights

• Formed Red Army of 50,000 workers who controlled Ruhr and gvt had to rely on army and Freikorps to crush uprising

• This led to the death of 1,000 workers

• Demonstrated the fractured nature of german politics as gvt relied on army’s help

what + when was the Munich/Beer hall Putsch

9th Nov 1923 (5yrs to the day of creation of the Weimar Republic - wanted to ‘wipe the stain’ of the republic + during peak hyperinflation)

• right wing uprising during peak economic and military crisis = gvt weak

• Hitler + 600 Storm troopers take over a Munich Beer hall during Bavarian gvt meeting and order them to allow the nazis to create a new gvt = accepted

• Next day as a sign of power they marched on Munich = army was waiting for them = crushed easily + quickly (10 nazis killed)

• Hitler imprisoned for 5 yrs but served only 9 months - brought him popularity

• Highlighted the gvt weakness without army once again

extremists murders

326 unpunished murders (out of 354) vs 4 unpunished from left (out of 22)

Opposition to W.R from working class

In 1922, there were 4,500 strikes but this number halved and continued to decline from 1925-29

Gvt debt during war + effect

• From 1914-1918 gvt borrowed almost 150 billion marks - simultaneously gvt raised 8 billion marks in taxes

• Government borrowing money led to inflation = prices rose by 200% from 1914-18

Unemployment stats

• By Feb 1919, there were approx 1.1mill ppl without jobs = 7% of workforce but dropped by 50% in second 1/2 of year and then to only 12,000 in 1922

  • This happened as wages were so low (lower than In 1913) so the employers could afford a large workforce

Ruhr crisis - when + what was it

1923

• Germany postponed lots of reparation payments, but in early 1922, france ordered 60,000 troops into the industrial heart of germany to seize coal produced in region as a source of payment

• This also stopped tax collection in the Ruhr and delivery of coal to the rest of germany = gvt had to import it = unnecessary spending = gvt finances collapsed and by 1923, it cost more to print a mark than it was worth

Dawes plan - when + what was it

• 1924 - Dawes Plan = loan of 800 million gold marks to help stabilise economy, US had right to allow Germany to take a payment holiday as the German economy was prioritised over paying reparations, annual repayment amount was reduced until 1929 and these annual repayments would happen over a longer period of time

Young plan - what + when was it

• Young Plan = 1929 plan = extended time to pay back reparations to 1988 and also reduced the reparations

Stabilising German currency

• Gvt worked with Schacht to create new currency in Oct 1923 called the Rentenmark = extremely successful as its value remained stable and regular forms of trading and payment restarted- Reichmark  replaced the temporary Rentenmark in 1924