CONTENT democracy and dictatorship

1888-1914 problems and successes of the kaiser

problems:

• taxation through naval laws 1892-1912

• socialism’s popularity grows in Germany - SPD formed

• workers’ strikes due to poor wages + working conditions, joined TUs

• Britain dominated world trade and Germany was far behind in industrialisation

• kaiser = autocratic, this was widely disliked and he was therefore to blame

successes:

• naval laws successful and Germany’s navy was massively increased and strengthened

• more iron + steal produced and same amount of coal as GB by 1913

• 1882 - triple alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary + Italy)

• started a German Empire

attitudes towards war over WW1

• @ the start, War was seen very positively, especially by young, patriotic Germans who believed the war would be over quickly and that it would bring national pride and a victory

• 1915 - 500 women gathered outside Parliamentary buildings to demand their men back from the war

• 1916 - 100,000 workers protested against the war and the government in Berlin

• in October 1918, General Ludenorff told Kaiser Wilhelm II that they would never win the war

• encouraged him to make German more democratic as believed this would make the Triple Entente be less harsh on Germany

End of WW1

• 28th October 1918 - German navy staged a mutiny (refused to fight) and were joined by soldiers

• took over towns and ruled them

• Germany was in CHAOS

• the kaiser abdicated on 9th November 1918 and secretly left Germany forever

• Friedich Ebert (SPD leader) took over from the Kaiser temporarily and promised the people would get elections and be able to choose who was in charge soon

• Germany surrendered on the 11th of November 1918

problems facing germany in 1918

economic:

• had borrowed money in the war from abroad to pay for the war DEBTS

• had lent money to their allies DEBT

• 600,000 war widows + 2 million kids w/o fathers - WAR PENSIONS would be very expensive in the future

• factories had produced nothing but weapons for 4 years - had no GOODS to TRADE

political:

• Germany left POLITICALLY UNSTABLE

• REVOLUTION and MUTINY

• felt betrayed by NOVEMBER CRIMINALS

• massive threat of COMMUNISM

• lots of social class divide

social:

• women worked in factories in ww1 - damaged traditional family values

• spanish influenza was wiping out many

• people were starving

• coal shortages - people were freezing

the weimar government

• president - elected every 7 years, chooses the chancellor, not every day running, power to run country w/o reichstag’s support and make ‘emergency laws’ in a ‘crisis’ (later exploited by hitler) (WEAKNESS AS EXPLOITED)

• chancellor - chosen by president, every day running of the country, needs at least half the reichstag’s support to pass laws

• reichstag - voted every 4 years by proportional representation (e.g 30% votes = 30% seats), voted on laws, COALITION (massive weakness as slow and indecisive and had to COMPROMISE)

• electorate - any man or woman over 20 could vote, elected reichstag and president, had basic freedoms