Comprehensive Study Guide: Germany in Transition 1919–1939

The Emergence of the Weimar Republic and the 1918 Revolution

The origins of the Weimar Republic are rooted in the final days of the First World War. On $9 \text{ November } 1918$ , Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated his throne after losing the support of the military and the public, subsequently fleeing to Holland. This vacancy of power led to the declaration of a new German Republic. On $11 \text{ November } 1818$ , Chancellor Friedrich Ebert accepted the armistice that ended the fighting. This act was perceived by many Germans as a betrayal of the German army, known as the Reichswehr. This sentiment gave rise to the "stab in the back" or Dolchstoss theory, where it was believed the army remained undefeated but was sabotaged from within by politicians.

From its inception, the Republic was besieged by conflict. In the final weeks of $1918$ , attacks came from both the political left and the right. On $19 \text{ January } 1919$ , elections were held for a Constituent Assembly. A significant outcome of this election was that no single party secured a majority of seats, necessitating the formation of a coalition government. Due to the dangerous and volatile nature of Berlin at the time, the Assembly met in the more peaceful town of Weimar, which provided the new government its name.

The Formal Structure of the Weimar Constitution

Finalised in $August \, 1919$ , the Weimar Constitution was Germany's first experience with democracy. The structure was hierarchical and included several key articles and roles. The President was the head of state, elected every $7$ years. He served as the supreme commander of the army and held the power to dismiss the Reichstag and call for new elections. Under Article $48$ , the President could suspend the Constitution in an emergency and make laws without the immediate support of the Reichstag.

The Chancellor was the head of the government, chosen by the President, but was required to have the support of a majority in the Reichstag. The Reichstag was the primary legislative body, containing $421$ members in $1919$ and growing to $647$ members by $1933$ . Members were elected every $4$ years. The Reichsrat consisted of $55$ representatives from the $18$ German states; while it could not make laws, it could approve or veto laws proposed by the Chancellor and the Reichstag. The electorate consisted of all men and women over the age of $20$ .

Evaluative Analysis: Strengths and Weaknesses of the Constitution

The Constitution possessed several progressive strengths. It was highly democratic for its time, granting the vote to men and women at age $20$ —whereas in Britain, the age was $21$ for men and $30$ for women. The requirement for the Chancellor to maintain Reichstag support and the inclusion of a strong President to handle crises were seen as stabilizing factors. Furthermore, the system of proportional representation ensured that the number of seats a party received in the Reichstag was directly proportional to the percentage of votes earned (e.g., $10\%$ of votes equalled $10\%$ of seats).

However, significant flaws contributed to eventual instability. Proportional representation allowed a multitude of small parties to enter the Reichstag, making it nearly impossible for one party to gain a majority. This resulted in frequent coalition governments that were often divided and weak. Article $48$ gave the President excessive power to rule by decree, potentially bypassing democratic processes. Additionally, many institutions remained hostile to the new Republic; many judges, senior civil servants, and army leaders remained monarchists who preferred the return of the Kaiser and disagreed with the Republic's liberal views.

The Treaty of Versailles and the "Diktat"

Signed on $28 \text{ June } 1919$ , the Treaty of Versailles was met with horror by the German public. It was viewed as a "Diktat" (dictated peace) and a "Gewaltfrieden" (enforced peace). The treaty forced Germany to accept Article $231$ , the War Guilt Clause, taking sole blame for the war and agreeing to pay reparations. Germany was initially denied entry into the League of Nations, becoming an international "pariah."

Territorially, Germany lost $13\%$ of its land, $48\%$ of its iron production, and more than $6 \text{ million}$ citizens. Key losses included Alsace-Lorraine to France, Eupen-Malmedy to Belgium, Posen and West Prussia to Poland, and the creation of Danzig as a Free City. No union (Anschluss) with Austria was permitted. The military was severely restricted: the army was capped at $100,000$ men, and Germany was forbidden from having tanks, armoured cars, heavy military equipment, aircraft, or submarines. The navy was limited to vessels under $10,000$ tons, and the Rhineland was demilitarized.

Financial terms were equally harsh. Reparations were fixed at $£6,600 \text{ million}$ . Additionally, Germany had to provide coal from the Saar to France, build merchant ships for the Allies to replace those sunk by U-boats, and give cattle and sheep to France and Belgium. Politicians who signed the armistice and treaty were labeled the "November Criminals."

Political Instability and Armed Uprisings, 1919–1923

Determined to prevent a Bolshevik-style revolution like the one in Russia in $October \, 1917$ , Chancellor Ebert made a deal with the new army leader, Groener. The Ebert-Groener Pact ensured the army would support the government against revolution in exchange for supplies and autonomy. However, this made the Republic dependent on the military, which weakened its independent authority.

The Spartacist Uprising occurred in $January \, 1919$ . Led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg of the Spartacist League (later the KPD), the radical group sought to create a communist state. Ebert used the Reichswehr and the Freikorps (paramilitary groups of demobilized soldiers) to crush the rebellion. Liebknecht and Luxemburg were captured and killed. Subsequent communist risings in Berlin ( $March \, 1919$ ) and Munich ( $April \, 1919$ ) were also put down with extreme violence.

The right-wing threatened the Republic during the Kapp Putsch in $March \, 1920$ . When the government attempted to disband the Freikorps, Wolfgang Kapp and Ehrhardt seized Berlin. The regular army, led by General von Seeckt, refused to intervene, stating, "The Reichswehr does not fire on Reichswehr." The Putsch only collapsed after the government called for a general strike, which paralyzed Berlin. Despite the severity of the attempt, few of the $400$ involved officers were punished. Between $1919$ and $1922$ , there were $376$ political murders, with $354$ committed by the right.

The Ruhr Occupation and the Hyperinflation Crisis

In $1923$ , Germany's economic situation reached a breaking point. When Germany failed to meet its reparation payments ( $£100 \text{ million per year}$ ), France and Belgium sent troops into the Ruhr, Germany's industrial heartland. Because the Ruhr was in the Rhineland, no German troops could resist. The German government encouraged "passive resistance," leading to strikes and industrial sabotage. French troops responded with violence, shooting several strikers.

To pay the striking workers and fulfill reparations, the government began printing massive amounts of paper money. This led to hyperinflation, where the currency became worthless. The exchange rate for $£1$ moved as follows:

$July \, 1914$ : $20 \text{ marks}$
$January \, 1919$ : $35 \text{ marks}$
$January \, 1923$ : $71,888 \text{ marks}$
$July \, 1923$ : $1,413,648 \text{ marks}$
$November \, 1923$ : $1,680,800,000,000,000 \text{ marks}$

Hyperinflation wiped out the savings of the middle class, but benefited businessmen with debts and farmers whose food prices rose. Foreigners with stable currencies could buy German goods cheaply. Equilibrium only began to return when Gustav Stresemann became Chancellor in the summer of $1923$ , introducing a new currency and securing loans from the USA in $1924$ .

Comprehensive Glossary of Terms

Adjutant: An army officer who acts as an administrative assistant to a senior officer.
Allies: The powers that fought against Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and Bulgaria in World War I.
Anschluss: Political and economic union of Germany and Austria.
Anti-Semitism: Hatred and persecution of the Jews.
Appeasement: Policy of making concessions to a potentially hostile nation to maintain peace.
Arbitration: Accepting the decision of an agreed third party to settle a dispute.
Aryan: Nazi term for a non-Jewish German of supposedly "pure" stock.
Blitzkrieg: "Lightning war"—the new military method used by Germany in $1939$ .
Bolshevik Revolution: The $1917\text{--}18$ Russian revolution that overthrew the Czar.
Bolshevism: The theory of seizing state power to establish a dictatorship of the proletariat.
Bund Deutscher Mädel: League of German Girls, the Nazi Party's youth wing for girls.
Censorship: Controlling speech or information to suppress opposition to the state.
Centre Party (ZP): Catholic party occupying the political middle ground.
Coalition government: A government comprised of two or more political parties.
Communism: Theory that society should be classless with collectively owned property.
Communist Party (KPD): The German Communist Party following Marxist ideas.
Concordat Agreement: Agreement with the Roman Catholic Church.
Conscription: Compulsory military service.
Constituent Assembly: A group elected to establish a new constitution.
Dawes Plan: Introduced in $1924$ to reduce annual reparation payments.
Depression: Extended economic decline marked by low production and high unemployment.
Dolchstoss: The "stab in the back" theory.
DNVP: Deutschnationale Volkspartei (Nationalist Party).
Führer: German word for leader.
German Faith Movement: Nazi-promoted religious movement for Germanic paganism.
Gestapo: Geheime Staatspolizei, the official secret police of the Nazi regime.
Ghettos: Densely populated ethnic enclaves, typically for Jews.
Gleichschaltung: The process of total coordination and uniformity in politics and culture.
Great Depression: The economic slump of the $1930$ s.
Great Power: A nation with exceptional political, military, and economic strength.
Hitler Youth: Organisation designed to convert young Germans to Nazi ideals.
Industrialists: Owners or managers of large industries or factories.
Kristallnacht: "Night of Broken Glass."
League of Nations: International body established after WWI to maintain peace.
Lebensraum: "Living space" for the German people through eastward expansion.
Left-wing: Politicians favoring socialism.
Nationalists: People with passionate devotion to their country.
Passive resistance: Non-violent opposition to an occupying power.
Plebiscite: A direct vote by the electorate on a public issue.
Polish Corridor: Strip of land giving Poland access to the Baltic Sea.
Putsch: An attempted takeover of the government.
RAD: Reichsarbeitsdienst, the National Labour Service Corps.
Real wages: Wages evaluated by purchasing power rather than face value.
Reich: State, kingdom, or empire; used by Nazis to mean the German Empire.
Reichsbank: German National Bank.
Right wing: Supporters of conservative policies.
Self-determination: The principle of nation states ruling themselves.
Socialists: Believers in state ownership of production.

Questions & Discussion

Q1: In what ways was the Constitution democratic or undemocratic?Democratic Factors: Universal suffrage for men and women over $20$ . A system of Proportional Representation. The Chancellor required majority support from the Reichstag. The President was elected by the whole electorate. Undemocratic Factors: Article $48$ allowed the President to rule by decree without Parliament. The Reichsrat could block laws. The President could dismiss the Reichstag at will. Key state institutions (judiciary, civil service) remained anti-democratic.

Q2: What grievances did Kapp and the Berlin Freikorps have in 1920? They were outraged by the government’s attempts to reduce the army size and disband the Freikorps to meet Treaty of Versailles requirements. They believed in the Dolchstoss theory and blamed the Weimar politicians for the humiliating peace treaty.

Q3: Which posed the greatest threat: the Spartacists or the Kapp Putsch? While the Spartacists represented an ideological threat and spurred the creation of the KPD, the Kapp Putsch was arguably more dangerous because the regular army (Reichswehr) refused to defend the government against the right-wing rebels, exposing the Republic’s lack of loyal military support.

Q4: Explain why Article 231 was hated by most Germans. Article $231$ (the War Guilt Clause) forced Germany to accept 100% of the blame for starting the war. This was seen as a moral lie and used as the legal justification for the massive reparations that crippled the German economy.