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Weimar and Nazi Germany (1918-1939) grade 9 summary - Study Saviour
World war 1:
❖ 11 million Germans fought in the first world war, almost 2 million troops died and
another 4 million were wounded; all in all 55% of German troops became
casualties.
❖ Between the beginning of 1914 and the end of 1918, the debt of the German
government trebled, from 50 million marks to 150 million marks.
❖ The country suffered in its entirety - British naval troops blockaded German
ports, causing food supplies in the county to run low - constituting 750,000
deaths of civilians German citizens as a result of food shortages, 600,000
women were left widows. This mass suffering led Germany to crumble from
within before it was ever defeated on the battlefield, this led to much unrest in
November 1918…
The German Revolution (1918- 1919)
❖ In Berlin it was more than clear that Kaiser Wilhem needed to abdicate… in
Stuttgart, at the Daimler plant workers striked and demonstrated on the streets,
in Hanover soldiers refused to control those who were rioting in the streets, in
October 1988, the German navy mutinied, refusing to follow orders in the ports
of Kiel and Hamburg, on the 7th of November in Munich (capital of the southern
state of Bavaria) workers declared a General strike led by a Jewish Communist
named Kurt Eisner - announcing that they were separated from the rest of
Germany.
❖ By 1918, industrial production was just 2 thirds of what it had been in 1913 and
the average wage for a worker in 1918 was just 60% of what it had been in 1913.
❖ By November, 1918, the German revolution had effectively already begun; many
towns had set up their own councils to replace the Kaiser’s officials. On the 9th
of November in 1918, the Kaiser was at the army headquarters of Spa, 700 km
from the capital (Berlin), ministers urged him that the restoration of Germany
could only begin if he were to abdicate- at first, he refused. The Kaiser had lost
support of the military, when told this news by General Wilhem Groener he had
no choice, going into exile in Holland the following day.
❖ On the 9th of November, both violent and peaceful protests took place on the
streets, inside the Reichstag was Phillip Schiedemann - a leader Socialist
Democratic Party member, he was told that armed rioters planned to announce
a communist government and Berlin and so took it upon himself to exclaim
through and open window of the Reichstag that the Kaiser had abdicated and
called for a peaceful transition into the new republic.
❖ The SPD had to work quickly in order to regain control and order of Germany,
Max von Baden (the former chancellor) handed over office to Friedrich Ebert
(leader of the SPD) on the 9th of November and on the 10th, Ebert made an
agreement with General Goroner for the army to work hand in hand with the
government to keep the communists out of power, he then suspended the
Reichstag on the very same day and named 6 moderate politicians that would
, form the Council of People’s Representatives which would head the government
of the country until a new constitution could be agreed, hence preventing
anarchy.
The beginnings of a republic:
❖ It was on the 11th of November 1918 that Matthais Erzberger signed the
armistice and hence - the Treaty of Versailles (later … see notes below). The
treaty would later serve to become a permanent burden to the new Republic
and was later seen as a ‘dolchstoss’ (a stab in the back ) or Germans who still
believed they would have been able to win the war; and the people who agreed
in its signature, became known as the ‘November Criminals’ who had signed a
‘dictat’ (a dictated peace) - Germany had been allocated 15 days to make
comments but all concessions were refused. Article 231 became known as the
‘war guilt clause’ but the treaty of Versailles was not actually signed until the
28th of June 1919 and it was at this point that the Treaty of Versailles was
actually signed and the new terms were agreed. These new terms included that:
the German army was allowed a maximum of 100,000 soldiers, 15,000 navy, 6
ships, no submarines nor armoured vehicles, the demilitarisation of the
Rhineland (allied troops remained stationed there until 1930) and not being able
to join with Austria and 11 German colonies (including colonies in Africa and in
the far East were given to victories countries as mandates (these were just the
military terms). The general socioeconomic terms included that: Germany would
pay £6.6 billion in reparations to the allies, a huge land loss in German colonies
that meant that Germany lost 13% of its land and 12.5% of its total population
and placed 1 million Germans under Polish rule.
❖ Ebert took several steps in order to gain public confidence: he arranged for the
civil servants that had helped to run Germany under the Kaiser to stay in office,
instructing them to work alongside the army and workers’ councils to ensure
that the needs of the county such as collecting taxes were still completed, he
reassured General Groener that a reformation of the army would not take place
and that officers could keep their ranks in return for help to keep the Republic
in power, Ebert reassured leaders of industry such as Hugo Stinnnes that there
would be no nationalisation of private industries and finally, he won the
support of trade unions, promising their leader, Carl Legien that the new
Republic would do its best to achieve an 8 hour working day.
❖ Despite the efforts of Ebert, Germany was run on the edge of anarchy and riots
were certainly not uncommon, his fragile power lasted until a new constitution
could - finally - be agreed.
❖ The Council of People’s representatives which took control of Germany was
announced by Ebert always as something temporary, and that there would be
national elections in order to elect a National Assembly - their job would be to
create a new constitution and the elections were indeed a success - with 82% of
the electorate voting and the SPD winning 40%, first they met in February 1991.
Due to unrest in Berlin, they instead met in the peaceful town of Weimar -
loathed just 250km away - though it took 6 months to reach an agreement and
on the 31 st of July they agreed to set up a new constitution (with the ayes
winning at 262 votes to 75).
❖ The President would be elected by the people every 7 years and those the
chancellor and would head the Republic, the Chancellor acted as head of
government and chose all government ministers, the cabinet’s most important
ministers worked closely with the chancellor and were the main decision -
making body of the government, parliament was made up of 2 houses: the
Reichstag (the more powerful of the 2, that controlled taxation and was directly
, elected by the people at least once every 4 years) and the Reichsrat (also
elected every 4 years but representing the regions of Germany, with each länder
allocated a certain number of representatives based on its size - arguably
larger regions were of greater power and therefore influence). Finally, the
electorate consisted of all men and women aged 21 years or older. These
together made up a large part of the new constitution.
The strengths and weaknesses of the new constitution:
❖ Strength: democratic - confirmed by article 1 of the constitution , women could
vote and voting age reduced from 25 to 21 - more democratic than Britain,
proportional representation, each party elected 1 representative for every 60,000
votes
❖ Strength: checks and balances - no one person could have too much power - in
theory - kept a central government - although there were in fact Länders
❖ Weakness: Coalition governments - proportional representation meant that
many small parties won seats, 29 parties in the 1920s - often with no clear
majority and conflicting interests and then compromise + coalitions frequently
fell apart and there were 9 coalition governments between 1919 and 1923. Also
extreme parties could grow to have huge influence meaning that extremist
political ideologies were present in the Reichstag and by 1920 extreme left and
right wing parties accounted for 20% of seats in the Reichstag.
❖ Weakness: weakness in crisis - the lack of strong, single partied government
meant that in crisis when swift and decisive action was needed article 48
became regularly used to bypass democracy whenever the situation was
deemed an ‘exceptional circumstance’ - particularly in 1930, making people
believe that the constitution was weak and that a single all powerful leader was
better than an elected government.
❖ Weakness: the constitution was weaker as larger (and therefore more powerful)
states held greater power than others in the Reichsrat (such as Prussia) - this is
because länders were granted representatives based on their size.
❖ Weakness: Based on division and violence - not really the people's choice,
German government used force to subdue riots and many despised the
democracy of the new constitution (see later Sparatacist uprising and Putschs)
Challenges of the extreme left and right outside of the Reichstag:
❖ The Spartacist revolt: The German Communist Party / KDP was set up in 1918 in
December and was well funded and baked by the Soviet Union, it soon had
400,000 members and 33 daily newspapers, supported by the Spartacist League
(members from the USPD’s Berlin organisation) and were led by Rosa
Luxumburg and karl Liebknetch. On the 4th of January in 1919, Ebert decided to
sack the police chief in Berlin (Emil Eichorn) who was popular among the
communists and the next day, thousands of workers took to the streets in
protest. Sparctacists viewed this as their opportunity to undermine the
government and the new regime, calling for a General strike in Berlin - paying
off when on the 6th of January, 100,000 workers took to the streets, seizing
government newspaper and telegraph offices. This proved that the Weimar
government was losing control of the capital.Chancellor Ebert needed to
subdue the protests, with the Reischwehr in no fit state- following the war,
thousands of soldiers dismissed from the army who had kept their arms and
were strongly opposed to the communists were reorganised into the Freikorps
(numbering 250,000 men by March 1919 and turned them on rioters. By the 13th
Weimar and Nazi Germany (1918-1939) grade 9 summary - Study Saviour
World war 1:
❖ 11 million Germans fought in the first world war, almost 2 million troops died and
another 4 million were wounded; all in all 55% of German troops became
casualties.
❖ Between the beginning of 1914 and the end of 1918, the debt of the German
government trebled, from 50 million marks to 150 million marks.
❖ The country suffered in its entirety - British naval troops blockaded German
ports, causing food supplies in the county to run low - constituting 750,000
deaths of civilians German citizens as a result of food shortages, 600,000
women were left widows. This mass suffering led Germany to crumble from
within before it was ever defeated on the battlefield, this led to much unrest in
November 1918…
The German Revolution (1918- 1919)
❖ In Berlin it was more than clear that Kaiser Wilhem needed to abdicate… in
Stuttgart, at the Daimler plant workers striked and demonstrated on the streets,
in Hanover soldiers refused to control those who were rioting in the streets, in
October 1988, the German navy mutinied, refusing to follow orders in the ports
of Kiel and Hamburg, on the 7th of November in Munich (capital of the southern
state of Bavaria) workers declared a General strike led by a Jewish Communist
named Kurt Eisner - announcing that they were separated from the rest of
Germany.
❖ By 1918, industrial production was just 2 thirds of what it had been in 1913 and
the average wage for a worker in 1918 was just 60% of what it had been in 1913.
❖ By November, 1918, the German revolution had effectively already begun; many
towns had set up their own councils to replace the Kaiser’s officials. On the 9th
of November in 1918, the Kaiser was at the army headquarters of Spa, 700 km
from the capital (Berlin), ministers urged him that the restoration of Germany
could only begin if he were to abdicate- at first, he refused. The Kaiser had lost
support of the military, when told this news by General Wilhem Groener he had
no choice, going into exile in Holland the following day.
❖ On the 9th of November, both violent and peaceful protests took place on the
streets, inside the Reichstag was Phillip Schiedemann - a leader Socialist
Democratic Party member, he was told that armed rioters planned to announce
a communist government and Berlin and so took it upon himself to exclaim
through and open window of the Reichstag that the Kaiser had abdicated and
called for a peaceful transition into the new republic.
❖ The SPD had to work quickly in order to regain control and order of Germany,
Max von Baden (the former chancellor) handed over office to Friedrich Ebert
(leader of the SPD) on the 9th of November and on the 10th, Ebert made an
agreement with General Goroner for the army to work hand in hand with the
government to keep the communists out of power, he then suspended the
Reichstag on the very same day and named 6 moderate politicians that would
, form the Council of People’s Representatives which would head the government
of the country until a new constitution could be agreed, hence preventing
anarchy.
The beginnings of a republic:
❖ It was on the 11th of November 1918 that Matthais Erzberger signed the
armistice and hence - the Treaty of Versailles (later … see notes below). The
treaty would later serve to become a permanent burden to the new Republic
and was later seen as a ‘dolchstoss’ (a stab in the back ) or Germans who still
believed they would have been able to win the war; and the people who agreed
in its signature, became known as the ‘November Criminals’ who had signed a
‘dictat’ (a dictated peace) - Germany had been allocated 15 days to make
comments but all concessions were refused. Article 231 became known as the
‘war guilt clause’ but the treaty of Versailles was not actually signed until the
28th of June 1919 and it was at this point that the Treaty of Versailles was
actually signed and the new terms were agreed. These new terms included that:
the German army was allowed a maximum of 100,000 soldiers, 15,000 navy, 6
ships, no submarines nor armoured vehicles, the demilitarisation of the
Rhineland (allied troops remained stationed there until 1930) and not being able
to join with Austria and 11 German colonies (including colonies in Africa and in
the far East were given to victories countries as mandates (these were just the
military terms). The general socioeconomic terms included that: Germany would
pay £6.6 billion in reparations to the allies, a huge land loss in German colonies
that meant that Germany lost 13% of its land and 12.5% of its total population
and placed 1 million Germans under Polish rule.
❖ Ebert took several steps in order to gain public confidence: he arranged for the
civil servants that had helped to run Germany under the Kaiser to stay in office,
instructing them to work alongside the army and workers’ councils to ensure
that the needs of the county such as collecting taxes were still completed, he
reassured General Groener that a reformation of the army would not take place
and that officers could keep their ranks in return for help to keep the Republic
in power, Ebert reassured leaders of industry such as Hugo Stinnnes that there
would be no nationalisation of private industries and finally, he won the
support of trade unions, promising their leader, Carl Legien that the new
Republic would do its best to achieve an 8 hour working day.
❖ Despite the efforts of Ebert, Germany was run on the edge of anarchy and riots
were certainly not uncommon, his fragile power lasted until a new constitution
could - finally - be agreed.
❖ The Council of People’s representatives which took control of Germany was
announced by Ebert always as something temporary, and that there would be
national elections in order to elect a National Assembly - their job would be to
create a new constitution and the elections were indeed a success - with 82% of
the electorate voting and the SPD winning 40%, first they met in February 1991.
Due to unrest in Berlin, they instead met in the peaceful town of Weimar -
loathed just 250km away - though it took 6 months to reach an agreement and
on the 31 st of July they agreed to set up a new constitution (with the ayes
winning at 262 votes to 75).
❖ The President would be elected by the people every 7 years and those the
chancellor and would head the Republic, the Chancellor acted as head of
government and chose all government ministers, the cabinet’s most important
ministers worked closely with the chancellor and were the main decision -
making body of the government, parliament was made up of 2 houses: the
Reichstag (the more powerful of the 2, that controlled taxation and was directly
, elected by the people at least once every 4 years) and the Reichsrat (also
elected every 4 years but representing the regions of Germany, with each länder
allocated a certain number of representatives based on its size - arguably
larger regions were of greater power and therefore influence). Finally, the
electorate consisted of all men and women aged 21 years or older. These
together made up a large part of the new constitution.
The strengths and weaknesses of the new constitution:
❖ Strength: democratic - confirmed by article 1 of the constitution , women could
vote and voting age reduced from 25 to 21 - more democratic than Britain,
proportional representation, each party elected 1 representative for every 60,000
votes
❖ Strength: checks and balances - no one person could have too much power - in
theory - kept a central government - although there were in fact Länders
❖ Weakness: Coalition governments - proportional representation meant that
many small parties won seats, 29 parties in the 1920s - often with no clear
majority and conflicting interests and then compromise + coalitions frequently
fell apart and there were 9 coalition governments between 1919 and 1923. Also
extreme parties could grow to have huge influence meaning that extremist
political ideologies were present in the Reichstag and by 1920 extreme left and
right wing parties accounted for 20% of seats in the Reichstag.
❖ Weakness: weakness in crisis - the lack of strong, single partied government
meant that in crisis when swift and decisive action was needed article 48
became regularly used to bypass democracy whenever the situation was
deemed an ‘exceptional circumstance’ - particularly in 1930, making people
believe that the constitution was weak and that a single all powerful leader was
better than an elected government.
❖ Weakness: the constitution was weaker as larger (and therefore more powerful)
states held greater power than others in the Reichsrat (such as Prussia) - this is
because länders were granted representatives based on their size.
❖ Weakness: Based on division and violence - not really the people's choice,
German government used force to subdue riots and many despised the
democracy of the new constitution (see later Sparatacist uprising and Putschs)
Challenges of the extreme left and right outside of the Reichstag:
❖ The Spartacist revolt: The German Communist Party / KDP was set up in 1918 in
December and was well funded and baked by the Soviet Union, it soon had
400,000 members and 33 daily newspapers, supported by the Spartacist League
(members from the USPD’s Berlin organisation) and were led by Rosa
Luxumburg and karl Liebknetch. On the 4th of January in 1919, Ebert decided to
sack the police chief in Berlin (Emil Eichorn) who was popular among the
communists and the next day, thousands of workers took to the streets in
protest. Sparctacists viewed this as their opportunity to undermine the
government and the new regime, calling for a General strike in Berlin - paying
off when on the 6th of January, 100,000 workers took to the streets, seizing
government newspaper and telegraph offices. This proved that the Weimar
government was losing control of the capital.Chancellor Ebert needed to
subdue the protests, with the Reischwehr in no fit state- following the war,
thousands of soldiers dismissed from the army who had kept their arms and
were strongly opposed to the communists were reorganised into the Freikorps
(numbering 250,000 men by March 1919 and turned them on rioters. By the 13th
