1.1 Impact of war, the political crises of October to November 1918, and the
establishment of the Weimar Constitution
● 1918
○ 29th September - Clear to General Ludendorff that Germany was on the verge of
defeat, due to their retreat on the Western Front, so he calls for armistice
negotiations (German people were unaware of this)
○ 30th September - Kaiser promises political reform
○ 1st October - Kaiser’s Reforms: Prince Max appointed as Chancellor, with control
of Reichstag and the ability to form a coalition government and the armed forces
under the control of civil government
○ 3rd October - Prince Max writes to President Wilson asking for an armistice
○ 22nd October - Strikes in Friedrichshafen, workers shouted ‘The Kaiser is a
scoundrel’ and ‘UP with the German Republic’
○ 25th October - President Wilson writes back to Prince Max with conditions for an
armistice
○ 26th October - Ludendorff tries and fails to garner a last military resistance effort
but resigns and flees to Sweden
○ 28th October - Naval mutiny in Wilhelmshaven where 2 ships refused to attack
the British Navy in the English channel
- Further reforms proposed by Kaiser making the Chancellor
accountable to the Reichstag
○ 3rd November - Mutiny at naval base at Kiel
○ 4th November - Revolts spread to other cities and Soldiers’ councils were
established
○ 6th November - Soldiers’ and Workers’ Councils were established all over
Germany
○ 8th November - Republic proclaimed in Bavaria and its monarchy was deposed
○ 9th November - SPD called for Berlin workers to join a general strike to force the
Kaiser to abdicate, they also threatened to withdraw support from Prince Max’s
government
- (1:30pm) Kaiser Wilhelm told his abdication had been announced
by Prince Max
- General Groener told the Kaiser that the army no longer supported
him
- (5pm) Kaiser forced to accept his abdication
- Prince Max resigned and Ebert became Chancellor
- Scheidemann stood on the Reichstag balcony and declared the
Weimar Republic had been created
○ 10th November - Kaiser’s 10 car convoy left for the Netherlands
- Ebert-Groener Pact
○ 11th November - Armistice
○ 15th November - Stinnes-Legien Agreement
, ○ 22nd November - Government reached agreement with Soldiers’ and Workers’
Councils that the government agreed that they only exercised power in the name
of the councils
○ 6th December - Spartacist demonstration in Berlin, 16 were killed
○ 23rd-24th December - Army put down Sailors’ revolt in Berlin, 3 USPD ministers
resigned
● 1919
○ 6th January - Spartacist Uprising
○ 19th January - First Reichstag elections of the Republic, SPD = largest party but
no overall majority so formed a coalition with the DDP and Centre parties. Ebert
became President and Scheidemann Chancellor
○ January - New Weimar Constitution came into force
● 1920
○ Von Seeckt appointed Commander-in-Chief of the army
1.2 - The Peace Settlement & The Impact of the Treaty of Versailles on Germany
● 1917
○ April - Wilson issues his Fourteen Point Programme
● 1918
○ 11th November - Armistice
● 1919
○ 12th January - Paris Peace Conference opened
○ 18th January - Peace Conference convened at Palace of Versailles
○ 7th May - German delegates given the document containing the first draft terms
of the treaty, they ask for concessions to be made but their negotiating points are
rejected
○ 16th June - Germans given 7 days to sign the treaty or troops will be sent to
occupy Germany
○ 20th June - Coalition cabinet collapsed over disagreements about signing the
treaty
○ 22nd June - Reichstag voted to accept the treaty
○ 28th June - German delegates signed the Treaty of Versailles
● 1920
○ Clemenceau defeated at French general election for his ‘soft’ stance on Germany
● 1921
○ Commision fixed reparations amount to be paid at £6.6 billion, Germany did not
know the total prior to this
○ USA makes a separate peace treaty with Germany due to Wilson’s failure to
pass the Treaty of Versailles through the Congress
1.3 Economic and Social Problems in Germany, 1919-1924
● 1919
○ Weimar debt = 1.44 billion marks
, ○ Prices had doubled since 1918
○ January - $1 = 8.9 marks
○ June - Germany not allowed to trade until now due to Naval Blockade
○ New law passed limiting working day to 8 hour maximum
○ State health insurance system expanded to include wives, daughters and the
disabled as well as employed workers
○ Aid for war veterans incapable of working because of injury became the
responsibility of national government, aid for war widows and orphans was
increased too
● 1920
○ Prices quadrupled since 1919, prices were 14x that of 1913
○ January - $1 = 64.8 marks
○ Fehrenbach allowed inflation to continue due to the benefits it brought to
businessmen - their main supporters
● 1921
○ Unemployment = 1.8% compared to 17% in UK
○ USA investment was welcomed
○ Reparations Committee announces that Germany owes £6.6 billion (132 billion
gold marks), they were given an ultimatum to accept the proposal within 6 days
○ Fehrenbach’s cabinet resigned in protest at the reparations, he is replaced by
Wirth, who had no other choice but to agree to the reparations, Germany soon
made its 1st payment (policy of fulfilment)
● 1922
○ January - Reparations committee allowed Germany to postpone their reparation
payments for January and February due to their economic difficulties
○ July - Germany asked for suspension of reparation payments for the rest of the
year
○ November - Germany asks for a loan of 500 million gold marks and to be
released from reparation payment obligations for 4 years in order to stabilise its
currency, the French were suspicious and refused
○ December - Germany had fallen very behind in its coal payment obligations to
France
○ National Youth Welfare Act required all local authorities to set up youth offices
with responsibility for child protection and decreed that all children had the right
to an education
● 1923
○ January - France and Belgium sent 60,000 troops to the Ruhr in order to force
the Germans to comply with the Treaty of Versailles, throughout 1923 the number
of troops grew to 100,000
- $1 = 17,972 marks
- 1 kilo rye bread loaf = 163 marks
○ May - Deliveries = only ⅓ of usual deliveries per month, output = ⅕ of usual
output
○ July - $1 = 353,412 marks
establishment of the Weimar Constitution
● 1918
○ 29th September - Clear to General Ludendorff that Germany was on the verge of
defeat, due to their retreat on the Western Front, so he calls for armistice
negotiations (German people were unaware of this)
○ 30th September - Kaiser promises political reform
○ 1st October - Kaiser’s Reforms: Prince Max appointed as Chancellor, with control
of Reichstag and the ability to form a coalition government and the armed forces
under the control of civil government
○ 3rd October - Prince Max writes to President Wilson asking for an armistice
○ 22nd October - Strikes in Friedrichshafen, workers shouted ‘The Kaiser is a
scoundrel’ and ‘UP with the German Republic’
○ 25th October - President Wilson writes back to Prince Max with conditions for an
armistice
○ 26th October - Ludendorff tries and fails to garner a last military resistance effort
but resigns and flees to Sweden
○ 28th October - Naval mutiny in Wilhelmshaven where 2 ships refused to attack
the British Navy in the English channel
- Further reforms proposed by Kaiser making the Chancellor
accountable to the Reichstag
○ 3rd November - Mutiny at naval base at Kiel
○ 4th November - Revolts spread to other cities and Soldiers’ councils were
established
○ 6th November - Soldiers’ and Workers’ Councils were established all over
Germany
○ 8th November - Republic proclaimed in Bavaria and its monarchy was deposed
○ 9th November - SPD called for Berlin workers to join a general strike to force the
Kaiser to abdicate, they also threatened to withdraw support from Prince Max’s
government
- (1:30pm) Kaiser Wilhelm told his abdication had been announced
by Prince Max
- General Groener told the Kaiser that the army no longer supported
him
- (5pm) Kaiser forced to accept his abdication
- Prince Max resigned and Ebert became Chancellor
- Scheidemann stood on the Reichstag balcony and declared the
Weimar Republic had been created
○ 10th November - Kaiser’s 10 car convoy left for the Netherlands
- Ebert-Groener Pact
○ 11th November - Armistice
○ 15th November - Stinnes-Legien Agreement
, ○ 22nd November - Government reached agreement with Soldiers’ and Workers’
Councils that the government agreed that they only exercised power in the name
of the councils
○ 6th December - Spartacist demonstration in Berlin, 16 were killed
○ 23rd-24th December - Army put down Sailors’ revolt in Berlin, 3 USPD ministers
resigned
● 1919
○ 6th January - Spartacist Uprising
○ 19th January - First Reichstag elections of the Republic, SPD = largest party but
no overall majority so formed a coalition with the DDP and Centre parties. Ebert
became President and Scheidemann Chancellor
○ January - New Weimar Constitution came into force
● 1920
○ Von Seeckt appointed Commander-in-Chief of the army
1.2 - The Peace Settlement & The Impact of the Treaty of Versailles on Germany
● 1917
○ April - Wilson issues his Fourteen Point Programme
● 1918
○ 11th November - Armistice
● 1919
○ 12th January - Paris Peace Conference opened
○ 18th January - Peace Conference convened at Palace of Versailles
○ 7th May - German delegates given the document containing the first draft terms
of the treaty, they ask for concessions to be made but their negotiating points are
rejected
○ 16th June - Germans given 7 days to sign the treaty or troops will be sent to
occupy Germany
○ 20th June - Coalition cabinet collapsed over disagreements about signing the
treaty
○ 22nd June - Reichstag voted to accept the treaty
○ 28th June - German delegates signed the Treaty of Versailles
● 1920
○ Clemenceau defeated at French general election for his ‘soft’ stance on Germany
● 1921
○ Commision fixed reparations amount to be paid at £6.6 billion, Germany did not
know the total prior to this
○ USA makes a separate peace treaty with Germany due to Wilson’s failure to
pass the Treaty of Versailles through the Congress
1.3 Economic and Social Problems in Germany, 1919-1924
● 1919
○ Weimar debt = 1.44 billion marks
, ○ Prices had doubled since 1918
○ January - $1 = 8.9 marks
○ June - Germany not allowed to trade until now due to Naval Blockade
○ New law passed limiting working day to 8 hour maximum
○ State health insurance system expanded to include wives, daughters and the
disabled as well as employed workers
○ Aid for war veterans incapable of working because of injury became the
responsibility of national government, aid for war widows and orphans was
increased too
● 1920
○ Prices quadrupled since 1919, prices were 14x that of 1913
○ January - $1 = 64.8 marks
○ Fehrenbach allowed inflation to continue due to the benefits it brought to
businessmen - their main supporters
● 1921
○ Unemployment = 1.8% compared to 17% in UK
○ USA investment was welcomed
○ Reparations Committee announces that Germany owes £6.6 billion (132 billion
gold marks), they were given an ultimatum to accept the proposal within 6 days
○ Fehrenbach’s cabinet resigned in protest at the reparations, he is replaced by
Wirth, who had no other choice but to agree to the reparations, Germany soon
made its 1st payment (policy of fulfilment)
● 1922
○ January - Reparations committee allowed Germany to postpone their reparation
payments for January and February due to their economic difficulties
○ July - Germany asked for suspension of reparation payments for the rest of the
year
○ November - Germany asks for a loan of 500 million gold marks and to be
released from reparation payment obligations for 4 years in order to stabilise its
currency, the French were suspicious and refused
○ December - Germany had fallen very behind in its coal payment obligations to
France
○ National Youth Welfare Act required all local authorities to set up youth offices
with responsibility for child protection and decreed that all children had the right
to an education
● 1923
○ January - France and Belgium sent 60,000 troops to the Ruhr in order to force
the Germans to comply with the Treaty of Versailles, throughout 1923 the number
of troops grew to 100,000
- $1 = 17,972 marks
- 1 kilo rye bread loaf = 163 marks
○ May - Deliveries = only ⅓ of usual deliveries per month, output = ⅕ of usual
output
○ July - $1 = 353,412 marks
