WEIMAR & NAZI
GERMANY
1918-1939
, THE ORIGINS OF THE
REPUBLIC 1918-19:
The legacy of the first world war:
1918, Germany would lose the first world war and a series of events from November
onwards would be known as the German revolution.
November 3rd , at the main German naval base in Kiel frustrated German sailors refused to attack
the British Royal Navy. A few days later there was a collapse of the German government and
Kaiser Wilhelm abdicated on the 9th of November.
November 11th 1918, WWI ended when an armistice was agreed and Germany surrendered.
The Weimar republic:
In January 1919, elections had given the SPD party the most power. Friedrich Ebert, leader of the
SPD became the first democratically chosen President. His party started to draw up a new
constitution for Germany.
Strengths and weaknesses:
Strength: It was a genuine democracy, an presidential election every 4 years.
Strength: A bill of rights, Every German guaranteed freedom of speech and religion, and equality.
Weakness: Article 48, The president is given the right to act without approval in the case of an
emergency.
Weakness: Proportional representation, no political party was strong enough to hold the majority
leading to difficulty passing laws.
, THE EARLY CHALLENGES TO THE
WEIMAR REPUBLIC, 1919-23:
Early unpopularity of the republic:
Many Germans hated the government for signing the armistice, they called them the November
criminals. The defeat in the war came as a huge surprise to the German people, and many ordinary
German soldiers, which led to a theory that the brave German army had been ‘stabbed in the back’
by the politicians.
The new German government was forced to sign a peace settlement called the Treaty of
Versailles. The treaty meant Germany had to face: blame, reparations, an army reduction and a
loss of land. Germany had to take complete blame for the war and pay £6.6 billion in reparations.
Whilst also facing a military and territory cut. The German army had been reduced to 100,000 troops
and Germany had lost land along all of its borders.
Challenges to the republic from the left wing:
12th January 1919, 50,000 members of the post-World War One Communist Party, known as the
Spartacists, rebelled in Berlin, led by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht.
bands of ex-soldiers, known as the Freikorps, defeated the Spartacist rebels. Liebknecht and
Luxemburg were killed by the Freikorps after being arrested on the 15th. May 1919 the Freikorps
had crushed all of these uprisings.
Challenges to the republic from the right wing:
In crushing the communists the Freikorps had saved the government, but the terms of the Treaty of
Versailles the Freikorps had to be disbanded. The right-wing nationalist, Dr Wolfgang Kapp led a
Freikorps takeover in Berlin. This became known as the Kapp putsch.
Kapp was only defeated when the workers of Berlin went on strike and refused to cooperate with
him.
Hyperinflation and the French occupation of the Rhur:
France and Belgium sent troops into Germany’s main industrial area, the Ruhr Valley. Their aim
was to confiscate industrial goods as reparations payments as they didn’t believe Germany was
unable to pay the second instalment. The German government ordered workers to follow a policy of
‘passive resistance’ refusing to work with the foreign troops.
The immediate consequences of the occupation were not good for the Weimar government – they
decided to print more money to pay the workers in the region.
After the Germans missed a reparations payment, ‘Passive resistance’ meant that whilst the
workers were on strike fewer industrial goods were being produced. In order to pay the striking workers
the government simply printed more money. This flood of money led to hyperinflation as the more money
was printed, the more prices rose.
GERMANY
1918-1939
, THE ORIGINS OF THE
REPUBLIC 1918-19:
The legacy of the first world war:
1918, Germany would lose the first world war and a series of events from November
onwards would be known as the German revolution.
November 3rd , at the main German naval base in Kiel frustrated German sailors refused to attack
the British Royal Navy. A few days later there was a collapse of the German government and
Kaiser Wilhelm abdicated on the 9th of November.
November 11th 1918, WWI ended when an armistice was agreed and Germany surrendered.
The Weimar republic:
In January 1919, elections had given the SPD party the most power. Friedrich Ebert, leader of the
SPD became the first democratically chosen President. His party started to draw up a new
constitution for Germany.
Strengths and weaknesses:
Strength: It was a genuine democracy, an presidential election every 4 years.
Strength: A bill of rights, Every German guaranteed freedom of speech and religion, and equality.
Weakness: Article 48, The president is given the right to act without approval in the case of an
emergency.
Weakness: Proportional representation, no political party was strong enough to hold the majority
leading to difficulty passing laws.
, THE EARLY CHALLENGES TO THE
WEIMAR REPUBLIC, 1919-23:
Early unpopularity of the republic:
Many Germans hated the government for signing the armistice, they called them the November
criminals. The defeat in the war came as a huge surprise to the German people, and many ordinary
German soldiers, which led to a theory that the brave German army had been ‘stabbed in the back’
by the politicians.
The new German government was forced to sign a peace settlement called the Treaty of
Versailles. The treaty meant Germany had to face: blame, reparations, an army reduction and a
loss of land. Germany had to take complete blame for the war and pay £6.6 billion in reparations.
Whilst also facing a military and territory cut. The German army had been reduced to 100,000 troops
and Germany had lost land along all of its borders.
Challenges to the republic from the left wing:
12th January 1919, 50,000 members of the post-World War One Communist Party, known as the
Spartacists, rebelled in Berlin, led by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht.
bands of ex-soldiers, known as the Freikorps, defeated the Spartacist rebels. Liebknecht and
Luxemburg were killed by the Freikorps after being arrested on the 15th. May 1919 the Freikorps
had crushed all of these uprisings.
Challenges to the republic from the right wing:
In crushing the communists the Freikorps had saved the government, but the terms of the Treaty of
Versailles the Freikorps had to be disbanded. The right-wing nationalist, Dr Wolfgang Kapp led a
Freikorps takeover in Berlin. This became known as the Kapp putsch.
Kapp was only defeated when the workers of Berlin went on strike and refused to cooperate with
him.
Hyperinflation and the French occupation of the Rhur:
France and Belgium sent troops into Germany’s main industrial area, the Ruhr Valley. Their aim
was to confiscate industrial goods as reparations payments as they didn’t believe Germany was
unable to pay the second instalment. The German government ordered workers to follow a policy of
‘passive resistance’ refusing to work with the foreign troops.
The immediate consequences of the occupation were not good for the Weimar government – they
decided to print more money to pay the workers in the region.
After the Germans missed a reparations payment, ‘Passive resistance’ meant that whilst the
workers were on strike fewer industrial goods were being produced. In order to pay the striking workers
the government simply printed more money. This flood of money led to hyperinflation as the more money
was printed, the more prices rose.
