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Edexcel GCSE 9-1 History: Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918-1939 TIMELINE
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Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918-19391.1 – The origins of the Republic, 1918-19
The legacy of the First World War
- During WW1, Germans had faced the Allies for 4 years, 1914-1918 with 11 million troops and
out of that 2 million were killed and 4 million were wounded
- German government debt went from 50 billion marks to 150 billion marks because of the
costs of war
- The people of Germany suffered too as a result of the British navy blocking German ports, so
no food could come into the country and over 750,000 people died because of food
shortages
- Therefore, Germany crumbled from within and the German emperor Kaiser Wilhelm (and his
ministers) had lost control so had to go
The German revolution, 1918-19
- Nov 1918, the German revolution had already begun – Kaiser Wilhelm government had
already lost control of the country to strikers and rioters
- Towns began their own unofficial councils
The abdication of the Kaiser
- On 9th Nov 1918 the Kaiser was in army headquarters, Spa when his ministers told him to
abdicate, he didn’t at first but when he lost control of the army, he had to
- He had no choice and abdicated on 9th Nov and went into exile on 10th Nov in Holland
- Abdication = A leader, like a king, queen or emperor, giving up their throne or position
The declaration of a republic
- On 9th Nov people stood outside waiting for Philipp Scheidemann a leading member of the
Social Democratic Party (SPD) – Germany’s biggest political party
- Germany they were now a republic country, he wanted a peaceful transition
- There was mixed emotion – from peaceful gatherers to rioters
- Communists = Communism is an extreme form of government, in which representatives of
the workers set up a government and take over ownership of all land, property and resources
in country. It was associated with Germany’s enemy, Russia
The Council of People’s Representatives
- The SPD had to work quickly to establish the new government so on 9th Nov the chancellor
Max von Baden handed his office to Friedreich Ebert (leader of SPD)
- On 10th Nov Ebert made an agreement with the General Groener to work with the
government
- 10th Nov – Ebert suspended the old Reichstag and appointed six moderate politicians who
would form the Council of People’s Representatives – which would head the government
until a new constitution could be agreed
- SPD were trying to prevent anarchy or takeover from the communists
- Constitution = The rules which set out how a country is run
- 11th Nov the Treaty of Versailles was signed, a formal agreement to end the war
,Setting up the Weimar Republic
- Ebert arranged for the Kaiser’s civil servants to stay in office so things could run smoothly –
e.g.: collecting taxes and running public service
- Ebert reassured that the army wouldn’t be reformed and in return Groener helped keep the
Republic in power
- Ebert reassured leaders of industry that land wouldn’t be confiscated and there wouldn’t be
any state control on private industries
- He won the support of the trade union by promising the leader, Carl Legien that the new
Republic would try to achieve an 8hr working day
- Civil servant = Someone who the government in some way
- Trade unions = Groups of workers formed to protect the rights and interests of workers in
various occupations
The National Assembly
- Job: to create a new constitution for Germany
- Elections took place – 80% of the electorate voted, 40% SPD,20% centre party the rest to
moderate parties
- The National Assembly met for the first time in Feb 1919 and by 31 st July they agreed to a
constitution – votes = 262 to 75
- As the constitution was agreed in Weimar, the republic became known as Weimar Republic
- Electorate = People who can vote in an election
The strengths of the constitution
- Republic was now more democratic – women were able to vote and voting age reduced from
25 to 21
- The Reichstag was elected under a system of proportional representation and this was fair
because it meant all smaller parties had a fair share of seats – 60,000 votes = 1 members
- Carefully constructed so one or more people didn’t have majority power – president could be
changed every 7 years by voters
- Laws could be passed depending on how many votes it got from the Reichstag and Reichsrat
- Reichstag was the more powerful party, but Srat could delay new laws unless overruled by a
2/3 majority from the Reichstag
- There was a more central government, and now the 18 regions of Germany could control
their own public services such as police, courts, school and they had their own parliament
The weaknesses of the constitution
- There were often coalition governments, so partners had to compromise, resulting in a lack of
clear policies, and coalition governments often fell apart, 9 of them from 1919-1923
- It would be difficult to make decisions in a crisis and by 1930 the chancellor relied on the
president to pass law rather than relying on votes in the Reichstag, making the constitution
seem weak
- The constitution was based on violence and division and was constructed during the German
Revolution, so it wasn’t democratic
- The Weimar Republic was created out of violence without real public enthusiasm and was
opposed by moderates and extremists
- Several parties elected to the Stag openly opposed the constitution, causing division
,1.2 – Early challenges to the Republic
Unpopularity of the Republic
- The politicians who set up and ran the Weimar Republic surrendered during WW1 and
accepted the unpopular treaty – the republic was linked to surrender and harsh treaty terms
The armistice
- After the Kaiser abdicated Matthias Erzberger, a representative of the government signed the
armistice – and there was little alternative because of the threat of 2 million US troops into
the war in 1917 and money and troops were running out
- The German army was in retreat and its defence, Hindenburg Line was breached
The Treaty of Versailles, 1919
- Once the armistice was signed the Allied leaders decided the terms of the peace and the
peace treaty was signed in a French palace at Versailles, near Paris, on 28th June 191
- Germans wanted peace after suffering at the hands of the war, the Treaty of Versailles was
very unpopular
The diktat
- Germans thought they would be able to negotiate the terms of the Treaty, but the Allies
didn’t allow any sort of negotiation, and so the Treaty was a ‘diktat’, which meant they were
imposed, not agreed
- Germany had 15 days to make comments and they bitterly opposed to the treaty and asked
for concessions
War guilt
- Article 231 stated Germany had caused the War and war guilt meant they had to pay
compensations to the Allies and to prevent another war the Allied forces insisted on
reductions in Germany’s armed forces and territory – this clause was hated
The terms of the Treaty of Versailles
- Germany had to pay reparations to the Allies (compensation), 136 million marks, £6.6 billion
- All 11 German colonies in Africa and the Far East were given to victorious countries as
‘mandates’ – territories to look after
- The German military strength was cut, army limited to 100,000 men, no heavy artillery and
there were 6 battleships, 6 cruisers, 12 destroyers and 12 torpedo boats, no submarines,
everything else – destroyed, no air force – existing air force = destroyed
- The Rhineland – the German land that bordered France was demilitarised, no soldiers we
allowed in, Allied troops were stationed there until 1930
Germany lost land
- Alsace + Lorraine + Saar coalfields = France, Eupen + Malmedy = Belgium, Posen and West
Prussia = Poland; this caused division between east and west Prussia and cut Germany in 2
- Public votes had to take place in other areas, to decide whether they wanted to leave
Germany – Upper Silesia = Poland, Northern Schleswig = Denmark
- German port Danzig became international city
, - 10% population lost, 13% European territory lost, oversea territory lost 50% of iron lost and
15% of its coal reserves lost
- The German people felt Dolchstoss, stabbed in the back
Challenges to the Weimar Republic from the Left and Right
- During the National Assembly SPD, DDP (democrats) and Centre party combined to make 80%
of the seats in the Assembly, in order to create the Weimar Republic in 1919
- There was extreme left- and right-wing parties that opposed the Weimar Republic
Right and Left wing
- Extreme Right: Wanted a return to the strong government and supported capitalism and
tended to place the interests of the nation over the individual. DNVP = main right-wing party
- Extreme Left: Wanted Germany to be in the hands of the people and opposed capitalism and
wanted private land to be in the hands of the people. Main left-wing party: KPD
The challenge of the Left and Right in the Reichstag
- The extreme right wing and left-wing parties still had 20% of seats each in the New stag
- The majority was constantly attacked from extremist politicians from the left and right
The Spartacist Revolt – a left-wing uprising
- German communist party, KPD was set up in Dec 1918 and was backed by the Soviet Union
- Was well funded, had 33 daily newspapers and 400,000 members and were supported by the
Spartacist League, who were extreme socialists
- Spartacists supported the communists led by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht
- 4th Jan Ebert sacked the police chief from Berlin, Emil Eichhorn who was popular with the
workers the Spartacists saw this as an opportunity to undermine the government and they
called for an uprising and general strike in Berlin with 100,000 workers on 6th Jan
- They seized the government’s newspaper and telegraph offices and so Weimar was losing
control of the capital
The Freikorps
- They were right wing soldiers who kept their weapons and opposed communists and they still
had their weapons from the war
- The army was not strong enough to take the rioters down so Ebert ordered he army to
combine forces with the Freikorps to take the rioters down – there were 250,000 men
The end of the Spartacist Revolt
- The mainly unarmed workers were no match for the former soldiers and by 13th Jan the
rebels were off the streets and on 16th Jan Luxemburg and Liebknecht were shot and killed by
Freikorps soldiers – for now the left-wing rebellion was crushed
The Kapp Putsch – a right wing uprising
- 1920, the army was struggling to control the Freikorps and 5000 armed men marched
towards Berlin but Ebert told the General Seeckt to resist the rebels so they took control and
made politician Wolfgang Kapp leader who wanted everyone to strike and he stopped capital
ground but then realised he couldn’t govern so he fled the country and eventually died
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