AQA A Level History - Democracy and Nazism - The establishment of the Weimar Republic. Detailed revision notes made using a range of textbooks and wider reading resources. Includes possible exam questions.
Section 1: The establishment and early years of the Weimar Republic, 1918-24
Impact of war, the political crises of October to November 1918, and the establishment of
the Weimar Constitution
The impact of the Versailles Settlement on Germany
Economic and social problems in Germany, 1919-24
Political instability and extremism, 1919-24
Practice Exam Questions
‘The Weimar constitution was not democratic nor did it provide the basis for stable
government.’ Assess the validity of this view.
‘The Weimar constitution was too democratic to ensure stable government.’ How far do
you agree with this opinion?
‘Weimar democracy never enjoyed the support of the majority of the German people.’
How far do you agree with this opinion?
‘The prime factor that undermined the stability of Weimar Germany in the period 1919 to
1924 was the association of the Weimar regime with defeat in the First World War.’ How
far do you agree with this view?
‘German horror at the terms of the Treaty of Versailles was the result of unrealistic
expectations’. Explain why you agree or disagree with this view.
‘The economic policies of German governments in the years 1919-22 successfully
managed the transition from wartime to peacetime conditions’. Explain why you agree and
disagree with this view.
‘The Franco-Belgian invasion of the Ruhr was the main cause of the hyperinflation crisis in
Germany in 1923.’ Assess the validity of this view.
‘Economic developments were more encouraging for the Weimar regime than political
ones.’ Explain why you agree or disagree with this view.
‘The Weimar Republic was never seriously threatened in the years 1919-23’. Explain why
you agree or disagree with this view.
‘The biggest threat to Weimar democracy in the years 1919 to 1924 was the extreme left.’
Explain why you agree or disagree with this view.
‘The main threats to the stability of the Weimar Republic in the period 1919 to 1923 were
economic rather than political.’ Explain why you agree or disagree with this view.
‘The main reason for the survival of the Weimar government in the years 1919 to 1924
was the weaknesses of its opponents’. Explain why you agree or disagree with this view.
‘The Weimar Republic survived the multiple crises of 1923 more by luck than political
skill.’ Explain why you agree or disagree with this view.
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,Section 1: The establishment and early years of the Weimar Republic, 1918-24
Impact of war, the political crises of October to November 1918, and the establishment of the
Weimar Constitution
The impact of war and the reasons why the Kaiser abdicated in November 1918
The struggle for power in Germany after the abdication, and the political crises of October
to November 1918
The establishment of the German Republic and its constitution
The strengths and weaknesses of the Weimar Constitution
Key points:
In October 1918 parliamentary government replaced autocracy in Germany.
The political system established in October lasted only a few weeks before a popular
revolution took place. In November 1918 Germany’s socialists monopolized political power
but were divided on the issue of what kind of political system to create.
The Spartacist revolt aimed to make Germany a soviet, rather than a democratic,
republic.
The majority of socialists were forced to enlist the support of right-wing paramilitaries in
order to suppress the extreme left.
The 1919 constitution was democratic but flawed.
From monarchy to democratic republic
In October 1918 a new government based on the Reichstag was formed. This was a ‘revolution
from above’, as this great change was initiated by the ruling class itself. The new government
under Prince Max passed some reforms, but in these turbulent days they were not sufficient.
Economic discontent and war weariness caused growing popular unrest. The German people had
been promised, and expected, a great victory. When it was clear that the war was lost, Germany
erupted in a wave of unrest, often described as the ‘German Revolution’ of 1918-19, the
‘revolution from below’.
Serious trouble began in late October at the naval bases of Kiel and Wilhelmshaven when sailors
refused to obey an order to sail out to salvage German honour in a final battle. They stopped the
fleet sailing by putting out the fires in the ships’ boilers, raised the red flag and took over Kiel.
News of the mutiny encouraged the creation of a series of sailors’, soldiers’ and workers’ councils
throughout Germany. These challenged the authority of state governments. Desperate to
prevent a full-scale revolution, Prince Max announced the Kaiser’s abdication and handed over
the chancellorship to the moderate socialist leader Friedrich Ebert.
Moderate and radical socialists were competing for leadership of the revolution. To outmaneuver
the radicals, Phillip Scheidemann, a moderate SPD leader, declared a republic to cheering crowds
in Berlin. Karl Liebknecht, the leader of the communist Spartacist movement, declared a soviet
republic from another balcony. Ebert was furious that a republic had been declared illegally but
had to accept that the monarchy had collapsed. Two days later, on 11 November, the
government signed an armistice.
The abdication of the Kaiser
Ludendorff persuaded the Kaiser to transform the Second Reich into a virtual parliamentary
democracy by handing over power to a civilian government that had the support of the
Reichstag. He also urged an immediate armistice. Ludendorff had two motives. Firstly, he hoped
this new civilian government would be able to get better peace terms from the Allies. Secondly,
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, he hoped the new civilian government would be blamed for Germany’s defeat because it would
have to end the war. This in turn would mask the responsibility of the generals for Germany’s
defeat, preserve their reputations and so help them maintain their positions in the post-war
world.
On 9 November 1918, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany was brought the news that his abdication
had been announced in Berlin. By later that evening, he had been forced to accept what had
happened. His companions advised him that his only hope of safety was to travel to Holland,
which had remained neutral during the war. Wilhelm, however, was uncertain of what to do. His
wife, the Empress Dona, was still in Berlin, and it wasn’t until just before dawn on 10 November,
that a convoy of 10 cars, including the Kaiser’s, with its royal insignia removed, set off to the
Dutch border.
By the end of September 1918, it had been clear to General Ludendorff and the German
High Command that Germany was on the brink of defeat.
Although the Allied armies had not yet entered German territory, German forces were in
retreat along the Western Front.
Elsewhere in Europe, Germany’s Allies were trying to negotiate peace terms.
Ludendorff concluded that Germany’s only hope of avoiding a humiliating surrender was to
ask the Allies for an armistice.
US President Wilson’s Fourteen Points offered a possible basis for a negotiated peace
settlement, but Ludendorff understood that Germany’s autocratic political system was an
obstacle to this. He, therefore, advocated a partial demonstration of the political system in
Germany as a way of getting better peace terms from the Allies.
President Wilson’s Fourteen Points
Woodrow Wilson was an idealist and his Fourteen Points were devised as a means of dealing
fairly with the aftermath of war.
Some points, such as the return of Alsace-Lorraine to France, were quite specific and
punitive towards Germany.
However, there were also some general principles, such as the establishment of a League
of Nations to monitor future disputes and self-determination, whereby different nations
should rule themselves, together with general disarmament and Wilson’s determination to
create peace that would last and prevent another war.
The October Reforms
The political changes of October 1918 were of immense significance. Germany ceased to be an
autocracy and became a parliamentary democracy on the British model. The Kaiser had been
turned into a constitutional monarch, shorn of any real power.
Significantly, though, the change had been bought solely by the interests of the High Command
and not through pressures exerted by the German people, hence why these events are referred
to as the ‘revolution from above’.
In October, following the recommendations of Ludendorff, the Kaiser began a series of reforms
that effectively ended his autocratic rule:
He appointed Prince Max of Baden as his new Chancellor
The Chancellor was to be responsible to the Reichstag and he established a new
government based on the majority parties in the Reichstag, including the German Social
Democratic Party (SPD).
The armed forces were put under the control of the civil government.
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