Key Topic 1: The Weimar Republic, 1918-29
1.1 The origins of the Republic, 1918-19
The legacy of WW1 2 million Germans died, the government’s debts trebled to 150 billion marks in
1918, workers went on strike and demonstrated in the streets which resulted in a
loss of morale, economic dissatisfaction and ‘poverty breeds unhappiness’
The abdication of the Kaiser 9th November he abdicated as lost support of German army so went into exile in
Holland, strengthened Germany as they had to change government system which
pleased German people but weakened them as they had no plan and had to find a
new system quickly
The creation of a republic A communist tried to take power but failed so social democrats (SPD) created a
republic which strengthened Germany as no leader meant they could become
economically stable and everyone would be happier
The armistice Weimar government signed the Armistice which weakened Germany as there was
a loss of morale as people believed they could've kept fighting, everyone felt
defeated and the army felt like they had fought for nothing
Setting up the new Weimar Elbert arranged for civil servants who helped run Germany with Kaiser to stay in
Republic office and work with soldiers and workers, reassured leaders of industry he
wouldn't take away their land/factories, strengthening Germany as soldiers and
workers were reassured by working with members of government they were used
to and showed they weren't communists
• Communist Party (far left) believed Germany should be controlled by the people, no private ownership or
capitalism whereas Nazi Party (far right) wanted a strong government and army headed by a powerful
leader, believed in the nation over the individual
The Weimar Constitution
January 1919 elections: 82% of electorate voted and 40% voted for SPD so on 31st July the National Assembly agreed
to new constitution
• President: head of Weimar Republic, elected every 7 years, chose the chancellor
• Chancellor: head of government, chose all ministers
• Cabinet: most important ministers that worked closely with Chancellor
• Reichstag: controlled taxation and directly elected by people every 4 years
• Reichsrat: elected every 4 years, represented regions in Germany
Article 1 Confirmed that Germany was a democracy and women could vote, moving away
from Kaiser and hoped to show Allies they were trying to be better so that peace
terms wouldn't be too harsh but this wasn’t representative of everyone's political
views
Coalition government and 29 parties so always had to have coalitions in Reichstag meaning different views
proportional representation were respected and no one had too much power but created more arguments so
no laws would get passed through
Article 48 Chancellor can ask president to pass a law so they can be passed quickly in a crisis
but not democratic and people will get annoyed
,1.2 The early challenges to the Weimar Republic, 1919-23
Treaty of Versailles, 28th June 1919 in Paris
Known as the ‘diktat’ as Germans believed it was dictated to them as they had no representative during the
discussions, it was imposed on them
Why they imposed this sanction and why this caused
Term
opposition in Germany
War guilt clause: reductions in Germany’s armed forces To prevent another war, to ensure they wouldn't feel
and territory, took away honour, pride, prestige, morale confident enough to start another war but people were
annoyed the government didn’t try fight back and army
didn’t want to be blamed for WW1, especially as so
many lives were lost
Reparation payments: £6.6 billion to be payed to Allies So they can't afford another war (planes, ammunition,
military etc.) people believed this was non-democratic
and Ebert was unpopular as they were very poor during
Weimar Republic and poverty breeds extremism
Germany lost its colonies and land: e.g. Alsace and They couldn’t have an empire and no one would want
Lorraine to France to be in an alliance with them, made them weaker, new
government let them down by not fighting to keep the
countries, loss of resources and family members aren't
German anymore
German military strength was cut and the ‘stab in the They had no weapons, can't have alliances but the
back’ theory: army limited to 100,000 and no heavy Germans didn’t believe their army had been defeated,
artillery they felt let down by the government for surrendering
before they believed they had lost, army generals felt
that it should've been their decision to surrender so
signers were known as ‘November Criminals’
Weimar Opposition, 1919-23
Event Who they were and what they did How they were defeated
Spartacist Revolt, 6th KPD, backed by Soviet Union and Spartacist Ebert took demobilised soldiers and
January 1919 (left-wing) League who were extreme socialists, led by Rosa put them in freikorps units to drive
Luxembourg and Karl Liebknecht, very popular them off streets, they killed
(33 newspapers and 400,000 members), wanted Luxembourg and Liebknect
to remove support for government so had
general strike in Berlin, seized government’s
newspaper and telegraph offices, was sparked
by Ebert sacking Emil Eichhorn (chief police)
Kapp Putsch, 1920 Extreme right-wing demobilised soldiers, Kapp realised he couldn't govern all
(right-wing) ordered by Reichswehr officers into Freikorps of Germany so he gave up and
units (about 250,000 men), wanted to take rebellion collapsed
down communist threat and then the
government so they'd only have to take down
one enemy at a time, led by Kapp who wanted
to take over Germany, controlled Berlin by
marching in with weapons
French Occupation of Germany couldn’t afford to send coal They used passive resistance by
the Ruhr, 1923 reparations to French so they sent tropes to the going on strike and sabotage until
Ruhr (industrialised area) to receive their the occupation of the Ruhr ended
resources, 80% of German industry came from on August 25th 1925
there so caused huge economic depression as
they confiscated raw materials, manufactured
goods, arrested people
, • Hyperinflation, 1923: Germany struggling financially as they have no money but still have to pay reparations
so they printed more money but value decreased until it was worthless and price of goods increased e.g.
price of loaf of bread in 1919 was 1 mark, in 1922 was 100 marks and in 1923 was 200,000 billion marks
• Effects of hyperinflation: normal living became impossible as people had to carry around so many notes,
carried the, in wheelbarrows, shortages of everything as foreign suppliers refused to accept German marks
for good so they had no imports, people with savings suggested a lot as they became worthless
1.3 The recovery of the Republic, 1924-29
• By August 1923, Ebert appointed Stresemann as chancellor and foreign secretary, he resigned as chancellor
in 1923 but remained foreign secretary until 1929
Foreign politics The problem it solved The problems that remained
Solved hyperinflation, new bank Couldn’t bring back the losses of
was set up and currency changed, those ruined by hyperinflation
backed by German industrial plants
Changing from mark to Rentenmark and agricultural land so currency
had value and people trusted it,
recovered German business and
employment
US banks loaned $25 billion from Extreme political parties were
1924-30, reparations reduced to furious at Germany again for
£50 million per year, French agreed agreeing to pay reparations,
Dawes Plan, 1924
to leave the Ruhr, Germans were economic recovery now depended
reassured by Weimar as trade and on American loans
income from tax improved
Debt was reduced from £6.6 billion Still had to pay about £50 million
Young Plan, 1924 to £2 billion and they were given per year meaning it wouldn't end
further 59 years to pay until 1988
Solved issue with losing all their Not all political parties agreed, as
territories as everyone agreed to extremist parties hated that
respect post-Versailles borders, Versailles borders were confirmed
Locarno Pact, 1925
Germany was involved in
negotiation, didn’t want Rhineland
demilitarised
Agreed to use diplomacy not war, Did nothing to removed hated
they were included as one of main terms of Treaty which still restricted
powers, increased confidence in German strength with reparations,
Kellogg-Briand Pact, 1928
democracy because moderate lost land and military too
parties could be trusted to make
Germany strong
Complement to Germany for them Extremist parties hated League of
to be invited to be involved, Nations as saw it as symbol of
League of Nations, 1926 boosted confidence as they had say Treaty and didn’t want to be part of
in international problems and it
reputation was restored
Impact on domestic politics: Stresemann’s strategy took away hardships from Germans, support for extremist
parties, Weimar Republic was more stable, after Ebert died (one of November criminals) he was replaced by
Hindenburg who reassured middle class as strong figurehead, but when Stresemann died on 3rd October 1929 (Mean
Girls Day), loss of moderate policies meant Weimar was weaker, causing economic and political pressure
