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weimar germany summary alevel history
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Democracy and Dictatorships in Germany1919–19630
The establishment and development of the Weimar Republic: 1919–
Jan 1933
The creation of the Weimar Republic and its early years of crisis
What were the consequences of the First World War:
The three main consequences of ww1 were social,poltical and economic consequences:
social consequences :
civillian death of 2 million soldiers
6 million injured
Food and fuel shortages known as “turnip winter”
Inflation workers forced to work longer hours but wages fell below the inflation rate
Economic consequences :
War pensions put strain on the governement as pension payment consumed 1/3 of the
budget
Industrial production fallen only 2/3 pre-war levels
Savings in war bonds eroded by inflation e.g 100 mark in 1914= 30 marks in 1918
Treaty of versailles put further strains
Political consequences :
Abdication of kaiser wilhelm on 9th novemeber 1918
Temporary government formed under Ebert – council of people’s representatives
German sailors mutinied
Ebert retained army support by promising not to reform it
Elections held in january 1919 and coalition government formed with moderate partied
SPD,DDP and catholic centre party
Change from autocratic system to new democratic system
How did Germany become a constitutional monarchy? (The German Revolution)
By autumn 1918 it was clear that Germany would lose WW1 from Novemeber onwards a series of
events occurred which became known as the German revolution these events included :
1. The kiel mutiny
2. The armistice 11th november
3. Abdication of the kaiser and formation of the national assembly 9 th november 1918
4. Friedrich ebert becomes chancellor 9th novemeber 1918
5. The spartacist uprising and several short-lived republics in germany January 1919
6. Birth of the new German republic (weimar republic)
The kiel Mutiny :
29th october a mutniy began to spread among some sailors who refused to obey orders
Sailors feared that their officers were planning a suicide attack on the british fleet in order to
restore the honour of the german navy
, The disturbances were prompted by the realisation of the troops and sailors that the war
was lost and nothing was to be gained by carrying on
The impact of the mutiny was the abdication of the kaiser who went into exile in netherlands
The spartacist revolt :
Events :
January 1919 aimed to overthrow the provisional government to create a soviet republic
5th January 100,000 occupied public buildings,called for a general strike and formed a
revolutionary committee
3 days of savage street fighting and over 100 killed
Consequences :
Showed that sparticists were strong on policies but detached from political realities
Created troubled atmosphere in the following months
Rosa luxemberg is killed and karl liebknecht
It was never a serious threat to the republic as too few workers,trade unions and social
democrats supported the rising
The military and the freikorps were able to supress it
What were the features of the Weimar Constitution?
Election was held on 19th January 1919 SPD won 165 seats. The weimar constitution was offically
ratified on 11th august by president Ebert.
The power of the president:
Right to dissolve the reichstag
Appointment of the chancellor
Capacity to rule by decree at time of national emergency
Elected every 7 years
Proportional representation :
This system meant that small parties gained representation and none had a majoritiy thus
government was made up of a coalition
Argued that due to PR all the negotiations and compromises involved in forming
governments contributed to the political instability of weimar.
Thought that FPTP system would have created more political stability
PR encouraged the emergence of political extremism , small parties such as NSDAP gained a
foothold
Article 48 :
Through article 48 of the constitution the president could rule by emergency decree and
suspend the constitution
President did this during the ruhr and hyperinflation crisis and in 1930-33 following the wall
street crash and the collapse of the Muller government
The continuity of traditional institutions:
The people who were in the cabinet were often the same even if their roles changed e.g
stressemann had the same role as foreign minister from 1923 to 1929
Army enjoyed great status and many of the generals were socially linked with the junkers
, While the spirit of the weimar consitituion was democratic and progressive many of the
institutions remained dedicated to the values of imperial Germany
The treaty of versailles
The treaty of versailles was non-negotiable and whilst the German’s still found it hard to accept the
fact they have lost they found it even harder to accept the treaty which they thought would be fair.
On 28th June 1919 Müller signed the treaty they were labelled the November criminals. The treaty’s
terms seemed unfair and was described as a diktat.
What did Germany expect the treaty to be :
The government had hoped that its military position at the end of the war would enable it to
negotiate a moderate peace so that it would be able to recover its strength and remain a
great power
Expected Germany to join league of nations
Assumed it would be based on US president Wilson’s 14 points
The Key terms of TOV :
As a result of the treaty Germany lost :
10% land
12.5% population
16% coal
48% iron industry
Land loss
Anschluss of Germany with Austria was forbidden
Saar area placed under control of league of nations for 15 years
Alsace lorraine germany to return these provinces to France
Military loss
Army reduced to 100,000 men and navy to 15,000
Forbidden to have tanks,aircrafts,subramines and poison gas
The rhineland demilitarised permantely for 15 years
War guilt : forced to sign the war guilt clause article 231 which blamed Germany for the war
Reparations
Reparations weren’t initally fixed in the treaty
£6,600 million
The impact of TOV:
Economic consequences were serious concern for Weimar as it would fundamentally weaken
the economy of Germany
Associated with the stab in the back myth
Although war was pursued by imperial Germany it was the new democracy of weimar that
was forced to take the responsibility and the blame for the first world war
Weimar democracy was deeply weakened by versailles
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