Chapter 4 - political instability and extremism

Question 1

Intro

Answer 1

• German society in the aftermath of the war, defeat and revolution was deeply divided
• Even after the new Weimar Republic was established in 1919, political violence continued, and coalition governments were unstable

Question 1

Intro

Answer 1

• German society in the aftermath of the war, defeat and revolution was deeply divided
• Even after the new Weimar Republic was established in 1919, political violence continued, and coalition governments were unstable

Question 2

Groups the Weimar government would have wanted in support during the early years

Answer 2

• The Friekorps (a paramilitary group)
• The army
• The judiciary
• Trade unions

Question 3

How the army was brought on side

Answer 3

• On the 10th of November, Friedrich Ebert agreed the Ebert-Groener pact with the leader of the army
• Through this, the army agreed to support the government as long as the government oppose all left-wing ideas of parties in the Reichstag

Question 4

How the trade unions were brought on side

Answer 4

• On the 15th November 1918, Ebert agreed the Stinnes-Legein agreement with the leader of Germany’s trade unions
• For the unions support, Ebert offered legislation on hours of work and union representation in the workplace

Question 5

How the judiciary were brought on side

Answer 5

• The government did very little to get the judiciary on their side
• The judiciary were not reformed and therefore still right wing

Question 6

The problems of coalition government

Answer 6

• Before 1914 there were a wide array of political parties representing different religions, classes, regions and special interest groups
• Since political parties in the Reichstag had no say in the choice of government, this was not a major problem
• In the Weimar republic, however, the fragmentation of political parties was a matter of great importance since governments needed to command majority support in the Reichstag
• With an electoral system based on proportional representation, no one party was ever in a position to form a government by itself and all governments, therefore, were coalitions
• The fragmentation of political parties became even more pronounced as German society became more divided
• Moreover, many parties, both large and small were dedicated to the overthrow of the republic
• This placed an even greater burden of responsibility on the moderate centre parties, such as the SPD and the DDP, to work together to form stable coalitions
• Although the party leaders understood the need for compromise, the country faced unprecedented problems which called for tough and unpleasant decisions, which placed severe strains on coalition governments
• In June 1919, for example, the Scheidemann cabinet resigned because it could not agree the signing of the Treaty of Versailles
• Similarly, disagreements in the Fehrenbach cabinet, over whether to accept the allied ultimatum on reparations, brought it down in May 1921
• Another reason why it was difficult to form stable coalitions was that, in times of social, economic, and political crisis, society became more polarised (where opinions are very split) and support for the moderate parties ebbed away (decreased)
• The more extreme parties on the left and right gained support
• Since the extreme parties would not join coalition governments, the task of forming a government with a Reichstag majority became even harder
• In the June 1920 Reichstag elections, the SPD won 103 seats but were still not a majority meaning a coalition government had to be formed
• The story of the first 4 years of the Weimar Republic was one of unstable governments and shifting coalitions
• The first 4 years of the Weimar republic was also a story of changing fortunes for the SPD
• In 1918 and 1919, the SPD had taken the lead in establishing the Republic and trying to form stable governments but, after June 1920 the SPD ceased to take a leading role in any coalition government due to internal divisions
• The SPD sometimes didn’t participate in the ruling coalition at all
• The instability of these coalition governments is seen by there being 10 different coalition governments come to power and then fall from power between February 1919 and November 1923
• Although many changes in the cabinets involved little more than a reshuffle, these frequent changes meant that continuity of policy was impossible to achieve and confidence in the whole democratic process was undermined
• Overall, it was the extreme anti-democratic parties on the left and right which benefitted most from this undermining of confidence in the democratic system

Question 7

The growth of political extremism

Answer 7

• There was continuing political violence as parties of the left and right set up armed and uniformed paramilitary squads to guard their meetings, march through the streets and beat up their opponents
• Violence on the streets became the norm in many cities as political differences became more polarised

Question 8

Reasons groups rose up against the Weimar Republic

Answer 8

• They wanted a stronger and more authoritative government in power
• They were unhappy with the terms of the treaty of Versailles
• They were unhappy with how democratic the new government was
• They wanted a government that was decisive with a strong leader
• The government was just extremely weak, vulnerable, and unpopular
• Restoration of empire or establishing “communist utopia”
• Disliking the Weimar republic

Question 9

Challenge from the left

Answer 9

• On the 5th of January 1919, the Spartacus League, known as the Spartacists, led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxembourg, staged an uprising in Berlin to overthrow Ebert’s government and set up a revolutionary communist regime
• The uprising was a result of a power struggle between the KPD and SPD, and the only way for the KPD to meet its aims of a workers’ revolution was to rise up against the new government
• On the 4th January 1919, the Weimar government dismissed a popular police chief in Berlin (Emil Eichom), a radical USPD member, which brought the government into open conflict with the workers’ councils and unions and triggered the Spartacist uprising
• Thousands of armed officers poured into the centre of Berlin to demonstrate, taking over important buildings such as train stations and newspaper offices
• The revolt was poorly prepared
• The revolt was also poorly supported as the Spartacists had not secured the support of the majority of the working class in Berlin, which was who they claimed to be acting for
• Ebert’s government relied on the army to put down the revolt, but General Groener had very few reliable military units at his command and therefore the Weimar government hired the Friekorps to put down the rebellion
• The Freikorps quickly re-conquered the blocked streets and buildings and many of the rebels surrendered
• By January 13th, the Spartatcist uprising had been crushed after brutal street fighting in which many prisoners, including Liebknecht and Luxembourg, were executed
• 156 civilians and 17 Freikorps soldiers also died during the fighting

Question 10

The Freikorps

Answer 10

• Faced with the disintegration of much of the regular army in the chaos of defeat and revolution at the end of 1918, Field Marshal Hindenburg and General Groener encouraged former officers to recruit volunteer forces into the new Freikorps unit
• The majority of the new recruits were from demobilised junior army officers and NCOs, but the Freikorps also attracted students, adventurers and drifters
• Placed under the overall command of General Walter Luttwitz, the Freikorps were supplied with uniforms and weapons form army store but were not officially part of the army
• In action, the Freikorps were less disciplined and were able to give full expression of their “rabid spirit of aggression and revenge”

Question 11

Further left wing rebellion

Answer 11

• The defeat of the Spartacists did not end left wing rebellion
• The workers who had played a key role in the over-throw of the Kaiser in November 1918, had been disillusioned by the revolution that followed and frustrated that the Weimar Republic seemed too ready to compromise with the right wing
• Economic conditions also bred disorder, while demobilised soldiers found it hard to adjust to civilian life
• Although the new German Communist Party (KPD) had only minority support in Germany, it was nevertheless a committed, radical minority with strong support in the industrial centres in the Ruhr and Saxony
• Inspired by the example of the successful Russian Bolshevik revolution in 1917, and heavily influenced by the Comintern (the communist international), the KPD was keen to lead a communist revolution in Germany
• However, ultimately, the KPD did not have the support or determination to lead this communist revolution

Question 12

The red rising

Answer 12

• In the early years of the Weimar republic, communist governments were set up in Bavaria (January 1919), the Ruhr (March 1920) and in Saxony and Thuringia (1921 and 1922), in attempts to take over these regions
• These were put in place for a number of reasons such as the governments involvement in the treaty of Versailles, the liberal and democratic principles the government stood for and the republic’s failure to produce a strong and decisive government and leader
• In all cases, the communist governments did not have enough popular support and were put down by the Reichswehr (the German army) using a system of Reichsexekution (intervention against a state using military force if necessary)
• The army crushed these due to the Ebert Groener pact which was signed on the 10th November 1918 where the army agreed to support the government as long as the government opposed any left wing ideas of parties in the Reichstag

Question 13

Left wing risings

Answer 13

• In March 1919, there was another Spartacist rising in Berlin and in Bavaria, a communist based workers’ council was established
• Both of these were supressed
• In April 1919, there was a wave of strikes in Germany’s industrial heartlands of Halle and the Ruhr Valley
• As well as asking for shorter hours, the strikers demanded more control over their own industries and a government based on workers’ councils
• In 1920, the troubles continued, and after the workers had shown their power in defeating the right wing Kapp Putsch with a general strike in Berlin, communists formed a “red army” of 50,000 workers and seized control of the Ruhr
• Essentially a civil war followed as the regular army and Freikoprs struggled to crush the Red Army’s rising
• Troubles also broke out in Halle and Dresden, and over 1000 workers and 250 soldiers and police were killed
• More disturbances in Saxony and Thiuringia, where the workers organised self defence units, were also put down in April 1920
• In march 1921, the KPD tried to force a revolution, beginning with a rising in Saxony
• The strike disruption spread to Hamburg and the Ruhr, but the risings were crushed by the police and 145 people were killed
• In 1923, there was a further bout of strike activity at the time of Germany’s economic collapse, which was again centred in Saxony and Hamburg, but it too was supressed
• The government was never seriously threatened by these left-wing revolts
• However, continued working class rebellions did damage the republic as fear of a “red revolution” frightened the law-abiding middle classes into supporting right wing parties

Question 14

The challenge from the right

Answer 14

• The powerful right posed a major threat to the Weimar government
• The right had been hostile to the republic from the outset since it did not believe in democracy, and it accused the politicians who now led Germany of having betrayed the Fatherland
• This, however, was the limit of what the right wing agreed upon
• There were many competing right wing groups with different objectives
• Some tight wing groups wished to see the restoration of the monarchy, whilst other advocated (publicly supported) a dictatorship in one form or another
• In areas such as Bavaria there were groups that fought for the separation of the rest of Germany
• Other groups wanted a united Germany so that it could become a great power again
• These divisions weakened the ability of right-wing groups to overthrow the republic
• Nevertheless, right wing ideas were strong amongst members of the Freikorps and in the army, whilst the large landowners, industrialists, civil servants, police and judges on whom the republic relied were also traditional conservate anti-republicans

Question 15

The Kapp Putsch 1920

Answer 15

• The government was obliged to put into effect the terms of the treaty of Versailles in January 1920 and consequently needed to reduce the size of the army and disband some Freikorps units
• In February 1920, the defence minister Gustav Naske, ordered two Freikorps units, comprising 12,000 men, to disband
• These units were stationed 12 miles from berlin
• When General Walther von Luttwitz, the commanding general, refused to disband one of them, the government ordered his arrest
• Luttwitz decided to march his troops to berlin in protest on March 12th 1920 and other sympathetic officers offered their support
• Luttwitz was also supported by the right-wing civil servants and politician Wolfgang Kapp, who was intent on organising a putsch
• This was an attempt to overthrow the Weimar republic as Kapp and the paramilitary group aimed to restore the empire an overturn the Treaty of Versailles returning Germany to its old imperial system with a strong, authoritative government
• They took over Berlin on March 12th 1920, causing the Weimar government to flee, and proclaimed themselves the new government and said the Weimar constitution was no longer in force
• Crucially however, General Hans von Seeckt and Ludendorff remained non-committal (giving no clear indication of attitude or feeling). They sympathised but were aware of the dangers of voicing open support
• Ebert’s government was forced to withdraw to Dresden, and when Ebert and his chancellor, Gustav Bauer, called on the regular army to crush the rising, Seekct famously said “troops do not fire on troops”
• The situation appeared dangerous, but there was actually considerable tension between the military and civilian elements of the Kapp putsch, so it failed to gain widespread support, even from the right wing
• Civil servants and bankers remained at best lukewarm and often hostile, whilst trade unions, encouraged by the socialist members of Ebert’s government, called a general strike
• Berlin was brought to a standstill, and, within 4 days, the putsch collapsed
• Kapp and Luttwitz were forced to flee
• Ebert’s government returned, but not quite with the air of triumph that might have been expected
• The Kapp Putsch had taught a number of lessons:
  • The army was not to be trusted
  • Civil servants could be disloyal
  • The workers as a group could show their power, which gave a renewed vigour to the communist movement
  • The Weimar government was weak without the army’s support
• The leniency shown by the right wing judges towards those brought to trial in the aftermath of the putsch contrasted strongly with the harsh treatment suffered by the left wing, and their behaviour sent a message that the government was not really in control

Question 16

Political assassinations

Answer 16

• The violence continued as right win nationalists organised themselves into leagues, committed to the elimination of prominent politicians and those associated with the “betrayal” of Germany
• These Vaterlandische Verbande (patriotic leagues), often formed out of old Freikorps units, acted as fiercely anti-republican paramilitaries
• They were potentially very powerful and some were actively supported by members of the regular German army
• Altogether there were a total of 376 political assassinations in Germany between January 1919 and June 1922, carried out by anti-Weimar paramilitary groups
• Right wing extremist groups, such as the Organisation Consul, carried out 354 of these political assassinations
• One early victim of the assassinatiosn was Huge Hasse, a USPD member who had been a member of the Counsil of People’s Commissars
• Hugo Hasse was shot in front of the Reichstag in October 1919 and died of his wounds a month later

Question 17

The assassination of Erzberger

Answer 17

• In august 1921, the former finance minister, Matthias Erzberger, was assassinated in the Black Forest by two members of the terrorist league Organisation Consul
• Erzberger had already been shot in January and left wounded, but the assassins were determined to complete the job
• Erberger had led the German delegation for the signing of the armistice and had signed the Treaty of Versailles
• He was also Germany’s representative on the reparations committee
• Even after he was buried, his wife continued to receive abusive letters, including threats to defile (damage) his grave

Question 18

The assassination of Rathenau

Answer 18

• On 24th June 1922, it was the turn of the foreign minister, Walther Rathenau
• Rathenau was driving to work in an open-top car when 4 assassins from Organisation Consul shot at him and hurled a hand grenade too
• The reasons for this were that he was a Jew and a leading minister in the Republican government
• He had also participated in the signing of the armistice and had negotiated with the Allies to try to improve the Treaty of Versailles
• Nevertheless, Rathenau had been a popular figure and the following day over 200,000 protestors lined the streets of berlin
• The assassinations had an impact abroad too as the value of the mark fell because other countries feared the repercussions

Question 19

Conclusions of political assassinations

Answer 19

• Altogether, between 1919 and 1923, there were 376 political assassinations, 22 carried out by the left and 354 by the right
• In an attempt to halt the rising tide of lawlessness, in July 1922, the Reichstag passed a law “for the protection of the republic”, which imposed severe penalties on those involved in conspiracy to murder and banned extremist organisations
• Organisation Consul was forced to disband, bit the law was not effective as the judges who had to enforce it were often right-wing sympathisers
• In Bavaria, the staunchly conservative government even refused to implement the law
• Rathenau’s killers and their accompanies received an average of only 4 years each in prison
• Whilst 326 right wing murders went unpunished and only one was convicted to severe punishment until 1923, 10 left wing murderers were sentenced to death

Question 20

Effects of right wing activity

Answer 20

• Although right wing activity failed to destroy the republic, the developments of the 1919-23 period bolstered the arrogance of anti-republican nationalists, who showed they could get away with murder
• Since the Weimar politicians seemed to constantly exaggerate the threat from the left and underestimate that from the right, the anti-republican right was able to establish itself very firmly in the new German state

Question 21

Political impact of the Ruhr invasion

Answer 21

• Germans of all classes and political allegiances had been outraged by the French occupation of the Ruhr
• The trauma of hyperinflation had profound psychological effects
• Germany was swept by a wave of anti-French feeling and the country was more united than at any time since the end of the war
• As written by historian Richard Evans, hyperinflation “added to the feeling in the more conservative sections of the population of a world turned upside down, first by defeat, then by revolution, and now by economics
• However, many blamed the government for what happened and middle class support for the Reichstag was severely damage
• Organisations representing the Mittlestand accused the government of failing in its responsibility to protect independent small traders and artisans
• On the left, the communists tried to accuse the government of failing to stage uprisings in some areas
• Moreover, after the ending of passive resistance, the nationalist right accused the government of betrayal
• The occupation of the Ruhr, and the subsequent hyperinflation crisis, were the backdrop to the last attempt to overthrow the republic by force in 1923 by a small Bavarian-based party known as the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP)

Question 22

The establishment of the Nazi Party and the Munich Beer Hall Putsch

Answer 22

• The Nazi party was almost alone in arguing that German patriots should first remove the “November criminals” from government before dealing with the French
• When the government of Gustav Stresemann called off the passive resistance in September 1923 without winning any concessions from the French, there was an outcry from the right
• This was seen as yet another act of betrayal
• In Bavaria, the right win government declared a state of emergency and appointed Gustav von Kahr as state commissioner
• Amongst right wing nationalists in the Bavarian capital, Munich, there was a growing agitation for a “march on Berlin” to overthrow the government and establish a national dictatorship
• At the forefront of the agitation for a “march on Berlin” was the leader of the NSDAP, Adolf Hitler

Question 23

The Munich Putsch (beer hall putsch)

Answer 23

• In November 1923, Hitler made a bid to seize power as the unpopularity of the Weimar government rose as a result of its weakness and vulnerability
• He knew that the putsch could only succeed if he had the support of powerful figures so, having secured the support of Ludendorff, he set out to win over Gustav Ritter von Kahr and Otto von Lossow, the local army commander
• On 8th November, Hitler burst into a Munich Beer Hall, where von Kahr and von Lossow were addressing a meeting of 2000 people
• Hitler surrounded the beer hall with storm troops (SA) and announced that a revolution had begun
• At gun point, in a side room, von Kahr and von Lossow were persuaded to agree to Hitler’s plan to march on Berlin and to install Ludendorff as the new Commander-in-chief
• However, their support evaporated overnight and so too did Hitler’s chances of persuading others to support him
• Crucially, the stormtroopers were unable to gain control of the Munich army barracks and by the next day, 9th November, it was clear that Hitler’s original plan had failed
• Nevertheless, Hitler went ahead with a march through Munich
• The ensuing gun battle with the police later became part of the folklore of the “courageous” Nazis who marched fearlessly through the streets into the arms of a police cordon
• Hitler fell and dislocated his shoulder, possibly in response to the shooting of his companion with whom he had linked arms
• Hitler fled, only to be captured the next day
• Ludendorff walked straight up to the police and allowed himself to be arrested
• The incident again showed the importance of the army to the political survival of the regime
• General Seeckt sent in troops to deal with the aftermath of the abortive putsch, and central control over Bavaria was soon re-imposed
• The Nazis were banned, and Hitler imprisoned for 5 years, of which he only served 9 moths
• Once again, the republic survived

Question 24

Significance of Ebert to the Weimar Republic’s survival

Answer 24

• When Germany became a republic, at the end of the first world war, he served as its first chancellor
• After the first election, he was the country’s first post-war president until his death in 1923
• His policies were primarily aimed at restoring peace and order in Germany and supressing the left
• He was a major figure in the formation of the Ebert Groener pact
• The Ebert Groener pact was the partnership between the government and the army which was used in the suppression of the majority of the uprisings