Weimar Germany Flashcards
What were the political problems in Germany in 1918-1920?
- No clear government after the Kaiser abdicated – led to a power struggle as different people wanted different things to replace the Kaiser’s government
- Attempts to change the government from the left (e.g. the Spartacist Revolt and the Red Rising in the Ruhr
- Attempts to change the government from the right e.g. the Kapp Putsch
- Ebert’s government (which replaced the Kaiser) - weak e.g. had to rely on the right-wing Freikorps to crush the Spartacists (communists)
- Political assassinations
- Ebert’s government blamed for signing the Armistice November 1918 (‘November criminals’) and for signing the Treaty of Versailles (‘stabbing the German army in the back’)
- Violence in Berlin was so bad that government actually had to go to Weimar at one point
What were the main features of the Weimar Constitution?
- Everyone over 20 had the vote
- The Reichstag elected through system of proportional representation
- Proportional representation meant it was very difficult for one party to get an overall majority (indeed, no party ever did)
- Article 48: The President had the power to declare a state of emergency and the rule by decree (i.e. he could issue laws called decrees which did not need to be passed by the Reichstag)
- The President was elected for a period of 7 years
What was the Spartacist Revolt?
By: German communist party – the Spartacists
When: January 1919
Led: by Rosa Luxembourg and Karl Liebknecht
To: Seize control of Berlin by military force
To overthrow the government and start a communist revolution
Why did the Spartacist Revolt fail?
- It was poorly organised
- Ebert’s government had the help of the Freikorps in crushing the rebellion
- Rosa Luxembourg and Karl Liebknecht were killed
What other communist uprisings/revolts were there
Communists tried to take control of Bavaria in 1919. This was crushed with the help of the Freikorps
• The Red Rising in the Ruhr in March 1920
What was the Kapp Putsch?
By: Freikorps and far right supporters
When: March 1920
Led: by Dr Wolfgang Kapp
To: overthrow the government by military force and by capturing the capital, Berlin
Why did the Kapp Putsch fail?
- Did not have the support of majority of people in Berlin
- General strike in Berlin and capital came to a standstill. It quickly became clear that Kapp and his supporters did not control the capital
- The Weimar government leaders were not captured. They were able to flee Berlin.
Why did Germany suffer from hyper-inflation in 1923?
- Germany didn’t pay its instalment of reparations in 1922 - it was clear that it would not do so in 1923 either
- French and Belgian troops occupied Ruhr (Germany’s most industrialised area) to seize coal, steel, etc. in lieu of reparations. People in the Ruhr responded with passive resistance (i.e. they went on strike)
- The German currency was no longer backed by production, came to be seen as worth less and so prices started to go up
- The government responded by printing more and more money, which made it totally worthless
- People started bartering (things were worth more than the money)
- Savings, etc. were wiped out
How was the problem of hyper-inflation solved?
- Gustav Stresemann (the new Chancellor) called off passive resistance in the Ruhr and agreed to pay reparations, so France and Belgium withdrew their troops
- Stresemann called in the old money and replaced it with a new currency called the Rentenmark
- One rentenmark was worth one trillion of the old marks
What was the Munich Putsch?
By: Hitler and the Nazis
When: November 1923
Led: Hitler
To: seize control of Munich
Then go on to overthrow the national government (the Weimar government).
Nazis were furious at Stresemann’s decision to pay reparations to France and Belgium (to get them out of the Ruhr) and believed that the time was right to overthrow the government
Why did the Munich Putsch fail?
- It was poorly organised
- Despite having the support of the old German army commander, General Ludendorff, Hitler did not get the support of the army and police that he had anticipated, and people did not rise up in support
Why was the Munich Putsch not a disaster for the Nazi Party?
- Hitler able to use trial as platform from which to broadcast his ideas
- The trial and Hitler’s defence and ideas got national coverage
- The Nazi Party (which had just been a small part in Bavaria) and its ideas became known throughout Germany
- Judge at Hitler’s trial was sympathetic, Hitler was sentenced to just five years’ in prison (only actually served a few months and was released in December 1924). He wrote Mein Kampf while in prison
In what ways did Hitler and the Nazis change tactics following the Munich Putsch?
- Voting not seizing power
- Abolish Weimar constitution
- Promote nazi ideas through propaganda, speeches, rallies etc.
- Mein kampf, radio broadcasts
- Nazis stood for election in 1928,30,32
- Stood against Hindenburg in 1932 presidential elections
List ways in which the Weimar Republic had and had not recovered from its problems by 1929
Positive
o Dawes plan:
o Longer time reparations
o Loans from American banks (reparations + industry)
o Industrial production increased
o Factory workers – better pay and working conditions
o No poilitcal assassinations or putsch’s
o Culture and arts thrived
o Locarno Pact – Germany joined league of nations
Negative
• Economic recovery depended on American loans (dancing on volcano)
• Middle classes less well off
• Unemployment creeping up
• Peasant farmers did not do well
• Small business owners did less well
What were the effects on Weimar Germany of the Wall Street Crash and the Great Depression?
- American loans stopped
- Factories and businesses closed
- Unemployment rose dramatically
- By 1933, over 50% (16-30) unemployed
- Farmers slipped even further into debt
- Germans increasingly lost faith in mainstream parties and support for extremist parties rose
