WW1

• War deaths

  • 2 million troops died from fighting and 4 million were wounded

  This left 600,000 wives being widows

  • 763,000 civilians died from starvation and further 150,000 died from the flu pandemic.
• Crippling economy

  • By 1918, industrial production was only 2/3 of what it had been in 1913
  • Germany's debt had increased over WW1 from 50 billion marks in 1914 to 150 billion marks in 1918
• Inflation

  • Germany printed more money to fund war effort

  Meaning the value of German mark fell leading to inflation.
• Uneven distribution of wealth

  • The average wage for a worker in 1918 was only 60% of what they earned in 1913
  • But big armaments (military weapons) business owners made a lot of money during WW1

  This causes social problems as workers resented business owners
• German defeat

  • 29th September 1918, Field Marshall Hindenburg and General Ludendorff told Kaiser Wilhelm II that Germany will not win the war and said that the democratic government was needed for favourable peace settlement with the Allied Powers.
• Democratic government

  • 3rd October 1918, Hindenburg informed the Reichstag of the decision to create a more democratic government.
  • The Kaiser appointed a Liberal, Max of Baden to be Chancellor and under Max of Baden, a new government was set up.
  • German military leaders handed over power to the civilian government just in time to take the blame for the loss of WW1.
• Kurt Eisner, a communist, caused mass strikes in Munich after supporting the uprising against the Kaiser.
• The German Republic

  • 10th November 1918, German Republic was born, Phillip Scheidemann, a member of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) declared the new German Republic.
  • Ebert created The Council of People's Representatives as a temporary government, they ran Germany until new elections were held in January 1919
• The armistice and end of WW1

  • Some Germans felt betrayed by Ebert and think that the treaty was unfair. Ebert and the politicians who negotiated with peace became known as 'November Criminals'. Berlin became a hotbed for revolt