challenges to the weimar republic 1918-1923

• why was the weimar republic's government so unpopular

  the treaty of versailles

  dolchstoss theory

  november criminals
• how much land did germany lose because of the tov

  13%
• how much of the population did germany lose because of the tov

  12.5%
• why was the tov so unpopular in germany?

  Land

  Army

  Money

  Blame
• land aspect of the tov

  germany lost 13% of territory + overseas colonies

  angered germans as it took away control of 'german territory'

  most industrial parts taken = less money

  iron of alsace-lorraine

  coalfields of the saar
• army aspect of tov

  german army = reduced to only 100,000 soldiers

  + rhineland area was demilitarised

  germany = not allowed to own tanks, military aircraft and submarines

  humiliating as germany was a militaristic state

  lost 80% of fleets

  people = proud of armed forces as they portrayed strength
• money aspect of the tov

  germany made to pay reparations of £6.6b

  not stated at time of signing (1919) but forced in 1921

  felt as if unable to pay as war had resulted in inflation
• blame aspect of tov

  germany had to accept full responsibility for starting the war

  many germans saw this as evidence of vindictive nature of the allies, especially the french
• what were the 'november criminals'

  how germans referred to the new weimar government

  typically left wing politicians who signed the armistice in nov.1918

  many believed that germany would have won the war if armistice wasn't signed
• what was diktat


  dictated peace

  weimar politicians had no choice but to sign the treaty

  given 15 days to comment on terms but all requests for changes were denied
• article 231


  war guilt clause

  opening article of reparations section of tov

  stated germany had caused the war + needed to pay reparations

  stated germany's army + navy had to be reduced
• dolchstoss theory


  'stab-in-the-back' theory

  belief that german army did not lose ww1 on battlefields

  army was betrayed by civilians and politicians of the republic who had signed the armistice
• why did scheidmann resign rather than sign the tov in june 1919


  saw the backlash towards the republic and did not want to be associated with it and blamed
• key territorial terms of the tov

  all colonies to be given to the allied powers

  alsace-lorraine returned to france

  eupen-malmedy given to belgium

  saar administered by l.o.n

  posen + west prussia to poland

  eastern upper silesia to poland

  danzig created a free city

  memel administered by l.o.n

  no union with austria

  northern schleswig to denmark
• key military terms of tov

  army not to exceed 100,000

  no tanks, armoured cars, heavy artillery, military aircraft or submarines

  no naval vessel greater than 10,000 tons

  rhineland dimilitarised
• key financial terms of tov

  coal to be mined in the saar by france

  reparations fixed at 6.6b

  cattle + sheep given to belgium + france as reparations

  ships over 1,600 tons given up

  germany to build merchant ships to replace allied ships sunken by u-boats
• physical impact of tov

  • germany suffered large territorial losses
  • creation of 'polish corridor' which separated eastern prussia from rest of germany
  • all overseas colonies annexed by allies
  • lost over 1 million square miles of land
• financial impact of tov

  • held accountable for cost of war
  • monthly reparations
  • would have to reconstruct the german economy along with paying reparations
  • lost sources of raw materials in colonies therefore rich sources of income
  • therefore = harder for german economy to cope
  • casualties = lost 1.7m men + 4.2m wounded
• political impact of tov

  • government of the day resigned = incoming gov. forced to sign
  • accused of betrayal
  • dolchstoss theory grew in popularity as economy suffered
  • many grew to distrust the weimar republic
  • tov called for trial of former kaiser (did not happen) which stopped any chance of restoring the german monarchy
  • tov signalled period of isolation for germany in western europe
  • became outcast of international politics + distrusted by allies
• spartacist uprising

  jan 1919 in berlin

  led by karl liebknecht + rosa luxembourg

  ebert sacked eichhorn (popular with workers)

  believed weimar republic was weak + could establish a workers' republic like in russia, 1917 (bolshevik revolution)
• kapp putsch


  13th march 1920 in berlin

  led by wolfgang kapp + friekorps (disbanded soldiers)

  to seize berlin to form new right wing government due to overwhelming threat of communism

  + weimar gov. attempted to reduce size of army + disband friekorps
• why was the spartacist uprising not a success

  weimar gov. called on support of the friekorps

  killed the spartacists + leaders

  communists never trusted social democrats again
• why was the kapp putsch not a success

  weimar government managed to get support of the workers

  so called on workers to bring about a general strike

  kapp putsch collapsed
• how did the far left (spartacists) show opposition to the weimar republic

  december 1918 = led demonstration against gov. = clashed with the army = 16 deaths

  formed the KPD

  january 1919 = attempt to overthrow ebert + weimar gov.

  another uprising in ruhr region, put down by army = 100s killed
• why did the far left oppose the weimar republic

  • wanted the people to control germany
  • anti democratic = thought it was a system controlled by the rich
  • anti capitalist = system exploiting the poor
  • stressed international co-operation
  • wished to overthrow ebert + weimar government to form communist state
  • some wanted a socialist country like russia, 1917
  • wanted a centralised form of gov.
• how did the far right (dr. kapp's putsch) oppose the weimar republic

  wolfgang kapp drew a plan with ehrharat to seize berlin + form new right wing government

  successfully seized berlin in kapp putsch with support of the reichswehr (regular army)

  set up new right wing government in berlin

  376 political murders between 1919-22 (354 by right)

  murder of 2 serving weimar ministers (erzberger + rathenau)
• why did the far right oppose the weimar republic

  weimar government announced measures to reduce size of the army

  hated idea of democracy

  wished to make a new right wing government

  realised ebert wasn't popular with the public

  hated idea of communists in charge

  wanted authoritarian leadership (kaiser)

  militaristic

  nationalist
• what were the challenges of 1923

  ruhr crisis

  hyperinflation
• ruhr crisis build up

  inflation = devalued economy

  loss of industrialised areas

  eventually paying no reparations to the french

  had paid first instalment of 2m but could not afford next

  december 1922 = failed to send coal to france
• ruhr crisis


  france = angry as they had to pay their own war debts to usa

  11th jan 1923

  60,000 french + belgian troops entered ruhr + seized control of machinery, raw materials and money from banks

  no resistance as ruhr = in demilitarised rhineland = 750,000 french army against 100,000 german
• 11th january 1923


  ruhr invasion
• immediate response to ruhr invasion by germans

  government urged passive resistance (workers went on strike + refused to work) = germany industry to halt

  demonstrations and destruction of machinery to resist the french

  government paid workers by printing more money

  french army arrested entire ruhr police force
• consequences of ruhr invasion for france

  • increased germans' hatred for france
  • british refused to support their actions as they saw it as excessive
• consequences of ruhr invasion for the germans

  increased unemployment and food shortages

  therefore increased violence
• consequences of the ruhr invasion for the weimar government


  • had no choice but to continue in the state they were in
  • faced backlash
  • ruhr occupation = lost 80% of coal, iron and steel = couldn't pay its debts
• how did the ruhr invasion lead to hyperinflation

  invasion united german people against french + tov

  to support workers on strike, government printed more money to pay them

  workers paid 2x a day = value of the mark decreased
• example of the 1923 hyperinflation

  1918 = one loaf of bread cost 1 mark

  november 1923 = over 1b marks
• economic consequences of the 1923 hyperinflation


  • german mark = useless
  • many germans lost pensions and savings
  • prices increased rapidly
  • german economy crumbled
  • lots of businesses and banks closed
  • international trade collapsed
  • workers paid twice a day
• political consequences of 1923 hyperinflation

  germans were angry at the government + felt they were to blame for the crisis

  many started supporting extremist groups (nazis/communists)
• social consequences of the 1923 hyperinflation

  • food shortages led to increased stealing
  • many germans sold their houses to survive