Germany- Democracy and dictatorship

• Kaiser Wilhelm II

  he controlled the german government and had extensive and total power
• Reichstag during the Kaisers rule

  all men over the age of 25 could vote

  kaiser appointed all the officials and chancellor who were right wing elites

  the officials could give the kaiser advice and the reichstag voted on any laws the kaiser made but he had the final say
• industrialisation

  by 1913 Germany rivalled britain in iron, steel and coal production and dominated the chemical and electrical production in europe

  this made factory and business owners very powerful and wealthy
• social reform/Socialism

  workers who worked for the factory owners and businesses had low wages and poor working conditions and food was very expensive
• Social Reforms/Socialism

  Workers formed trade unions and organised strikes to force the kaiser to improve these conditions

  by 1913 over 3million workers had joined trade unions
• Social Reforms/Socialism

  A new left wing Socialist political party called the SPD (Social democratic party) was winning all the votes in the Reichstag

  they wanted equal power and wealth shared by the kaiser so the Reichstag could improve working conditions

  1 in 3 men voted for the SPD—they became the largest party in the reichstag
• Influence of Prussian Militarism

  The kaiser was from Prussia

  Militarism was extremely important to Prussia and also Kaiser Wilhelm II

  Prussian army generals and officers formed the basis of the new german army
• Naval Laws

  The kaiser wanted an Empire to rival Britain’s

  Germany started a massive ship building campaign financed through a series of naval laws between 1898 and 1912
• effect of the Naval Laws

  They allowed the Kaiser to raise taxes to pay for the building of new ships and more importantly to borrow money to fund the building —Germany would be in debt for a long time

  the SPD were not in favour of these decisions
• War Weariness 1914-1918

  As world war one dragged on and the Naval Blockade began to impact the germans people began to grow weary—they were suffering from shortages of food and medicine and clothing and this led to a demand for the war to end
• German Industry during the first world war

  By 1918 the german industry was only producing only 2/3 of what it had in 1913–this reduced the amount of money the government was receiving in taxes
• defeat- 1918

  German soldiers were in full retreat towards the end of the war and General Ludendorff warned the german politicians that germany could never win the war and the Kaiser agreed
• end of monarchy- 1918

  The kaiser gave up his throne on the 9th of november 1918 in the hopes that he wouldn’t face the same fate as the Russian royal family—Friedrich Ebert took the kaisers place as he was the leader of the SPD party
• Order refused (Sailors at Kiel)

  On the 28th october 1918 the sailors stationed at Kiel refused to set sail and follow the Kaisers orders and instead took over the naval base and joined forces with the local dock crew—in just six days soldiers and workers councils were running cities across germany—The kaiser had lost support and control
• surrender

  on the 11th of November 1918 Ebert surrendered and ended world war one
• weimar constitution

  All germans had equal rights and all men and women over the age of 20 could vote

  The reichstag was voted in every 4 years so unpopular governments could easily be voted out
• Weimar constitution

  a president would be elected every 7 years and stayed out of the day to day running of germany—in an emergency article 48 would be used so they could make decisions without the reichstags agreement
• weimar constitution

  A chancellor (chosen by the president) was responsible for the day to day running of germany and they had to have atleast 50% of votes from the reichstag to pass a law—the creation of the chancellor and president meant that no one in germany had full power/control as the kaiser did
• Weimar constitution weaknesses (Proportional representation)

  The voting system meant that lots of different parties could win seats in the reichstag—but it was difficult for one party to get a majority-meant that the leading party had to do deals with other smaller parties to get their laws passed
• Weimar constitution weaknesses

  (lack of support)

  older army generals, the upper class and business and factory owners all longed for the ‘good old days’ when germany’s was ruled by the Kaiser
• Weimar Constitution weaknesses

  (germanys surrender)

  The new government system linked to germanys surrender—idea that the new politicians were responsible for germany’s defeat—people nicknamed these politicians the November criminals
• Spartacist Uprising (1919)

  A group of communists who wanted Germany to be run by workers and small councils

  6th january 1919- they tried to take over berlin with thousands of supporters

  Ebert sent 2000 ex soldiers (Freikorps) to put a stop to the revolt-after 3 days it was put to an end

  Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht were executed (the leaders)
• Treaty of Versailles (land)

  Germany lost 13% of its land- the land was used to create new countries and germany lost all its overseas colonies
• Treaty of Versailles (Army)

  Germany was only allowed a small Army (100,000 men) and the navy was also reduced

  Germany was not allowed any tanks, aircraft or submarines

  no german troops were allowed in the Rhineland- to make france feel safer
• Treaty of Versailles (Money)

  Germany had to pay reparations to cover the cost of the war-most went to france and belgium

  the paid instalments would last until 1988- Germany had to pay 6.6 billion
• Treaty of Versailles (Blame)

  In the ‘war guilt’ clause germany was blamed for starting the war- this enabled the allies to ask for compensation from Germany
• German reaction to the treaty of Versailles

  The germans felt that it was too harsh

  the reparation costs crippled the country that was already struggling after the war

  loss of land meant that people lost farmland and factories which made it more difficult to produce products to sell to pay for reparations

  the reduction of the armed forces made Germany feel vulnerable
• German Reaction to the treaty of Versailles

  The germans hated that the treaty had been forced on them and called it ‘diktat’ (dictated peace)

  and they didn’t think it was fair that Germany was the one to get the full blame for the war
• German reaction to the treaty of Versailles

  The German people blamed the new leaders of the republic for signing the treaty—the resentment over the treaty gave hitler something to criticise the weimar government on in the future
• The Kapp Putsch (1920)

  Dr Wolfgang Kapp and 5000 right wing supporters who wanted the kaiser back in control of Germany

  For a while the rebels controlled the city but the government encouraged people to go on strike and not support the uprising

  All gas, electricity and water etc in Berlin stopped and Kapp fled after realising he couldnt govern

  He was caught and put into prison where he later died
• Red Rising in the Ruhr (1920)

  As soon as Kapp had fled aboard left wing workers in the Ruhr stayed on strike and took over several towns

  The government ,now back in Berlin, sent Free Corps and soldiers to deal with the rebellion—over 1000 workers were killed
• The Ruhr

  The Industrial area of Germany where most of the factories and mines etc were located
• Assassinations (1919-1922)

  There were over 350 Political Assassinations in Germany—mostly carried out by right wing groups

  they wanted to eliminate those they thought responsible for the treaty of Versailles

  many people responsible for the murders we’re given short sentences (average of 4 years)
• Munich Putsch (1924) part 1

  In November 1923 Hitler decided to launch the Munich Putsch—an armed uprising against the German Government

  Hyperinflation had made the weimar government very unpopular and hitler believe that the support of Gustav Von Karr (primeminister of Bavaria) ,General Otto Von Lossow (head of the bavarian army) and General Ludendorff would allow his uprising to succeed
• Munich Putsch (1924) part two

  On the 8th November 1923, Hitler and 600 storm troopers (SA) burst into the beer hall in Munich where Gustav Von Karr and General Lossow were holding a meeting-Hitler stated they were overthrowing the government

  The uprising failed and Hitler was arrested and sentenced to five years in prison—he wrote a book called Mein Kamp (my struggle)
• Effect of the munich Putsch

  Hitler changed his tactics from violent uprisings to Legal Methods (votes) which eventually worked in 1933
• Occupation of the Ruhr (1923)

  Since Germany failed to pay the reparation costs the French decided to invade the Ruhr with 60,000 French and Belgian troops

  they took control of every factory, mine and railway system and also took goods from ships and arrested any german who stood up to them

  the german government encouraged passive resistance