The Weimar Republic 1918-29

• During World War One, two million German troops died from fighting and four million German troops were wounded.
• Germany's debt in 1918 was 150 billion marks, the average wage for a worker in 1918 Germany was 60% of what was earned in 1913.
• On the 29th September 1918, Field Marshall Hindenburg and General Ludendorff told the Kaiser that the German army couldn't win the war
• On the 3rd of October 1918, Prince Max of Baden was appointed as the Chancellor of Germany
• On the 28th October 1918, a German naval uprising occurred called the Kiel Mutiny.
• On the 9th November 1918, Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated. The German Republic was declared and Freidrich Ebert became the new leader on the 10th November 1918.
• The Armistice between Germany and the Allies was signed on the 11th November 1918, signing the end of WW1
• The public felt betrayed by politicians such as Ebert who had signed the armistice and they began to call them the 'November Criminals'.
• Berlin was full of unrest in 1918, forcing the new republic to be established in the small town of Weimar. This was the origin of the republic's name.
• The President of the Weimar Republic was elected every 7 years. The President had the ability to overrule his government due to Article 48.
• The Chancellor led the Cabinet in the Weimar Republic. Parliament consisted of two bodies called the Reichstag and the Reichsrat.
• Proportional Representation was the Weimar Republic's parliamentary system that meant that the number of seats a Party had reflected the number of votes it received. This often resulted in a coalition government.
• Germans over the age of 20 were eligible to vote in the Weimar Republic.
• The most powerful state in Germany was Prussia.
• Article 231 in the Treaty of Versailles was the 'War Guilt Clause' that meant Germany had to accept full blame for the events of World War One.
• Germany had to pay £6.6 billion in reparations after WW1.
• The Treaty of Versailles meant that Germany lost 10% of its land and 12.5% of the population.
• The Rhineland had to be demilitarised in Germany due to the Treaty of Versailles.
• According to the Treaty of Versailles, Germany could not join forces with Austria.
• The Spartacist Uprising was led by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Leibknecht in 1919. Ebert used the Freikorps to suppress the Uprising.
• The Kapp Putsch was in March 1920, led by Wolfgang Kapp.
• The Munich Putsch was in November 1923.
• During his time in prison in 1924, Hitler wrote the book Mein Kampf.
• In 1923, Germany was behind on its reparations, so France and Belgium decided to seize the Ruhr. In response to this Ebert encouraged a tactic of passive resistance. However, over 8 months, 150,000 Germans were kicked out of their homes in the Ruhr.
• After the Weimar Government began printing more money in 1923, a period of Hyperinflation occurred. In 1918, a loaf of bread cost 0.6 German marks, by 1923 a loaf cost 201 billion marks. The German mark had become worthless.
• People who suffered most from hyperinflation were

  • People with savings lost their money
  • People with a fixed income who couldn't renegotiate their earnings
  • The elderly with fixed pensions
  • Small business owners went bankrupt
• Overall, the middle class suffered the most due to hyperinflation.
• Gustav Stresemann was the German Chancellor in 1923 and the Foreign Minister of Germany between 1923 and 1929. He was the politician who saved the German economy.
• In November 1923, Stresemann introduced a new currency called the Rentenmark.
• In the Dawes Plan, the US agreed to loan Germany 800 million Reichsmarks
• In 1929, the Young Plan meant that reparations were reduced to £2 billion.
• Between 1925 and 1929, German exports had risen by 40%. However, by 1933 world trade had fallen by over 60%.
• In 1925, the Locarno Pact was signed by Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy and Belgium. It stated that Germany recognised its borders with France and the demilitarisation of the Rhineland.
• In 1926, Germany joined the League of Nations, which was a sign of Germany's desire to be accepted as a full member of the international community.
• 63 countries signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact in 1928.
• In 1927, an insurance system was set up for workers in Weimar Germany. Between 1925 and 1929, 100,000 homes were built for workers in Germany.
• In 1919, Walter Gropius set up the architectural movement called the Bauhaus School.
• Expressionism became prominent in Weimar Germany and painted everyday life.
• Fritz Lang released a film called Metropolis in 1927.
• Jazz music (originating in America) became very popular in Weimar Germany.