key events

• The Spartacist Revolt:

  • January 1919, the Spartacists took over the government's newspaper and telegraph bureau for 10 days
  • Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Leibknecht tried to organise a strike in Berlin
  • Weimar gov sent Freikorps to put down the rebellion
  • Rosa + Karl where shot in the head
• Treaty of Versailles:

  • Germany lost 16% of their land
  • they must accept Germany started WW1
  • pay 6.6 billion in reparations
  • only allowed 100,000 soldiers + 6 battleships + no airforce
  • Germany not allowed to join with Austria
• The Kapp Putsch:

  • Freikorp troops (fearing unemployment) march in Berlin
  • Ebert asks the head of army to resist the Freikorps but he refused
  • Politician, Wolfgang Kapp, was put in charge by the rebels (Weimar gov fled Berlin)
  • To stop the strike, gov ordered a national strike of trade unions (forced people not to work)
  • Kapp could no longer rule and was forced to flee + gov returned to Berlin
• Occupation of the Ruhr:

  • Germany could not afford to pay the second instalment of reparations
  • January 1923, French and Belgium troops invaded the Ruhr (part of Germany near France) + took control of all factories and mines
  • They took all materials, machinery, goods back to France and Belgium in place of the reparation payments due
  • Gov ordered passive resistance (people go on strike) but still needed to pay workers
  • Soldiers arrested striking workers and brought French + Belgium workers to replace them
  • To pay the striking workers, the gov printed more money, leading to hyperinflation
• Positives of hyperinflation:

  • farmers benefitted, as they were paid more for food
  • some people and businesses could pay off loans/mortgages
  • fixed rents became very cheap
  • foreign visitors could buy more for their money
• Negatives of hyperinflation:

  • People could not afford essentials (like food)
  • wages did not rise as quickly as prices
  • some businesses went bankrupt
  • people with fixed monthly incomes (pensioners) suffered most
  • savings became worthless (affected the middle class the most)
  • people blamed the Weimar gov, making it even more unpopular
• Munich Putsch 1: (8th November)

  • Hitler and 600 SA entered a Beer Hall in Munich where the Bavarian gov were meeting
  • At gunpoint, Hitler forced the leaders to support him
  • Rohm took over local police and army headquarters
  • Ludendorff let gov leaders go (behind Hitler's back)
• Munich Putsch 2: (9th November)

  • Hitler + 1000 SA + 2000 volunteers marched into Munich town centre to declare Hitler president of Germany
  • someone opened fire, they were met by state police
  • Rohm, Ludendorff and Streicher where arrested
• Munich Putsch 3: (11th November)

  • Hitler was found hiding at a friends house - arrested
• Consequences of the Munich Putsch:

  • Hitler was imprisoned and the Nazi party was banned
  • Hitler used his trial to publicise his views - he was released after only 9 months
  • He wrote 'Mein Kampf' in prison which became a best seller
  • Failure of this Putsch made Hitler rethink tactics (needed to gain support through elections)
  • Ban on Nazi party was lifted by 1925
• Dawes Plan:

  • In 1924, Charles Dawes (American banker) created a plan so Germany could pay its reparations
  • payments were reduced to £50 million a year + US banks loaned to German industries
• Young Plan:

  • An American banker, Owen Young, proposed a plan to reduce the total reparations from 6.6 reparations to 1.8 billion (must be payed by 1988)
• Wall Street Crash:

  • US became rich after WW1 (selling cars + fridges), so people bought shares in companies
  • People sold shares for less than they're worth (stock market crashes)
  • So, Americans couldn't afford to buy new goods = Germany loses customers
  • Germany has a huge rise in unemployment (6 million)
  • US request 8 million back (loaned from Dawes plan)
  • Germany pays 8 million = poverty
• Reichstag Fire:

  • 27th February 1933
  • Reichstag building burns down, Hitler seizes the opportunity to blame communists
  • Van der Lubbe and 4,000 communists were arrested
  • Hitler launches the 'Protection of the People' act (gives him power to imprison political opponents) + and the 'Restriction of Privacy Rights' (phone calls bugged, post read)
  • He persuaded Hindenburg to call an election in March 1933 to secure more Nazi seats
  • The Nazi party secured 2/3 of all seats by using 'Protection of the People' to prevent communists from taking up seats
• Night of the Long Knives:

  • Hitler wanted to get rid of the threat of Rohm and the SA
  • On 30th June 1934, Hitler invited Rohm and 100 SA to a 'meeting'
  • When they arrived they were arrested + shot by the SS
  • Von Papen (chancellor appointed by Hindenburg to deal with Hitler) was arrested and unable to watch what Hitler was up to
• Kristallnacht:

  (Night of the Broken Glass)

  • 8th November - Goebbels and Hitler attack Jewish homes and synagogues in Hanover
  • 9th November - They decide to increase the violence to a nationwide attack
  • 9/10th November - SS gangs destroy and burn Jewish homes, shops, businesses and synagogues
  • 100 Jews were killed
  • 814 shops, 171 homes and 191 synagogues destroyed + Jews were fined 1 billion marks to pay for damage