Weimar Germany 1918-1924

• Struggles at the end of WW1: A British naval blockade had led to severe food shortages. In 1918 293,000 Germans died from starvation and hypothermia.
• Struggles at the end of WW1: The blockade, combined with a war on two fronts, restricted Germany’s ability to trade, which was the basis of its pre-war economic growth. Its chemical industry virtually collapsed.
• Struggles at the end of WW1: German workers’ wages were falling despite the extra work they were doing to support the war. By 1918 German miners were earning only 60 per cent of their pre-war salaries.
• Struggles at the end of WW1: Germany’s currency, the Mark, was losing its value and inflation was rising rapidly. The government was running a huge budget deficit but was unable to raise taxes on the rich.
• The Kiel mutiny: In 1918 at the main German naval base in Kiel, German sailors mutinied instead of following orders to attack the British Royal Navy. The sailors’ mutiny sparked rebellions all over Germany and in a matter of days led to the collapse of the German government which forced Kaiser Wilhelm II, to abdicate.
• After the Kiel mutiny: Friedrich Ebert, leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) became Chancellor (the equivalent of Prime Minister in Britain) and took power over Germany.
• On 11 November 1918 World War One ended when an armisitice was agreed with the Allies (Britain, France and the USA) and Germany surrendered.
• The Weimar republic: In 1919 Ebert and a group of members elected to represent the German people, met to draw up a new constitution for Germany. They met in Weimar as Berlin was deemed too unsafe after the Spartacist uprising. The new constitution was agreed in and the first elections in what became known as the Weimar Republic took place in June 1920, electing Ebert as Germany’s new President.
• The economic impact of WW1:  In 1919 the new German government was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty blamed Germany for the war and punished it militarily, territorially and financially. This impacted enormously on the German economy and led to an economic crisis in 1923.
• The TOV: Blame - Germany was forced to accept the blame for starting the war under article 231 of the treaty, known as the War Guilt Clause.
• The TOV: Reparations - Germany was to be made to pay for the damage suffered by Britain and France during the war. In 1922 the amount to be paid was set at £6.6 billion.
• The TOV: Armed forces - it was allowed a maximum of 100,000 troops in the army, conscription was banned, no tanks were allowed, its navy was reduced to 15,000 people, it was allowed only 6 battleships and no submarines.
• The TOV: Territory - Germany lost land on all sides of its borders as well as its overseas colonies.
• Occupation of the Ruhr: Germany began to pay reparations in 1922, but after a payment was missed late, a chain of events was set off that led to French and Belgian occupation of the Ruhr Valley in Western Germany and hyperinflation.
• Occupation of the Ruhr: France and Belgium sent troops into Germany’s main industrial area, the Ruhr Valley. Their aim was to confiscate industrial goods as reparations payments.
• Occupation of the Ruhr: The German government ordered workers to follow a policy of passive resistance, refusing to work or co-operate with the foreign troops and in return the government continued to pay their wages.
• Hyperinflation: Throughout the French and Belgian occupation production fell drastically as German workers were encouraged to passively resist. This loss of productivity hurt the German economy hard as fewer goods were produced.
• Hyperinflation: The government had promised to pay the striking workers, despite not having any money. The government’s solution was to pay the workers by printing more paper currency. Money was being printed without any matching productive economic activity (e.g. gold). This led to people losing trust in the German paper currency; which meant its value decreased even more and prices for goods began to increase.
• Hyperinflation: Prices rose quickly, a loaf of bread costs 200,000 million marks in November 1923. At the height of the crisis the cost of a cup of coffee could double whilst queuing
• Hyperinflation: By Autumn 1923 it cost more to print a note than the note itself was actually worth.
• Hyperinflation benefiters: Borrowers, such as businessmen, landowners and those with mortgages, found they were able to pay back their loans easily with worthless money.
• Hyperinflation benefiters: Farmers coped well, since their products remained in demand and they received more money for them as prices spiralled.
• Hyperinflation losers: People on fixed incomes, like students, pensioners or the sick, found their incomes did not keep up with prices.
• Hyperinflation losers: People with savings and those who had lent money, for example to the government, were the most badly hit as their money became worthless.
• Strengths: Elections for parliament and the president took place every four years and all Germans over 20 could vote.
• Strengths: The Reichstag appointed the government and made all laws. Almost all political power was exercised by politicians in the Reichstag.
• Strengths: The bill of rights guaranteed every German citizen freedom of speech and religion, and equality under the law.
• Weaknesses: Each party got the same percentage of seats in parliament as the percentage of votes it received in an election. This meant there were lots of small parties in parliament making it difficult to pass laws and led to weak and often short-lived governments.
• Weaknesses: Article 48 This gave the president the power to act without parliament’s approval in an emergency. However, it did not clearly define what an 'emergency' was.
• Problems for the government: Many Germans hated the government for signing the armistice in 1918, calling them the November Criminals. The defeat in the war was a surprise to the German people, leading to a theory that the brave German army had been ‘stabbed in the back’ by the politicians.
• The Spartacists uprising: In 1919, 50,000 members of the post-World War One Communist Party, known as the Spartacists, rebelled in Berlin, led by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht.
• The Spartacists uprising: The government armed bands of ex-soldiers, known as the Freikorps, who defeated the Spartacist rebels. In the aftermath, communist workers' councils seized power all over Germany, and a Communist People's Government took power in Bavaria. By 1919 the Freikorps had crushed all of these uprisings.
• The Kapp Putsch: In crushing the communists the Freikorps had saved the government, but the terms of the Treaty of Versailles meant Germany’s army had to be significantly reduced and the Freikorps had to be disbanded. In 1920, as a reaction to this, the right-wing nationalist, Dr Wolfgang Kapp led a Freikorps takeover in Berlin. The regular army refused to attack the Freikorps; Kapp was only defeated when the workers of Berlin went on strike and refused to cooperate with him.
• Rebellions due to Hyper inflation: 1923 - A nationalist group called Black Reichswehr rebelled in September. Communists took over the governments of Saxony and Thuringia in October as well as the Rhineland and declared it independent in the same month.
• Rebellions due to Hyperinflation: 1923 - A newly formed fascist group called the Nazis attempted a putsch in Munich in November. This event brought Hitler to national prominence after he was jailed for nine months for his part in the attempted coup.