friekorps sparticist

• The years of unrest in Germany from 1919-1923 were dominated by political, social and economic problems
• The German people were fuelled by criticism of Ebert's government and the Treaty of Versailles
• There was widespread discontent in Germany as the government denied they had lost the war and blamed the November Criminals and the Treaty of Versailles
• Targets of blame included communists and Jewish people
• The Treaty of Versailles made living conditions in Germany very difficult
• There were many extreme political groups and parties in Germany during this time
• The Extreme Left


  • Wanted a revolution
  • Led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg
  • Tried to seize important buildings and newspaper headquarters
  • Supported by 50,000 workers
• The right-wing Freikorps (ex-German soldiers) were used to stop the Spartacist rebellion, leading to over 100 workers being killed
• The use of violence by the Freikorps caused a split between the Social Democratic Party and the communists
• The Right


  • Rebelled against the Weimar government
  • Took part in the Kapp Putsch in March 1920 to create a new right-wing government
  • The Kapp Putsch failed as German workers refused to support it
• In 1922, some former Freikorps members assassinated the Jewish Foreign Minister Walter Rathenau
• In 1923, Germany could no longer pay the reparations set out in the Treaty of Versailles
• France and Belgium occupied the Ruhr in 1923, leading to a strike and hyperinflation in Germany
• Hyperinflation devastated the German economy and the middle classes were hit the hardest
• The Weimar Republic faced many challenges from both the extreme left and right wing political parties in the early 1920s
• The extreme political parties made it difficult for the moderate centre parties to govern effectively
• The Spartacist Revolt in 1919 was a left-wing uprising led by the German Communist Party and the Spartacist League
• The Freikorps, a force of demobilised right-wing soldiers, were used by the government to suppress the Spartacist Revolt
• The Kapp Putsch in 1920 was an attempted right-wing coup against the Weimar government
• Political violence and assassinations were common during this period, with both left and right-wing groups targeting their opponents
• The courts in Weimar Germany were biased in favour of right-wing parties, which was a problem for the stability of the republic