Early Weimar

• The SPD was the largest party, but it did not have an overall majority
• How badly damaged was Germany by WW1 Name three?

  • Cost of the war to Germany was around $38 billion & left them

  1.44 billion marks in debt!

  • Germany had already faced steady inflation for around 85 years (not hyperinflation though).

  • 1.7 million German men killed & 4.3 million wounded
• what were the two naval mutinies in November 1918?

  • 30th October - Naval mutiny at Wilhelmshaven
  • 3rd November - Naval mutiny at Kiel.
• What happens in both the Keil mutiny and the wilhelmsahaven mutiny?

  Wilhelmshaven

  • 200 200/300 sailors got off their ships and went into the town without permission, easily rounded up the same day. One ship the Markgraf started shouting about wanting peace & supporting President Wilson’s demands for democracy

  Kiel

  • 4000 sailors refused to return from ‘shore leave’ in the town because they felt that the upcoming offensive against the British navy was a suicide mission
• How democratic was the establishment of the Weimar Republic?

  Semi- democratic due to

  • president Wilsons 14 points which demanded a democratic Germany.
  • prince max statement to the press stating the abdication of the kaiser
  • Kiel mutiny allowed for the ebert groener pact which was somewhat democratic
• The weimar government was made up off?

  a President

  a Chancellor

  the Reichstag (Elected every 4 years by all Germans over 20yrs). Voted on how budgets could be used &

  new laws were suggested.

  the Reichsrat (provided advice to the Chancellor but could be overridden by the Reichstag).
• what is proportional representation?

  Proportional Representation - This led to proliferation of small parties in the Reichstag (parties gained a % of seats in line with % of votes they received). Frequent deadlock in the Reichstag meant it was impossible to pass new laws and led to re-elections being held (10 new coalitions required in only 4 years).
• how were laws passed?

  • A majority of Reichstag deputies had to agree in order to pass laws. As a result it was difficult to make reforms/pass new laws in emergencies (e.g. 1923 hyperinflation crisis).
• What is article 48 and how many times was it used by ebert?

  Emergency decree which gave the chancellor ability to pass laws without Reichstag, 136 times.
• What was the problem with the legal system?

  the judges in the legal system were to be independent under article 54. However, most judges remained from the second reich.

  This was problematic since they were anti-democratic they gave only very lenient sentences to right wing extremists compared to left wing ones.
• How many assassination attempts happened between 1919-1923?

  376 and 326 of these right wing murderers went unpunished
• who was in control of the army?

  Technically the President was the head of the army. HOWEVER, due to Ebert Groener Pact aristocrats remained in most positions of leadership in the army They held anti-democratic views.
• How did the ebert groener pact affect the impact of the army?

  The new Weimar Government relied on the army to defend them from uprisings, they didn’t always support them e.g. During February 1920 Kapp Putsch Hans von Seeckt expressed open support for the uprising and the army didn’t put down the uprising saying ‘troops don’t fire on troops’.
• Strengths of weimar Republic were?

  Constitution, democracy, freedom.

  • equal voting rights for all men and women aged over 20.
  • The President was elected by ordinary people every 7 years
  • the Reichstag was elected by ordinary people every 4 years.

  • This was a BIG change from The German Reich (under the Kaiser), there had been a Reichstag but ONLY MEN elected this and it could ONLY accept/reject new laws suggested by the Kaiser. The new Reichstag in the Weimar Republic could propose laws, agree how budgets should be spent and was elected by both MEN and WOMEN.
• Weaknesses of the republic?

  • Unstable Constitution:

  • Proportional Representation – this made it difficult for parties to gain a majority and meant governments

  had to rule through coalitions– 10 coalition

  governments 1919-23.

  • Article 48 – used 136 times by President Ebert. Shows it wasn’t democratic & suggests it wasn’t possible

  to pass new laws/deal with crises without emergency powers.

  • Army – Ebert-Groener Pact (10th November 1918) had agreed the army would support the new constitution so long as they didn’t have to replace the existing power structure in the army