topic 1 germany

• TOFV


  signed 28 june 1919
• germany lost TOFV


  rhineland

  army -100,000

  no navy or airforce

  forced to accept blame

  132 million marks in repayment

  upper silesia lost

  algace and lorraine lost

  eupen and melody lost
• stats TOFV


  lost 10% industry

  15% in agriculture

  6 million people lost

  demilitarised zones

  66 million in reperations
• creation of republic


  king abdicates

  prince max resigns from govt (1 month)

  spartacists wanted communist style revelution

  prince max extends vote to all men

  made ministers and army responsible to the govt not kaiser
• council of peoples representation

  led by socialist groups

  10 november 1918 - new govt formed
• SPD

  freidrich Ebert led
• USPD

  Hugo Hasse led it
• new govt

  ebert becomes chancellor

  unrest continues because of disruption from previous months

  forced to sign ebert groener pact with the army
• political assasinations


  1919-22 - 376 killed, 356 killed by RW extremists

  Hugo Haase shot outside the Reichstag

  Erzberger and Rathenau killed due to their involvement with the TofV
• ebert groener pact

  the army would support the govt if they supressed the LW elements of the reichstag
• new govt p2

  SDP and USDP cant agree

  ebert wants election

  hasse wants reforms - social econ and army

  11 nov - armistice is signed

  new parties form and gani votes to have a voice in reichstag
• reforms

  8 hour working week

  independent trade unions

  help ex soldiers find work

  unemployement benefits

  1919 jan elections

  usdp and sdp drift further apart

  many join KPD
• spartacist revolt

  KPD set up dec 1918 - com party

  freikorps wanted to destroy the red plague

  attacks against communists so voilent ebert moves govt from berlin to weimar

  lieberknecht and luxemburg captured beaten and murdered (2 leaders of the spartacist movement)
• Creation of the Weimar Constitution

  govt still in weimar for elections

  election was a success - 82.7% of electors voted

  SDP didnt get majorty as they had hoped

  had to form a coalition govt

  sdp coalitioned with centre party and the ddp
• main parties and what they wanted

  ddp dnvp sdp kpd centre party german democrats usdp
• DNVP


  created from old conservative party

  most RW

  monarchists and nationalist

  reluctantly accpeted the republic and didnt like social reforms

  supported by army

  members were wealthy landowners
• SDP


  headed by ebert

  didnt win majority

  largest party in reichstag

  believed in moderate social reforms

  working and middle class folliwing
• centre party

  traditional party - mainly catholic

  conservative veiws

  does believe in social reforms

  made up of many different social backgrouds

  heates communism - doesnt like LW policies
• germans people party DDP

  moderatly conservative - made up of old liberals

  supports the army

  made yp of welathy middle class and wanted conomy to rise

  dont belive in social reforms

  headed by stresseman
• KPD


  communist party

  set up 1919 - wanted workers revelution

  wanted t o abolish private ownership

  appealed to young poor and unemployed
• german democrats

  liberal

  educated

  middle class

  supporters of democracy
• USDP

  split from SDP - wanted radical system

  luxemburg and lieberknecht members before spartacist revolt
• structure of weimar


  president, chancellor cabinet reichsrat lander reichstag
• president


  elected every 7 years

  chosen as a person not a party

  article 48 - can suspend the constitution in state of emergency

  can dismiss reichstag and call new elections
• chancellor


  chooses minister that runs the country

  with ministers can put laws into reichstag

  needs majority in reichstag
• cabinet


  chosen by chancellor

  formulates laws to reichstag
• reichsrat


  members sent by 18 lander, one for every 70,000

  could veto a law passed by the reichstag unless has 2/3 majority
• lander (local govt)


  18 local regions each had local parliment to decide issues in the region

  federal laws always over ride the laws of the land if conflicted

  prussia no longer has speical status among the states
• reichstag


  elected by secret ballot of all electors every 4 years

  1 seat for every 60,000 votes

  proportional representation assings seats

  passes laws of country
• structure of consitution


  evert elected first president - 277 votes to 51

  govt still met in weimar

  form coalition govt

  can join with centre party and german democratic party

  7 feb - Ebert gave victrorious speech celebrating election

  constitution passed on 31 july 1919
• challenges


  60,000 votes for a seat meant it was too easy for small parties to gain seats

  29 different political parties

  impossible for one party to gain a majoirty in reichstag

  1919-23 there were 9 coalitions

  parties didnt work together in coalitions

  when coalitions broke down chancellor had to ask president to use article 48

  made govt look as if it was always in a emergency
• stab in the back myth

  Popularised by Hindenburg

  Up until the end of WW1 - Propaganda promised German victory

  Belief in Army that they would never surrender

  Myth relied in

  - Army was trustworthy

  - Nationalistic

  - Decisive and effective

  Politicans were devious and unpatriotic
• hindenburg


  popularised stab in the back myth

  president in 1925

  ex military leader

  anti democracy + RW/ conservative monarchists at heart

  wants germany to become great again - over turn TOFV

  ask kaiser for permission to take office

  reluctantly accpects weimar republic

  his presence added stability to the weimar
• stresseman and charles dawes


  added stability to weimar
• 1923


  weimar was on verge of collapse

  crisis was the start of a period of stability and success

  23-29 economy boomed and culutural life flourished

  dramtic turn about happened because of stresseman and dawes
• stresseman during boom


  reoganised the great coalition of moderate, pro democracy parties in the reichstag

  stresseman introduced reforms to help people such as job centres, unemployement pay and better housing

  under his advice the german reichsbank was reformed and the old money was called in and burned

  ended hyper inflation
• key dates of achievements

  1924 - dawes plan

  1924-25 french withdraw from the ruhr

  1926 - locarno treaty

  1926 - LOFN

  1926 - treaty of berlin

  1928 - kellog - briand pact

  1929 - young plan
• overcoming challenges


  stresseman held together colations - DVP, centre party , SPD and DDP

  they followed moderate policies

  economic recovery important

  co operation with foreign countries

  he formed good working relations with the leaders of the other parties such as Wilhelm Marx of the centre party

  social conditions improved

  voilence declined

  many people accepted the weimar republic
• 1929


  stresseman died

  economy decreased heavily

  USA recalled loans because of great depression
• other effects from 1929

  coalition failures - hindenburg dismissed chancellors who didnt get along

  SDP refused any more coaltions

  use of article 48 increased - 109 laws passed between 1930-32 only 29 passed by the reichstag

  3 chancellors - bruning - von papen- con schleicher