weimar

• The Weimar government faced many uprisings, mainly by the communists, who were trying to overthrow the Weimar government and impose their own political party
• Germany had to pay large sums of money to the Allies as war reparations, leaving many people with no money for essentials
• Many soldiers and the public believed that the German army was winning World War I, and that the government's surrender was a "stab in the back"
• Hyperinflation


  When the value of money becomes almost worthless, so a loaf of bread could cost 400 pounds instead of 1 pound
• Kaiser


  A king or president-like figure who led Germany
• Weimar government


  The government that led Germany after World War I, which was widely unpopular
• Reparations


  Payments made to help pay for the damages caused by war
• The German army lacked the mechanized warfare that the British and Americans had, relying more on horses and horsepower
• Structures of the German government

  • President
  • Chancellor
  • Reichstag
  • People
• The Weimar government was disliked by many Germans due to their lack of popularity and failure to solve problems faced by the civilian population
• The Weimar government became dependent on the Freikorps (free army) to fight off revolutions, showing their own lack of power
• The war reparations Germany had to pay were extremely high at 6,600 million pounds, leaving little spare money for the country
• The Wall Street Crash of 1929 had a huge global impact, plunging Germany into a severe economic depression known as the Great Depression
• The German economy had become heavily reliant on loans from America, which were quickly recalled when the US economy began to spiral
• The Great Depression eroded support for the Weimar Republic, with the government blamed for the political crisis and unable to agree on a policy to tackle the depression
• The political instability caused by the Great Depression presented extreme political parties like the Communists and Nazis with an opportunity to appeal to the German population
• Unemployment rose from 1.3 million in 1929 to over 6 million by 1933, with the working class hit the hardest by the Great Depression
• The Weimar government's attempts to resolve the crisis through reducing social services and salaries were unattractive to German citizens, who wanted a government that could provide economic security and jobs
• The photo shows Nazi leaders like Hitler, Ludendorff, and Röhm on trial in 1923 for trying to overthrow the Weimar government
• Key terms, people, and events on the timeline

  • Ernst Röhm
  • Hyperinflation
  • Kapp Putsch
  • Reichstag fire
  • Mein Kampf
  • Wall Street Crash