Germany

• Prior to 1871, Germany was divided into 39 states. Each with their own leader, rules and customs
• Prussia


  The strongest of the German states
• Otto Von Bismarck


  The Chancellor of Prussia at the time, who believed heavily in militarism and unifying all of the German states together to create one country
• Many of the German states agreed that unification was a good thing, as it would get rid of the threat of invasion by the surrounding large countries; Russia and France
• Austria disagreed with unification as they worried that it would impact on their empire and result in them losing power in the area
• Prussia's wars for territory

  1. Franco-Prussian War against France in 1870-1871

  2. Successful in defeating France and taking Alsace-Lorraine

  3. Resulted in the unification of Germany
• Germany was now a united country with the Prussian Kaiser at its helm, with Otto Von Bismarck acting as Chancellor
• Kaiser Wilhelm II


  Became Kaiser in 1888 at the age of 29, grandson of Britain's Queen Victoria and cousin of Britain's future king, George V
• When Wilhelm became Kaiser, Britain was the world's most powerful country with the largest empire and dominating world trade
• Wilhelm's desires


  To make Germany as great as Britain, by building up Germany's industry through industrialisation
• By 1913, Germany was producing more iron and steel and as much coal as Britain, and German companies dominated Europe in industries such as electrical goods and chemicals
• Kaiser Wilhelm II


  • Very energetic with a strong, outgoing personality, could be charming and kind but also impatient and rude
  • Sacked ministers if they did not do what he wanted, including the much loved Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck in 1890
  • Spent most of his youth in the army and championed militarism as being the key to a successful country
• Weltpolitik (World policy)


  The Kaiser's foreign policy, believing that Germany should have their 'Place in the sun' competing and being recognised with the other world powers
• Kaiser Wilhelm II's naval policy

  1. Introduced Naval Laws in 1898, 1900, 1906, 1908, and 1912 to build up the size of the German Navy

  2. This resulted in Britain becoming worried and continuing to strengthen their own Navy, releasing the new battleship the Dreadnought in 1906

  3. Germany then released their own version of the Dreadnought and continued to build up their Navy in preparation for war
• The Kaiser also wanted to increase the size of Germany's army and introduced compulsory conscription in 1913
• The Kaiser hoped to use his strong army and navy to build up Germany's empire and establish them as a world power
• Powerful forces in Germany at the time

  • Landowners
  • Business and factory owners
  • Noble army officers
• Socialism


  The idea that power and wealth should be shared equally among the people
• Around one in three Germans voted for the Social Democratic Party (SPD) at this time
• There were some socialists who took a more extreme view: they wanted to rebel against the Kaiser's rule, start a revolution, take over the country, and allow cities and towns to be governed by councils of workers
• The rise in popularity of socialism is one of the major events in Germany at this time - and was potentially a major problem for the government
• People in Germany soon started to suffer during the war, when the British used their large navy to stop supply ships getting to Germany. As a result, there were terrible shortages of food, medicines and clothing
• In 1915, 500 women gathered in front of the German parliament buildings and said that they wanted their men back from the trenches
• A year later, 10,000 workers assembled in Berlin to shout,'Down with war, down with the government!' The police quickly moved in to make arrests and calm the situation
• By 1918, Germany was close to collapse. The German people were so short of food that they were surviving on turnips and bread, and a deadly flu epidemic was sweeping the country, killing thousands already weak from a poor diet
• General Ludendorff, a leading German army general and war hero, told German politicians that they could never win the war and advised the Kaiser that the British, French and Americans might treat Germany more fairly if the country became more democratic
• The Kaiser reluctantly allowed the main political parties to form a new government, and transferred some of his powers to the Reichstag. However, the changes came too late to satisfy the German people
• Mutiny and Revolution


  1. Sailors on German navy ships refused to follow orders to attack British ships

  2. News of the mutiny spread, with workers and soldiers joining the sailors and taking over towns

  3. Workers' and soldiers' councils were governing cities all over Germany

  4. The Kaiser abdicated and left Germany
• Friedrich Ebert, the leader of Germany's largest political party (the SPD), took the Kaiser's place as leader of Germany, on a temporary basis
• On 11 November 1918, Germany surrendered: the First World War was over
• The end of WWI left Germany in a very poor state: the blockade had led to a lack of food and supplies, people were starving, riots were breaking out, and the navy had mutinied against the Kaiser
• The Social Democrats, led by Friedrich Ebert, took on the job of running Germany and tried to improve people's lives by giving them better working conditions and freedom of speech
• Ebert and his government signed the armistice and withdrew Germany from WW1 in November 1918
• Weimar Constitution


  The new set of rules for Germany written by the Social Democrats after winning the January 1919 elections
• Key features of the Weimar Constitution

  • Everyone over the age of 20 could vote
  • People voted for MPs who would sit in the Reichstag
  • The Reichstag would suggest and vote on new laws
  • The Chancellor would be head of the Reichstag and voted for every 4 years
  • There would be a President who would choose the Chancellor and keep control of the army, voted for every 7 years
  • Germany would use Proportional Representation, where each political party would get a fair share of the seats in the Reichstag
• Strengths of the Weimar Constitution

  • Very fair, particularly the voting
  • Allowed lots of people to have their say
  • State governments would ensure local issues were addressed
  • Wouldn't allow one person to take over - the Chancellor and President balanced each other
  • A poor Chancellor or President would only be around for a limited time
• Weaknesses of the Weimar Constitution

  • Proportional Representation meant there were loads of different parties in the Reichstag - it was difficult to get them to agree on anything
  • Article 48 could be abused so that the President stopped listening to the Reichstag
  • State governments could pass laws that went against what the Reichstag wanted
• Not everybody was happy with Germany being a democratic country and they didn't like the way Weimar Germany was being run by Ebert
• The Spartacist Revolution January 1919


  1. The German communist party (the Spartacists) decided they wanted to take over Germany from Ebert

  2. They started a revolution attempt on 6th January, but it was not successful

  3. In a week, Ebert with the help of his Freikorps (ex-WWI soldiers paid to help the government keep order) had stopped the rebellion and killed many communists

  4. The Spartacist leaders, Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebnecht, were murdered
• Ebert had to rely on the Freikorps to keep order, which made him look weak to the public and was risky as the Freikorps could turn on him at any point