Germany

• World War I lasted

  1914-1918
• Fighting ended with the armistice

  November 11th 1918
• By the war's end, Germany was experiencing widespread unrest, which eventually resulted in a revolution
• The war was devastating for Germany

  • German people were suffering severe hardship
  • The Allies had set up naval blockades which prevented imports of food and essential goods, leading to starvation
  • Public opinion turned against Kaiser Wilhelm II, who ruled the German Empire like a king. Many Germans wanted a democracy and an end to the war-there was widespread unrest
• Social Unrest turned into Revolution

  1. Huge public protest held in Berlin, and members of the SPD (Social Democratic Party) called for the Kaiser's resignation

  2. Kaiser Wilhelm abdicated (resigned) on 9th November 1918

  3. Two different socialist parties-the Social Democratic Party and the Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD) declared a republic

  4. On November 10th, all the state leaders that had been appointed by the monarchy left their posts. New revolutionary state governments took over instead. The monarchy had been abolished and Germany had the chance to become a democracy
• The new republic was under pressure to sign the armistice. The government didn't think Germany could continue fighting-its people were starving and military morale was low
• The armistice wasn't supported by some right-wing Germans, who saw the truce as a betrayal. They believed Germany could still win the war
• The Socialists set up a Temporary Government

  1. After the abdication of the Kaiser, Germany was disorganised. Different political parties claimed control over different towns

  2. A temporary national government was established, consisting of the SPD and the USPD. It was called the Council of People's Representatives

  3. It controlled Germany until January 1919, when elections were held for a new Reichstag (parliament)
• Elections were held for a new Reichstag (parliament)

  January 1919
• Weimar Republic

  The first time Germany had ever been governed as a democracy. It was designed to give the German people a voice.
• Weimar Constitution

  • Reorganised the German system of government
  • President chooses the Chancellor and is head of the army, elected every 5 years
  • Reichstag is the new German parliament, members elected every 4 years using proportional representation
  • Reichsrat is the second (less powerful) house of parliament, consists of members from each local region
• The new constitution was designed to be as fair as possible. Even very small political parties were given seats in the Reichstag if they got 0.4% of the vote or above
• The constitution allowed women to vote for the first time, and lowered the voting age to 20-more Germans could vote and the German public had greater power
• Weaknesses of the Weimar Constitution

  • Proportional representation meant that even parties with a very small number of votes were guaranteed to get into the Reichstag, making it difficult to make decisions
  • When a decision couldn't be reached, the President could suspend the constitution and pass laws without the Reichstag's consent, undermining the new democracy
• The Treaty of Versailles was signed

  June 1919
• The Treaty of Versailles was very unpopular in Germany and many Germans resented the new government for accepting its terms
• Ebert signed the Treaty of Versailles
• After the armistice, a peace treaty called the Treaty of Versailles was imposed on Germany

  The terms of the treaty were mostly decided by the Allied leaders-David Lloyd George (Britain), Georges Clemenceau (France) and Woodrow Wilson (USA)
• The new German government wasn't invited to the peace conference in 1919 and had no say in the Versailles Treaty
• Ebert refused to sign the treaty at first, but in the end he had little choice-Germany was too weak to risk restarting the conflict
• In June 1919, Ebert accepted the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and signed it
• Article 231 of the treaty

  Said Germany had to take the blame for the war-the War-Guilt Clause
• The terms of the Versailles Treaty

  • Germany's armed forces were reduced to 100,000 men, they weren't allowed any armoured vehicles, aircraft or submarines, and could only have 6 warships
  • Germany was forced to pay £6600 million in reparations-payments for the damage caused by German forces in the war
  • Germany lost its empire, areas around the world that used to belong to Germany were now called mandates and put under the control of countries on the winning side of the war by the League of Nations
  • The German military was banned from the Rhineland-an area of Germany on its western border with France, leaving Germany open to attack from the west
• The Treaty of Versailles caused resentment towards the Weimar Republic
• Germans called the treaty a 'Diktat'

  (a treaty forced upon Germany)
• Many Germans blamed Ebert for accepting the terms of the Treaty of Versailles
• Some Germans believed the armistice was a mistake and that Germany could have won the war, and they felt 'stabbed in the back' dolchstoss by the Weimar politicians, who brought the Treaty of Versailles upon Germany unnecessarily
• The Treaty of Versailles played an important part in the failure of the Weimar Republic

  It harmed the Republic's popularity, and created economic and political unrest that hindered the government for years
• By 1919, thousands of Germans were poor and starving, and an influenza epidemic had killed thousands
• Many Germans denied they had lost the war and blamed the 'November Criminals' who had agreed to the armistice and the Treaty of Versailles
• Others who were blamed for losing the war included communists and Jews
• The government was seen as weak and ineffective-the Treaty of Versailles made living conditions worse
• In January 1919, communists led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg tried to take over Berlin

  1. They took control of important buildings like newspaper headquarters, and 50,000 workers went on strike in support of the left-wing revolution. This became known as the Spartacist Revolt

  2. Ebert asked for help from the right-wing freikorps (ex-German soldiers) to stop the rebellion. Over 100 workers were killed. The Freikorps' use of violence caused a split on the left between the Social Democratic Party and the communists
• In March 1920, some of the Freikorps themselves took part in the Kapp Putsch ('Putsch' means revolt)

  1. They wanted to create a new right-wing government

  2. The Freikorps marched into Berlin to overthrow the Weimar regime. But German workers opposed the putsch and staged a general strike. Berlin was paralysed and Kapp was forced to give up
• In 1922, some former Freikorps members assassinated Walter Rathenau-he'd been Foreign Minister and was Jewish
• By 1923, Germany could no longer meet the reparations payments set out by the Treaty of Versailles
• France and Belgium decided to take Germany's resources instead, so they occupied the Ruhr-the richest Industrial part of Germany

  1. This gave them access to Germany's iron and coal reserves

  2. The occupation led to fury in Germany, and caused a huge strike in the Ruhr
• Germany tried to solve her debt problem by printing more money, but this plunged the economy into hyperinflation
• In 1918, an egg cost of a Mark. By November 1923, it cost 50 million Marks
• The consequences of hyperinflation

  • Germany's currency became worthless, nobody wanted to trade with Germany so shortages of food and goods got worse, bank savings also became worthless, the hardest hit were the middle classes