History AS1, Germany 1919-1945

• The Weimar Constitution established a Federal system with a series of checks and balances
• Main features of the Weimar Constitution

  • Elected President
  • Reichstag (German Parliament)
  • Federal system with 17 state governments
  • Promotion and protection of basic rights
• The Treaty of Versailles dealt the fledgling Weimar Republic a hammer blow
• Main terms of the Treaty of Versailles

  • League of Nations
  • Reduction of German armed forces
  • 'War Guilt Clause'
  • Reparations Commission
  • Loss of territory and colonies
• The Treaty of Versailles was unpopular, not only with the Germans, but also with the people who had drawn it up
• The Weimar Republic encountered challenges from both the political left and right from the very outset
• Left wing threats to the Weimar Republic

  • Spartacist uprising
  • Bavarian Soviet Republic
  • Red Rising in the Ruhr
  • German October uprisings
• Right wing threats to the Weimar Republic

  • Kapp Putsch
  • Political assassinations
  • Munich Beer Hall Putsch
• The Ebert-Groener deal of November 1918 was a help or a hindrance to the new Weimar regime
• The Weimar Republic was doomed from the beginning
• By the autumn of 1923 hyper-inflation and the invasion of the Ruhr had damaged the Weimar government
• The decision to end the policy of passive resistance in the Ruhr infuriated nationalists
• Believing he had the support of the Bavarian state government and the local army, Hitler and his followers embarked upon the Munich Beer Hall Putsch in November 1923
• Sixteen Nazis were killed in the scuffles in Munich; Hitler was arrested and accused of treason
• In the subsequent trial, Hitler was sentenced to the lightest possible sentence of five years' imprisonment
• By November 1918 industrial and agricultural production had dramatically decreased
• National income was two-thirds of its pre-war levels
• Printing more money as well as borrowing also continued after the end of World War One
• The former policy caused massive inflation; for example in 1922 the German mark was worth 1% of its pre-war level
• The economic terms of the Treaty of Versailles together with the reparations sum fixed at £6,600 million exacerbated this dire situation
• The French invasion of the Ruhr followed in January 1923 when the Weimar government had signalled that they would be unable to keep up with reparations payments
• The occupying force included teams of French, Belgian and Italian engineers sent to supervise the running of the Ruhr's factories and mines
• Their aim was to seize resources in lieu of payments that were overdue
• Passive resistance and the subsequent policy of deficit financing proved to be a disaster for the economy
• Hyperinflation with a steep fall in the value of the mark and an extraordinary rise in prices left many Germans facing financial ruin
• Stresemann's appointment as Chancellor in August 1923 proved critical
• Passive resistance was withdrawn in September 1923 and the currency stabilised
• A new currency, the Rentenmark, was introduced in November 1923
• The Dawes Plan 1924 had reorganised the Reichsbank, reduced the reparations due and spread out the payments
• The Young Plan 1929 further revised the reparations total to 112,000 million marks and also fixed for the first time a time limit for repayment
• This period witnessed increased industrial production, wage increases, regulation of working hours and new welfare schemes, including a new unemployment insurance system in 1927
• Groups such as the Mittelstand and farmers continued to experience grim economic prospects
• Agricultural output stood at 74% of its pre-war level and agricultural debt discouraged farmers from investing in new machinery
• Germany's export market was also impacted by unfavourable worldwide trading conditions in the 1920s
• Reliance on overseas loans, chiefly from America, also signalled shortcomings in the economic recovery
• Shortly before his death in 1929 Gustav Stresemann acknowledged the superficial nature of the economic recovery, 'The German economy is doing well only on the surface. Germany is in fact dancing on a volcano.'
• In November 1923, Hitler felt that the time was right for revolution
• Believing he had the support of the Bavarian state government and the local army, Hitler and his followers embarked on a botched rebellion on 8 November, 1923 in a Munich Beerhall
• Sixteen Nazis were killed in the scuffles in Munich; Hitler was arrested and charged with treason
• In his subsequent trial, Hitler managed to use this platform to win further support, even from the Bavarian judiciary and served just nine months in Landsberg Castle