Weimar republic 1918-29

• AB 20 UHR.


  27.JUNI 1931
• Weimar Republic

  New German state formed in 1918-19 after the abdication of the Kaiser
• By November 1918, the First World War had been going on for four years
• The German army was still deadlocked against the armies of the Allies (including Britain, France and the United States)
• The Allies were gradually gaining the upper hand, but Germany was still undefeated on the battlefield
• Back at home, the German state was crumbling. Demonstrations, strikes, revolts and mutinies had broken out across the country
• Between November 1918 and July 1919, in a series of events known as the German revolution, the Kaiser abdicated and a new German state - the Weimar Republic was formed
• The new Weimar Republic was crippled from the start. It carried wounds inflicted by four years of warfare. It was resented by a large part of the German people. It was also governed under a flawed constitution
• The Weimar Republic had a difficult birth
• During the First World War, Germany had faced the combined might of the Allies, which included Britain, France, Russia, Italy and the USA
• Fighting had lasted four years, from 1914 to 1918
• Eleven million Germans fought in the war. Almost two million German troops died and over four million were wounded - so 55% of German troops became casualties
• The cost of the war meant that the German government's debts trebled between 1914 and 1918, from 50 billion marks to 150 billion marks
• The British Navy blockaded German ports, preventing German ships bringing food into the country. Over 750,000 Germans died because of food shortages during the First World War
• As a result of this suffering, Germany started to crumble from within before it was ever defeated on the battlefield
• In Berlin, the capital, it was clear that Kaiser Wilhelm (the German emperor) and his ministers had lost control of Germany
• In October 1918, some crews in the German navy mutinied - they refused to follow orders - in the ports of Kiel and Hamburg
• In many places, local people set up workers' and soldiers' councils to take over their cities
• From the papers of Jan Smuts, a South African politician who visited Germany in 1918: 'the mother-land of our civilization [Germany] lies in ruins, exhausted by the most terrible struggle in history, with its peoples broke, starving, despairing, from sheer nervous exhaustion, mechanically struggling forward along the paths of anarchy [disorder with no strong authority] and war'
• On 9 November 1918, the Kaiser was at the army headquarters in the town of Spa, 700 kilometres from the capital, Berlin
• The Kaiser's ministers told him that the only way to restore order in Germany was for him to abdicate, giving up his position as the emperor of Germany
• The Kaiser had lost the support of the German army. The officers at army headquarters refused to support him
• On 9 November, the Kaiser abdicated and, in the early hours of 10 November, went into exile in Holland
• On 9 November, Philipp Scheidemann, a leading member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), proclaimed to the crowds in Berlin that the Kaiser had gone and that there was a new German Republic
• Scheidemann's appeal from the balcony of the Reichstag on 9 November 1918: 'The Hohenzollerns [the German royal family] have abdicated. Take care not to allow anything to mar this proud day. Long live the German Republic'
• On 9 November, the Kaiser's chancellor (equivalent to a British prime minister), Max von Baden, handed over his office to Friedrich Ebert, the leader of the SPD
• On 10 November, Ebert made an agreement with General Groener for the army to work with the government to keep the communists out of power
• Also on 10 November, Ebert suspended the old Reichstag (parliament) and named six moderate politicians who would form the Council of People's Representatives
• By taking these steps, moderate politicians in the SPD were able to take control of Germany, preventing anarchy or a takeover by communist extremists
• Abdication


  A leader, like a king, queen or emperor, giving up their throne or position
• Communist


  Communism is an extreme form of government, in which representatives of the workers set up a government and take over ownership of all land, property and resources in a country. It was associated with Germany's enemy, Russia
• Constitution


  The rules which set out how a country is run
• On 11 November, Ebert's representative, Matthias Erzberger, signed the armistice. This was the formal agreement between Germany and the Allies to end the First World War
• The terms of the peace, the Treaty of Versailles, were to become a permanent burden to the new Republic
• Civil servant


  Somebody who works for the government in some way
• Trade unions


  Groups of workers formed to protect the rights and interests of workers in various occupations
• Ebert arranged for the civil servants who had helped run Germany under the Kaiser to stay in office. He reassured General Groener that the army would not be reformed. He also reassured leaders of industry that the new Republic would not confiscate land or factories and that there would be no nationalisation of private industries. Finally, Ebert won the support of the trade unions
• Despite Ebert's efforts, some extreme political parties were still dissatisfied. Demonstrations, and even riots, were common in the major cities. Germany was still on the edge of anarchy
• Ebert had achieved a fragile control, which lasted long enough to agree a new constitution for the new republic
• Electorate


  People who are allowed to vote in an election