Weimar Republic

• Kaiser Wilhelm abdicated (resigned) on 9th November 1918 and two days after a ceasefire ended WW1. He quit for political, social and military reasons.

  Political reason- American president wouldn't discuss peace if he was still in charge and people were not listening to him

  Social reason- People weren't happy with him because they were starving

  Military reasons- Soldiers stopped doing what they were told
• 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.
• After the abdication of the Kaiser, Germany was disorganised. Different political parties claimed control over different towns. A temporary national government was established consisting of the SPD and the UPSD. It was called the Council of People's Representatives. It controlled Germany until January 1919 when elections were held for a new Reichstag
• The Council of People's Representatives organised elections in January 1919 to create a new parliament. Germany was now a democracy- the people would get a say in how the country was run). Friedrich Ebert became the first president with Philip Scheidemann as Chancellor. Ebert was the leader of the SPD, a socialist party. In February 1919, the members of the new Reichstag met at Weimar to create a new constitution for Germany. This is period is called the Weimar Republic.
• President- was elected every seven years, chooses the chancellor and head of the army, can dissolve the Reichstag, call new elections and suspend the constitution. The president was elected by the German people and so were the parties in the Reichstag. The president had the most power but the chancellor was in charge of the day-to-day running of the government

  Chancellor- leader of the Reichstag, basically in charge, elected by the president

  Deputies of the Reichstag- members are elected every four years using proportional representation, make laws with support from the chancellor
• Proportional representation- system where each party gets the same proportion (percentage) of deputies (seats in the Reichstag) as the party received votes in the election

  Coalition government- is when more than one political group/party runs the country
• The problem with proportional representation was no party could win a majority vote so there were lots of disagreements. These disagreements caused a lack of stability so no one got what they wanted. There was fifteen coalition governments in fifteen years which is lots of governments as they changed every year. All the coalition government failed due to weak leadership.
• Article 2: The Reichstag shall make all of the laws in Germany. There will be 423 deputies in the Reichstag

  Article 22: All men and women may vote, if they're over 20 years old

  Article 23: Every four years there will be an election. This will decided who the deputies are in the Reichstag. The number of deputies for each party will be decided by proportional representation
• Article 41: Every seven years there will be an election to decide who is president

  Article 48: The president may make laws without the Reichstag, but only if there was an emergency

  Article 54: The Chancellor will be selected by the president. The chancellor will be the head of the Weimar Government. In order to have this role they must have support from at least 50% of the Reichstag
• Kaiser abdicating

  Political reasons- Germany's politicians don't trust him anymore because they think he has let the country down, politicians are not listening to the Kaiser anymore, American president won't discuss peace if the Kaiser was in charge, some local political figures wanted an end to the war but the Kaiser couldn't give them that

  Social reasons- German people angry at all the shortages, people are starving in Germany, Kaiser lied to the people he told them they were winning the war but they weren't, he is responsible for what is happening as he has run Germany for four years
• Kaiser abdicating

  Military reasons- army is being driven back by the British and French, navy is mutinying (sailors are refusing to obey order from their commanders), some ordinary soldiers are angry about the war, Kaiser started the war he was very aggressive and dreamed of great military victories
• Advantages of Weimar Republic

  All Germans had an equal right to vote which made the system fair

  Proportional representation means that each party gets their fair share of seats in the Reichstag

  The two largest and strongest parties in the Weimar Republic support the Weimar Republic

  The majority of German people were happy with the idea of the Weimar Republic

  The Kaiser ran away so there was no real alternative to the Weimar Republic. The Kaiser supports will have to accept that fact.
• Disadvantages of Weimar Republic

  The Weimar Republic is going to be run by coalition governments. They were unreliable and did not last long

  The Weimar Republic is going to have to sign a deal to end WW1 called the Treaty of Versailles. Most of Germany's main political parties hated the Treaty of Versailles

  Three of Germany's major political groups (Nazis, Communist and DNVP) hated the Weimar Republic
• Disadvantages of Weimar Republic

  Held responsible for losing the war. Many people think that the Weimar Republic let Germany down during WW1. Weimar politicians called the November Criminals

  A lot of very unhappy people in Germany. Violence in the streets. People both left wing (communist) and right wing (Freikorps) hate the Weimar Republic

  Powerful groups like the army and judges wanted the Kaiser back

  The chancellor could not be sure how long he would last as chancellor because coalitions fell apart so often this created instability
• KPD (Communists)

  Far left party

  Create a communist Germany. Everyone will be equal (rich and poor)

  Supported by ordinary (poor) workers who wanted extreme solutions

  In 1919 they were known as the Spartacist

  0% of votes in 1919. Wanted to overthrow Weimar Republic by force

  Leaders were Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg until January 1919

  Murdered in January 1919 by the Freikorps (far right soldiers)
• SPD (Socialists)

  Left wing party

  Create a fairer German. Better rights for ordinary German workers

  Supported by working class Germans (ordinary, poorer workers, often working in German factories in the cities)

  Reluctantly supported the Treaty of Versailles

  38% of the votes in 1919

  Leader Friedrich Ebert

  Chancellor of Germany from November 1918 to January 1919

  President of Germany from January 1919 to 1925
• DDP (Democrats)

  Left wing parties

  Create a fairer Germany

  Supported by middle class Germans (e.g. doctors, lawyers, teachers)

  Opposed the Treaty of Versailles

  18% of the votes in 1919

  Leader Friedrich Naumann

  Was a protestant like most of DDP supporters

  Died in 24th August 1919
• Zentrum (centre)

  Centre party

  Create a safe, stable Germany

  Protect the interests of Catholics in Germany

  Supported by middle class Germans (e.g. doctors, lawyers, teachers) but particularly Catholics

  Reluctantly supported the Treaty of Versailles

  20% of the votes in 1919

  Leader Matthias Erzberger

  Murdered in 1921 by a right wing terrorist group (Freikorps)
• DVP (German People's Party)

  Right wing party Create a safe, stable Germany

  Promote trade and economic development

  Supported by lower middle class Germans (e.g. small business owners)

  Preferred a return to the days of the Kaiser

  Opposed the Treaty of Versailles

  4% of the votes in 1919

  Leader Gustav Stresemann

  Chancellor during the crisis of 1923

  Foreign Minister during 1923-1929

  Died in 3rd October 1929
• DNVP (Nationalist Party)

  Right wing party

  Nationalist, anti-Semitic (anti-Jewish)

  Supported by upper middle class and upper class Germans (e.g. landowner industrialists)

  Preferred a return to the days of the Kaiser

  Opposed the Treaty of Versailles

  10% of the votes in 1919

  Leader Alfred Hugenburg

  Leader of the DNVP after 1928

  Owned several newspapers
• NSDAP (Nazi Party)

  Far right party

  Racist, anti-Semitic (anti-Jewish)

  Supported by all sorts of Germans for many different reasons

  Opposed the Treaty of Versailles

  0% of votes in 1919 not set up until 1920

  Leader Adolf Hitler

  Joined the Nazi Party in 1920. Became its leader in 1921

  Chancellor from 1933
• Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28th 1919

  At first Germany refused to sign it but they had little choice and were forced because Germany was too weak to risk restarting the conflict

  It was very unpopular in Germany and many resented the new government for accepting its terms
• Territorial- Germany lost land. Germany lost both her empire (overseas colonies) and a lot of land on her borders. Parts of west Germany (the Rhineland) were demilitarised so this left Germany open to attack from the west. Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France. Saar was to be administered by the League of Nations. Had to give up 70,000 square kilometres of land
• Reparations- Germany was forced to pay money to the allies, especially the French and the Belgians. Had to pay £6.6 billion in reparations for the damage caused in the war. The heavy reparations seemed unfair to Germans and would cause lasting damage to Germany's economy.
• Armed forces- Germany was not allowed to keep her military forces. Her army, navy and air force would all be reduced in size. Germany's army was reduced to 100,000 men and could not exceed that. They weren't allowed any armoured vehicles, aircrafts or submarines. Could only have six warships. This made Germany feel vulnerable.
• War guilt- Germany was forced to accept that they started the war. Now that Germany was admitting blame, this made it easier to justify the reparations. Germans resented this, because they believed that they were defending themselves in WW1. Article 231 of the treaty said Germany had to take the blame for the war- the war guilt clause
• League of nations- Germany could not join the League of Nations. The League of Nations was a peacekeeping organisation set up in 1919. It aimed to sort out arguments between rival countries.
• November criminals- German politicians who negotiated Armistice (the ceasefire on 11th November 1918) and the Treaty of Versailles. They failed to get a good deal and let Germany down.
• Dikat referred to the Treaty of Versailles. It was said the Treaty of Versailles was a 'dictated peace'. Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles and did not get a fair chance to have a say
• The 'stab in the back' theory was the idea that the Jews working with the communist and the Weimar politicians caused Germany's defeat in WW1. The theory is that the combination of all three stabbed the German army in the back by signing the armistice (peace treaty) in November 1918, which then lead to the Treaty of Versailles in June 1919. This made the German people angry and ashamed to be German as they felt betrayed and let down by their country and government.
• Putsch is a German word meaning 'revolution' or 'rebellion'
• The Kapp Putsch was lead by a man called Wolfgang Kapp. Freikorps (right wing ex soldiers) were his main supporters. He was a nationalist (right wing) and a politician.
• • The regular army refused to attack the Freikorps; Kapp was only defeated when the workers of Berlin went on strike and refused to cooperate with him.
• The Kapp Putsch happened because of the unhappiness created by the Treaty of Versailles. Soldiers and many others were confused why they had to surrender because they were told they were winning. They decided to blame the communist, Jews and Weimar Republic. Soldiers felt betrayed by the Weimar Government because they signed the Treaty of Versailles and the people thought they were giving up. Wolfgang Kapp and the Freikorps were unhappy about the army being reduced to 100,000 men and they believed the 'stab in the back theory'.
• Kapp Putsch happened between 13th-17th March 1920

  1. Wolfgang Kapp and hundreds of Freikorps marched into Berlin to overthrow the Weimar regime and create a new right wing government. Also, to say they would not stop being soldiers
  2. President Ebert asked the army for help but Von Seeckt (head of the army) refused to do it.
  3. President Ebert asked the workers of Berlin to help. Workers started a 'general strike' (everyone refused to work). This lead to all the electricity going off and no trains running
  4. The putsch ended up failing and Wolfgang Kapp ran away
• Communism is a set of political ideas. Communism says that

  All property (e.g. land, factories, companies and houses) will be handed over to the government

  Everyone will work for the government

  Everyone will be given enough food, housing, good and services by the Government.

  Everyone is equal

  No religion
• The people who will lose out in a communist system are the upper class because they will lose money as everyone has to have the same amount also middle class would lose money as well
• The Spartacists were a group of German Communists. They disliked the Weimar Republic even though it had only been around for a couple of weeks. In January 1919, they started the Spartacist uprising. They were inspired by the Russian Revolution which had succeeded in 1917. The idea was to make Germany into a communist country. The leaders of the Spartacists Uprising were Karl Liebkneckt and Rosa Luxemburg. They were not actually very strong. They were a small minority group.
• On 5 January 1919, the Spartacists attacked. The first thing they did was take over the offices of the newspapers. They called for all the workers to go on strike, in protest against the Weimar Government. 50,000 workers went on strike in support of the left-wing revolution this became known as the Spartacists Revolt.
• Ebert asked for help from the right wing Freikorps( ex German soldiers) to stop the rebellion.

  Spartacists uprising failed. It only lasted three days. Over 100 people were killed, mostly Spartacists. Both Karl Liebkneckt and Rosa Luxemburg were killed

  It was a failure because the Spartacists were not trained soldiers and the Weimar Government used a special group of right wing soldiers called the Freikorps to attack Spartacists. The Freikorps were trained soldiers, with better weapons and greater numbers. They were also violent