Germany

• Frederick William Victor Albert

  Later known as Kaiser Wilhelm II
• Kaiser Wilhelm II was born in Berlin in 1859 to Princess Victoria and German Emperor Frederick III
• Wilhelm II had a traumatic birth and was unfortunately born with a disability that made his left arm smaller and essentially useless
• Wilhelm blamed his disability on his mother


  This is where Wilhelm's hatred for the British started, which grew even stronger due to a British physician that practiced electrotherapy and other absurd procedures on the future Kaiser
• Kaiser Wilhelm II


  • He was known to be intelligent but had a quick temper and a very strong personality
  • This later caused problems in his Reign
• The Kaiser publicly offended the British by saying "you English are not M marches"
• Wilhelm II


  He didn't align much with the British ideals of democracy and liberalism but much rather preferred the German standards of nationalism and traditionalism
• Wilhelm wanted a stronger Germany to compete with his cousins Tsar Nicholas II and George V
• Constitution of the new German Empire


  • It made the Kaiser the most powerful figure in Germany
  • He was in absolute control of the army, foreign policy and was able to appoint the chancellor who ran the government and was able to propose new legislation
  • The Bundisrat (representatives from each German State) could be overruled by the Kaiser
  • The Reichstag (elected every 3 or 5 years) could pass or reject legislation handed down by the Bundisrat
• Germany had an economic boom from 1890 to 1924 and by the start of the 20th century Germany was mainland Europe's most powerful Nation
• Iron and coal production in Germany doubled and Germany now produced 2/3 of Europe's steel
• This rapid industrialization led to an increase in the working class and poor working conditions, which made the people want change
• This led to a rise in socialism and in particular the rise of the Social Democratic party of Germany (SPD)
• By 1914, 3.3 million people were involved with trade unions in Germany
• The rise of the SPD was a big threat to the Kaiser and his power

  The possibility of a socialist Revolution
• The government didn't pass in a reform which made it even worse as people got angrier and supported more radical political parties
• The Kaiser's response


  War
• The Kaiser's plan to distract the people

  1. Passing a series of laws to encourage nationalism and Military Pride

  2. Passing the Navy law in 1898 to build and improve Germany's naval fleet to compete with Britain's Royal Navy

  3. The main goal of the Navy laws was propaganda to increase patriotism and decrease the popularity of radical parties such as the SPD
• The Navy laws were effective and Germany increased its number of battleships to 19 by 1903
• This caught the eye of the British who answered by designing the powerful HMS Dreadnought
• This started an arms race as Germany answered by ordering the construction of Dreadnoughts
• By 1914, Germany had only produced 17 Dreadnoughts and Britain 29
• The naval arms race

  It worsened Anglo-German relations and possibly led to World War I
• By 1918, Germany was desperate due to a British Naval blockade, food, medicine and clothing shortages, and the Spanish flu pandemic killing an estimated quarter of a million Germans
• General Ludendorff advised the Kaiser to create a new civilian government as he believed that Germany could possibly be treated more fairly if it became more democratic
• The Kaiser listened and tried to create a parliamentary monarchy led by Prince Max based on SPD support, but this failed as it was not Democratic enough
• On October 31st 1918, the Kiel Mutiny occurred as Sailors refused to go on a suicidal attack against British ships, and many other soldiers and civilians joined this Mutiny and refused to continue the war any further
• By late 1918, the Kaiser lost hope and control of the army as mass strikes and riots continued
• On November 9th, the Kaiser abdicated and escaped to the Netherlands never to return to Germany again
• On November 11th 1918, Armistice was finally signed, marking the end of the war
• In January 1919, the victors met in Versailles to discuss what to do with Germany and its people, but Germany was not invited
• What Germany lost in the Treaty of Versailles

  • Alsace-Lorraine was allocated to the French
  • North Schleswig was lost to the Danish
  • Eupen-Malmédy was given back to the Belgians
  • Memel was lost to Lithuania
  • A Polish Corridor was created to separate East Prussia from the rest of Germany
  • The industrial Heartland of the German Empire, the Saar coalfields and the port city of Danzig became a free city under the control of the League of Nations, to which Germany was not invited
  • Germany also lost 75% of its iron ore, 68% of its zinc ore and 26% of its coal
  • Germany had to pay back War reparations which added up to 6.6 billion pounds
  • Army restrictions were set on Germany that prevented it from owning any tanks, Air Force or submarines and limited its number of battleships to six
  • The German Army was limited to a total of 100,000 men
  • Clause 231 forced Germany to accept the blame for starting and prolonging the war
• The first thing the SPD-led government did after gaining control in the 1919 elections was set up a new Constitution
• The Weimar Constitution


  • At the bottom there's the people, everyone who was over 20 could vote
  • The people elected the Reichstag whose deputies were elected based on proportional representation
  • Over the Reichstag were the Chancellor and his ministers who proposed laws to the Reichstag
  • The Chancellor is appointed by the President who was elected every seven years by the people
  • The President also commanded the Army and could dissolve the Reichstag and arrange new elections
  • The President also possessed a new power named article 48 which in case of an emergency gave the president full dictatorship-like Powers
• The advantages of the Weimar Constitution were that it had fair and equal representation for everyone over 20 years old, and there was a balance of power and a constant rotation of leaders
• The disadvantages were that proportional representation led to too many parties that struggled to agree and cooperate, it allowed extremist parties that didn't believe in democracy to have a say, and article 48 gave too much power to the president in case of an emergency
• The Treaty of Versailles left Germany crippling depth and took away its money-making industry, meaning Germany owed a lot of money and didn't have any way of paying it back
• By 1922, all the money produced by the German government was being paid straight back to the Allies
• In 1923, the French occupied the Ruhr with an army of 60,000 men, which was a catastrophe for Germany as it lacked a sufficient Army and the Ruhr produced 85% of its coal
• The German government, running even more desperate and even more in debt, decided to print more money to pay back its reparations quicker, causing hyperinflation which lowered the value of the mark tremendously