Germany 1890-1945: Democracy and Dictatorship

• The German Empire became the Weimar Republic after the disaster of World War One, as Germany embraced democracy. However, economic crisis led to Hitler's dictatorship, and ultimately to World War Two.
• Germany was a newly formed and growing nation in the period before 1914. It pursued expansionist policies, led by Bismarck and Kaiser Wilhelm, which contributed to the causes of the First World War.
• Defeat in 1918 led to the Kaiser's abdication, a republic and a new constitution. The new Germany faced huge problems up to 1924, not least those caused by its punishment in the Treaty of Versailles.
• Under Stresemann's leadership, from 1924 onwards Weimar's economy recovered, Germany regained international credibility and social change accelerated, until the disaster of 1929's Wall Street Crash.
• Hitler was appointed Chancellor in January 1933. His rise to power was the result of many factors: the impact of the Depression, the weaknesses of Weimar democracy and the strengths of the Nazi party.
• Nazi Germany was a totalitarian state, meaning all aspects of Germans' lives were controlled by the government. It was also one in which those deemed 'enemies of the state' were ruthlessly persecuted.
• War greatly affected Germans, who had to cope with rationing and bombing, leading to opposition to the war. Persecution of Jews ended in the Final Solution, before Germany was defeated and divided.
• Periods of German history covered

  • 1819-1918: German Empire or Imperial Germany
  • 1918-1933: Weimar Germany or Democratic Germany
  • 1933-1945: Nazi Germany or The Third Reich
• Kaiser Wilhelm II


  Reigned as Kaiser or emperor from 1888 to 1918
• Kaiser Wilhelm II


  • Dismissed the renowned chancellor Otto von Bismarck and consolidated his own power
  • Aimed to make Germany an important world power along the lines of France or Great Britain
  • Was impatient, reckless, intelligent, unstable and egotistical
• The German Empire between 1890 and 1918 was a large country composed of many constituent smaller states, with Prussia being the largest and most dominant
• Reichstag


  Lower house of parliament, elected by universal but only male suffrage
• Bundesrat


  Higher chamber, comprised representatives from each state
• Chancellor


  Head of government, similar to a prime minister, appointed personally by the Kaiser and responsible solely to that Kaiser
• The system, while theoretically democratic with two elected houses, actually gave extremely limited levels of democracy, with much of the power concentrated in the hands of the Kaiser
• Prior to 1880, Germany was a mostly agricultural economy, but from 1880 onward, the economy becomes gradually more industrialized
• Prominent industries in industrialized Germany

  • Coal
  • Steel
  • Chemicals
  • Electronics
• Throughout the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II there was an increased threat, as he considered it, of socialism
• Kaiser Wilhelm focused on opposing socialism and relied on his allies in the aristocracy, the Junkers, and the military to do this
• The Navy Laws


  1. Passed between 1889 and 1912

  2. Aimed at building up German naval strength mostly to oppose Great Britain
• Building warships is incredibly expensive

  Germany had only recently become an industrialized economy
• The Navy Laws


  Risked provoking Britain, at the time the world's greatest military power
• World War I ended with the Treaty of Versailles, which had several effects on Germany
• Effects of the Treaty of Versailles on Germany


  • Significant transfer of territory to other countries
  • Removal of German colonies
  • Maximum limit of 100,000 men on the German army
  • Significant naval and air disarmament
  • Huge war reparations to be paid to the victorious allies
• Germany was beset by problems in 1918, including a shattered, angry, disillusioned military, economic problems, social issues, and political problems
• Weimar Republic


  More democratic than the old German Empire, with an elected president, an elected Reichstag, and an elected chancellor
• The democratic system used in the Weimar Republic was proportional representation, which led to a huge number of small parties and inevitable coalitions, resulting in unstable governments
• From 1918 onwards, Allied troops occupied the Rhineland, there was huge hyperinflation up until 1923, and there was political turmoil with attacks from both the left and the right
• The Weimar Republic survived through the introduction of a new currency, the Rentenmark, stable presidential leadership under Friedrich Ebert, and a reduction in reparation payments through the Dawes plan
• The years between 1924 and 1929 are generally thought of to be the golden years of the Weimar Republic, under Chancellor Gustav Stresemann
• Attitudes in Germany to the Weimar Republic

  • The military and aristocracy were jealous of their old dominance and wished for a return to an absolute monarchy
  • Working people were suspicious of the new leaders and wished for more widespread change
  • The middle classes were suspicious of socialism and wished for a return to imperial stability
• Main ideals of Hitler and the Nazi Party

  • German nationalism
  • Aryan racial superiority
  • Disdain for liberalism and democracy
  • Wish for an authoritarian state
  • Wish for German expansion and lebensraum
  • Prominence of the military in society
• Nazi attitudes to the Weimar Republic were very clear - they were contemptuous of democracy and believed in the stab in the back myth
• Early tactics of the Nazi Party

  1. Used the SA (Brownshirts) to cause fear and intimidation

  2. Used propaganda to fuel hatred and disillusionment

  3. Used large and loud public and private rallies to spark debate and controversy
• The Nazi Party gradually began to appeal to many different sectors of German society, including the working classes, the military, and the middle classes
• Germany to lose the war. This belief was entirely incorrect but it was a useful myth for the Nazis to exploit
• There was a belief that the social democratic leadership of Germany was globalist and Jewish, two things that the Nazis hated above all else
• There was a belief that democracy and the Weimar Republic were weak, and would inevitably fail
• Early tactics of the Nazi Party

  1. Using the SA (Brownshirts) to cause fear and intimidation

  2. Using propaganda to fuel hatred and disillusionment

  3. Using large and loud public and private rallies to spark debate and controversy
• Groups the Nazi Party appealed to


  • Working classes
  • Military
  • Business
  • Aristocracy