Germany

• Right wing uprisings like the Kapp & Munich Putsches were caused more by the TOV, Communist uprisings more by econ problems
• Kapp Putsch in 1920


  Refusal of some Freikorps to disband as ordered by the Weimar govt to comply with the clause in the Treaty of Versailles which limited the German army to 100,000 men
• Hitler's Munich Putsch in 1923


  Provoked by the French occupation of the Ruhr, which to the Nazis & other conservative nationalists showed the weakness of Ger caused by the Weimar politicians
• Hyperinflation & destruction of middle class savings

  Provoked by the TOV: the French invaded b/c Ger had stopped paying reparations & the Ger govt responded by declaring passive resistance & printing money to pay the workers, which caused hyperinflation
• Assassination of Rathenau in 1921


  Motivated by his "fulfilment policy of complying with the terms of the Treaty
• Assassination of Erzberger in 1922


  Caused not by the Treaty as such but b/c he was the leader of the German delegation which signed the armistice in 1918 which led to the Treaty & was therefore viewed by Ger nationalists as the leading "November criminal"
• The Communists staged an uprising every year 1919-23, including the setting up of soviet republics in Berlin & Munich in 1919 & a major revolt in the Ruhr in 1920
• The right wing uprisings, especially the Kapp Putsch, posed a bigger threat to the Republic than the Communist uprisings which were easily crushed by the Army & the Freikorps
• Ebert


  • Used the Army to crush the Communist uprisings 1918-23 & the Munich Putsch in 1923
  • Helped by his deal with General Gröner & the Freikorps
• Determination of the workers

  • Led to the general strike which saved the Republic from the Kapp Putsch
• SPD


  • Remained by far the most popular party in Germany until 1932
• Moderate parties like the Centre, DVP & DDP


  • Willingness to work together was crucial to enabling the Republic to survive
• The Communist threat to the Republic was more apparent than real, given their lack of charismatic leaders (following the deaths of Liebknecht & Luxemburg) & popular support (they never got more than 13% of the vote before 1930) plus the hostility of the Army & the Freikorps
• The conservative opponents of the Republic also lacked popular support (the DNVP never got more than 20% of the vote) & charismatic leaders, as the failure of the Kapp Putsch in 1920 showed
• The failure of the Munich Putsch showed that Hitler & the Nazis were not yet ready to seize power; they only got 2.6 % of the vote in 1928 & did not achieve an electoral breakthrough until 1930
• Stresemann's Policies


  1. Ended 4 years of political & economic crisis

  2. Restored the value of the currency & ended hyperinflation by introducing the new currency (Rentenmark) at the end of 1923

  3. Resolved the Ruhr Crisis by ending "passive resistance" & resuming the payment of reparations, which led to the French & Belgian withdrawal from the Ruhr in 1924

  4. The Dawes Plan in 1924 rescheduled Germany's reparations payments & provided US loans to help pay them & revive the German economy

  5. The Young Plan in 1929 reduced Germany's reparations payments & provided US loans to help pay them & revive the German economy. It also secured the departure of enemy troops from the Rhineland by 1930

  6. The Locarno Treaties in 1925 improved Germany's relations with the western powers & enabled her to join the League of Nations in 1926; this boosted trade with the West & encouraged US investment in Germany

  7. Appeased nationalist opinion by refusing to accept Germany's border with Poland & using League of Nations membership to speak up for the German speaking minorities in Poland & Czechoslovakia
• Stresemann


  • Served continuously as Foreign Minister 1923-9, ensuring continuity not just of foreign policy but to an extent domestic policy as well despite the frequent changes of Chancellor
  • Was the dominant personality in all the govts. he served in
• Germany enjoyed a strong economic recovery 1924-9: Industrial production trebled, real wages rose by 50% & only 1/10 as many days were lost through strikes as in 1921
• Support for democracy grew 1924-9 b/c of this: SPD support rose 1924-8 while Nazi & DNVD Support fell
• The USA & GB were determined to help Germany survive b/c it was in their own economic interests to do so: trade with Germany was crucial to their prosperity & they recognised that Europe as a whole could not prosper unless Germany did. They also understood that economic prosperity was key to stabilising the Republic against political extremism
• The Republic survived all attempts to overthrow it: the Army crushed the Communist uprisings in 1919, 1920, 1921 & 1923 & the Munich Putsch in 1923, while the Kapp Putsch in 1920 was brought down by a general strike, showing working class support for the Republic
• Ebert (right, President 1919-25) was genuinely committed to democracy & the election of Hindenburg (the former Field Marshall & commander of the Kaiser's army in WW1) as his successor in 1925 made it easier for conservatives to accept the Republic
• There was no serious political violence in Germany between 1923 & the early 1930s
• Politics stabilised 1924-8, with the SPD gaining votes while the DNVP & Nazis lost them; in 1928 only 2.6% of Germans voted Nazi
• The Weimar Constitution failed to provide stable govt. b/c so few Germans really believed in democracy
• The voting system (whereby voters voted for a party rather than individual candidates) meant that voters did not feel dose to politidans
• The conservative elite was fundamentally hostile to democracy, as shown by the Army's refusal to oppose the Kapp Putsch & the judges' leniency towards Hitler & Ludendorff in 1923. The same was true of big business, landowners & many teachers, clergy & joumalists
• The Republic was threatened by Communist uprisings in 1918-19 in both Berlin & Munich; there were later uprisings in 1920,1921 & 1923
• There was right wing violence too: the Kapp Putsch in 1920, the assassinations of Erzberger (1921) & Rathenau (1922) & the Munich Putsch in 1923
• Despite the political stabilisation of 1924-9, anti-democratic parties (the KPD on the left & the DNVP on the right) still enjoyed significant support. The liberal DDP's support steadily declined, leaving the SPD as the only major party totally committed to democracy
• Germany suffered almost continuously from high inflation & low living standards 1919-23, culminating in the hyperinflation of 1923. Even though the currency was restored at the end of 1923, people who had lost their savings didn't get them back so their bitterness against the Republic remained
• The failure to pay reparations led to the occupation of the Ruhr in 1923; the govt.'s decision to respond with "passive resistance" then caused hyperinflation
• The economic recovery 1923-9 was fragile, resulting in collapse following the Wall St Crash in 1929. As Stresemann admitted, "Germany is dancing on a volcano. If the short-term credits are called in, a large section of our economy would collapse"
• Even before 1929 there was a crisis in agriculture, rising unemployment & a balance of trade deficit
• Apart from some reduction & rescheduling of reparations payments none of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles was alleviated in the 1920s & all of it was blamed on the Republic through the myths of the "stab in the back" & the "November criminals"
• Stresemann's foreign policy successes did not restore national pride as Hitler's did later
• Reparations were not ended, the Rhineland was not evacuated until 1930 & Stresemann had both to accept the loss of Alsace-Lorraine to France & to promise not to use force against Poland. 6 million Germans voted to reject the Young Plan in the "Liberty Law" of 1929
• The Weimar Constitution failed to provide stable govt.: Weimar govts. were weak multi-party coalitions. The voting system (with closed party lists) meant that voters did not feel close to politicians
• Few Germans really believed in democracy; the conservative elite was particularly hostile & liberal DDP's support steadily declined, leaving the SPD as the only major party totally committed to democracy
• Nationalist resentment against the Treaty of Versailles ensured that Germans turned to Nazism rather than Communism when the Depression drove them to the political extremes. Stresemann's foreign policy successes did not restore national pride as Hitler's did later b/c they did not reverse most of the Treaty