The Weimar Republic (1918-29)

• 11 million Germans fought in the war. 2 million troops were killed & 4 million were wounded (55% casualties).
• World War I lasted from 1914-1918.
• Towards the end of the war, Germans experienced severe hardship. The Allies set up naval blockades to prevent food and supplies reaching Germany. Over 750,000 Germans died of starvation.
• Public opinion turned against Kaiser Wilhelm II. Many Germans wanted a democracy, and an end to the war.
• Early November 1918 - German navy rebelled and refused to board their ships (mutinied). This put more pressure on the Kaiser to abdicate.
• There was unrest due to mass protests and strikes in major towns such as Munich. It seemed that the Kaiser had lost control.
• November 1918 - The situation in Germany verged on civil war. A huge public protest was held in Berlin and members of the SPD (Social Democratic Party) called for the Kaiser to resign. The government had pressured Kaiser to abdicate.
• Kaiser Wilhelm abidicated on the 9th of November 1918 and fled to the Netherlands.
• When the Kaiser abdicated, two different socialist parties SPD and USPD (Independent Socialist Party) declared a republic.
• On Novemeber 10th 1918, all state leaders apppointed by the monarch left their posts. New state goverments took over instead . The monarchy was abolised and there was now place for a democracy.
• It was decided that Friedrich Ebert, the leader of the SPD, should be put in charge of the new republic. He agreed to take care of Germany until a new constitution could be agreed. The threat of extremist groups taking over Germany decreased.
• Between 11th November 1918 and July 1918, the Weimar Republic was created. It was named after the town it was created in. Ebert knew he would have to ensure Germany stayed peaceful and re-gain the confidence of the people after signing the armistice. Things were different under Ebert's democratic control.
• On the 11th of Novemeber 1918, the armistice was signed. This was an official agreement between Germany and the Allies to end the First World War. The government felt pressured to sign it as supplies and morale was low. Most Germans were angered at the signing of the armistice.
• How did Ebert create peace?

  • Keeping the Kaiser's old officials (they had experience and supporters of the Kaiser remained happy).
  • Keeping the leader of the army, General Groener (they would support the government and help take control of Germany).
  • Promised the owners of big industries (coal, iron, steel) that the government would not interfere with their work and they would protect them from communist takeovers.
  • Promised trade unions that he would try to achieve a 8 hour working day to improve living and working conditions.
• Elections were organised in January 1919 so people could have a say in the new constitution (set of rules on how a government should run). It was a success with 82% of Germans voting. Ebert's SPD won 40% of the vote. In February 1919, members of the new reichstag met at Weimar to create the new constitution. By July 1919, Germany had a new constitution.
• What was the structure of the Weimar Constitution?

  President:

  • Elected every 7 years
  • Picked the chancellor
  • Control of armed forces
  • Article 48 - could make laws without the government

  Chancellor:

  • Head of government
  • Could pick all goverment ministers
  • Led the running of Germany

  German parliament (Reichstag):

  • Elected every 4 years by proportional representation (where the proportion of seats a party wins is the same proportion of votes they get)
• Phillip Schediemann was Ebert's chancellor.
• Strengths of the Weimar Constitution:


  Strengths:

  • Germany was now a democracy
  • The voting age was now 21
  • Women were also allowed to vote
  • The president and chancellor didn't have too much power as they needed to be voted in by the public.
  • Proportional representation meant smaller parties had a say.
  • Laws could be passed if voted by the Reichstag.
  • Local governments (landers) had a say on how their regions were run
• Weaknesses of the Weimar Constitution:

  Weaknesses:

  • Proportional representation meant no single party could form a government. They had to form coalition governments, which struggled to make decisions and failed. This led to more elections.
  • Coalition governments looked weak due to arguments.
  • Often too many governments for a clear winner in elections.
  • No strong party to make quick decisions in an emergency.
  • President regularly had to step in and use Article 48 to pass a law.
  • Germans saw the problems and started to think one strong leader was better.
• The Treaty of Versailles was signed on the 28th June 1919. It was a set of terms that Germany were to agree to as a punishment for their involvement in the war. These terms were discussed and agreed by the Allies - and Germany had no say in the terms. Ebert had no choice but to accept the terms and sign it.
• What were the terms of the ToV?

  • LAND: Parts of Germany were given to France, Belgium and Poland - Germany lost 10% of its population. Germany lost it's 11 colonies - this was shared by the Allies.
  • ARMY: Limited to only 100,000 men - they were not allowed any weapons. The navy was only allowed 6 battleships - other boats were destroyed. Air forces aren't allowed - all planes destroyed. The Rhineland was de-militarised (no army allowed).
• What were the terms of the ToV?

  • MONEY: £6.6 billion in reparations was to be paid to the Allies as compensation for the damage caused by WWI. Germany lost 50% iron reserves and 15% coal mines. Coal mines in the Saar was given to France.
  • BLAME: Article 231 (War-Guilt Clause) - forced to admit blame & guilt for starting WWI. This meant they had to accept any punishments or risk facing worse ones. These terms were dictated and many Germans called it a Diktat (dictated peace).
• Why was the ToV unpopular?

  • Taking full responsibility was unfair as Germany was only partially involved.
  • The government did not stand up for themselves and acted weak.
  • German people would have to suffer from a poor economy for years.
  • Many ex-soldiers from WWI would be unemployed.
  • Germany would be weakened as it would have no ability to defend itself.
  • The industry would struggle to produce goods.
  • German-speaking people had to live in "other" countries.
  • Dented the pride Germans had in their countries empire.
• Germans thought that they hadn't actually been defeated in war, and only the politicians had admitted defeat. They believed they had been stabbed in the back by the government. This was called the Dolchstoss theory (stab-in-the-back theory). They called the German politicians the "November Criminals".
• The terms of the ToV led Germans to feel defeated, humiliated and weak. They felt betrayed by their new Weimar government, causing great anger, fury and resentment towards the politicians who had signed the ToV.
• Left wing parties ideas:

  • Communists
  • Germany controlled by people and workers
  • Hated capitalism (trade by private owners for personal profit)
  • Wanted to get rid of overly rich and powerful businesses
  • Workers have the most power
  • Main one was The Communist Party (KPD)
• Right wing parties ideas:

  • Return to having a strong leader like the Kaiser
  • Strong army
  • Supported capitalism and wanted businesses to be powerful
  • Traditions (large family, strict law and order)
  • Power and strength of country over the rights of the people
  • Main ones were the National Party, DNVP, NSDAP
• Moderate political parties struggled to form a 2/3rd majority. It was easy for the extreme parties to attack the Reichstag and make them look weak.
• The Spartacist Revolt (1919)


  • The KPD has strong backing from Russia. It was well funded, had 33 newspapers and 400,000 members. The Spartacist League were a group of communist party supporters led by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht.
  • Began when Ebert sacked a popular police chief in Berlin. Protests began on 6th January 1919 - workers striked and took control of government newspapers.
  • Ebert asked the Friekorps (ex-soldiers) to help him stop the rebellion. Luxemburg and Liebknecht were shot dead.
• The Kapp Putsch (1920):


  • Led by Wolfgang Kapp, 5,000 Friekorps marched into Berlin - they wanted to create a new right wing regime. They declared Kapp the new German leader and even asked the Kaiser to return.
  • Ebert reacted by asking the workers to strike. They agreed as they hated the idea of the Kaiser returning.
  • After a 4 day strike, Berlin was paralysed (no water, electricity, gas or transport) and Kapp was forced to surrender.
  • Kapp was arrested and imprisoned. The Weimar government returned to ruling Germany again.
• Between 1919-1922, 376 politicians were assassinated.
• It was clear that Weimar Germany's courts were biased in favour right-wing parties.
• Most political parties hired armed men to protect their politicians and meetings. They mainly used ex-army soldiers who were unemployed and desperate for money. This caused many political meetings and marches to become violent.
• By 1923, Germany could no longer afford to pay its war reparations.
• As a part of the war reparations, Germany was supposed to send coal to France. However, by 1923 they were unable to do this. As a punishment, French and Belgium troops invaded the Ruhr - taking away coal or any other raw materials away from the Ruhr.
• The Weimar Republic wanted to stay peaceful in response to the French invasion of the Ruhr as any aggression would lead to harsher punishments. Instead, Ebert called for the miners in the Ruhr to take part in "passive resistance" (strike). To many Germans, this made the government look weak.
• The French responded to the passive resistance by arresting the strikers.
• The occupation of the Ruhr led to even more debt, unemployment and a shortage of goods.
• With the shortages of food and goods, prices went up. This is called inflation. However, due to unemployment the Weimar government were unable to get the money from people's taxes. This meant they had no money to pay the striking workers. With no other way of getting money, they just decided to print more. However, the money being printed quickly became worthless due to the prices of goods still increasing. This extreme inflation was called hyperinflation.
• The impact of hyperinflation on Germany:

  • People had to carry money in baskets or wheelbarrows
  • Workers were paid twice a day so they could rush out to buy things before prices increased again
  • Shops refused to take money and instead asked for payment in kind (swapping for something of equal value)
  • People burned money as fuel as it was cheaper than coal. Children played with blocks of cash. Some used money as wallpaper