Weimar Germany (1919-29)

Created by: RajeevSood
Created on: 26-03-16 17:04

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Weimar Germany
- Early struggles
  - Treaty of Versailles
    - 1918
      - Reparations
        £6.6 billion
        Difficult for Germany to pay
      - Arnaments
        100,000 men
        Germany unable to defend itself
        no tanks and submarines
        
        6 battleships
        
        no tanks and submarines
        
        6 battleships
        
        a demilitarized Rhineland
      - War Guilt
        Germany had to take full blame
        Sense of embarrassment by the German people
  - Uprisings
    - Spartacist uprising
      - 1919
        Spartacists staged attempted revolution in Berlin
        Against Ebert's government
        Uprising crushed by right-wing Freikorps
    - Kapp Putsch
      - 1920
        5000 Freikorps led by Kapp led a putsch
        Took control of Berlin
        Government fled
        Called on workers to strike in all essential services
        Berlin paralysed
        Putsch failed and Kapp fled abroad to Sweden
  - Political instablility
    - Article 48
      - If there is an emergency, the president may rule alone or with the army
        Could suspend democracy too
    - President had power to appoint or dismiss the chancellor
    - Proportional representation
      - In election, number of seats is directly proportional to number of votes
        Means likelihood of any party gaining majority is low
  - Hyperinflation
    - First reparations payment made in 1921
      - Nothing paid in 1922
        Government announced that they could not pay in 1923
        In Jan 1923, French and Belgian troops invaded Ruhr
        German government told workers to strike
        Had to give workers pay
        Shortage in materials occurred
        Prices increased as a result
        Government then had to print more notes
        Prices spiralled out of control
        Government prints more notes
        Cycle repeats
        Effects
        People on fixed incomes suffered
        
        Savings became worthless
        
        Employers had to pay wages more often
        
        Those who had debts benefitted
- Gustav Stresemann helping Germany recover
  - Economical recovery
    - New currency
      - September 1923
        Rentenmark introduced
    - The Dawes Plan
      - 1924
        800 million marks given to Germany
        More factories
        More jobs
        
        More wealth
    - The Young Plan
      - 1929
        Time period for reparations payments extended until 1988
        
        Reparations fee reduced to £2.2 billion
  - Social recovery
    - Locarno Treaties
      - 1925
        Germany accepted Rhineland was to remain demilitarised
        
        France to never invade Ruhr again
    - Germany joined League of Nations
      - 1926
        Given seat in Council as permanent member
    - Kellogg-Briand Pact
      - 60 countries promised to never go to war again
- Hitler
  - Munich Putsch
    - 1923
      - Hitler and the SA invaded Beer Hall
        Forced Von Kahr to support him
        Marched into Munich
        Confronted by police
        Police opened fire
        16 Nazis killed
        Hitler put on trial
        Spoke forcefully in courtroom
        Sentenced to 5 years
        Only served nine months
  - Restructure of the Nazi Party
    - Hitler Youth set up
    - Local branches set up across the country
    - SA enlarged
    - ** set up
    - Focused more on getting peasants' support

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Weimar Germany (1919-29)

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