Kaiser Wilhelm II rule

• In 1871, 25 independant states unified under the new German empire.
• From 1888-1918, Kaiser Wilhelm II ruled  Germany. Wilhelm II was known for his military strategies and strong leadership in WW1.
• Wilhelm broke away from German Chancellor, Otto Von Bismarch, and began to control German politics. 

How the pre-war political system worked

Kaiser- inherits position and power from family

          - appoints the government

          - summons the imperial parliament 

          - commands the army

Bundesrat : - introduces laws                                  Bundestag : - approves laws

                    - chose by the state governments                            - elected by all men +25yrs

• Kaiser ruled with absolute power.
• Supposed to rule as a constitutional monarchy but kaiser took absolute power into his own hands.
• Democracy was introduced to Germany in 1871.
• The German parliament, known as the Reichstag, was established.
• Democracy slowed down due to the Kaisers growing power.
• Prussia was the strongest state in Germany. 
• The Kaiser was also the king of Prussia.
• In the Bundesrat, 17 out of 58 representatives came from Prussia.

Reichstag : Parliament (German word)

Constitutional monarchy : the monarch rules with advice and lead of parliament

• Turn Germany into a huge trading nation: could only hapen if ermany had a large navy(to trade with other nations).
• 'A place in the sun' : a large empire by having colonies under German rule.
• 'Weltpolitik' (world politics) : wanted Germany to be a leading power in world affairs. could only hapen if Germany had ythe respect of other countries.

- Kaiser embarked on a policy of industrialisation.

- Resulted in factory owners, businessmen and land owners getting richer.

- Workers were unhappy as their wages were very low and working conitions were very poor. 

- Many rebelled agsinst the Kaiser's lack of action by :

• joining trade unions
• supporting the Social Democratic Party (supporting socialism)

With the new parliamentary system, Germany experienced the following challenges:

• The chancellors power depended on the Kaisers decision.
• The central government struggled to collect income taxes as all 25 states wanted to control this. (The imperial government wanted to control everything, but the states weren't used to being controlled).
• Due to rapid inustrialisation, the German population doubled. 

Germany becomes largest industrial economy in Europe.

German economy in 1914 produced : 

- coal        - electrical products       - steel        - chemical industry 

-cotton      - motor construction      - iron

Due to rapid industrialisation, the German population doubled.

• 1910 : 60% of Germans lived in cities

Even though the demographics changed, the heirarchy in German society stayed the same.

• 1910 : 11 million German industrial workers became a dominant group able to influence politics.
• 1912 : SPD (German Social Democratic Party) became largest party in Reichstag, with the workers support.

1800's : social reforms began under Otto von Bismarch : 

• among the reforms was the reduction of SPD support but none were approved by the Reichstag
• Bismarch pushed for social insurance systems for the German people 

Junkers and industrialists tried to limit the laws the SP had.

SPD focused on passing legislation that would improve the working conditions for industrial workers, including : 

• 1819 : The social law - prohibited working on Sundays and banned employment of children under 13.
• 1900 : Increasing length of time with accident insurance.
• 1901 : Establishment of industrial arbitration courts, which aimed to settle disputes between workers and employers.
• 1903 : Extension of health insurance and further restrictions on child labour. 

Junkers and industrialists introduced enough reforms to keep the workers satisfied. 

Junkers : Land owners

• 1897 : Weltpolitik (world politics) was introduced.

• 1898 : Admiral von Tirpitz successful in expanding navy through creation of the Navy League.

Navy League experienced a number of domestic successes and failures - 

Successes : 

• Kaiser believed Germany could be a world power.
• Increased the German peoples patriotism.
• Gained majority support from deputies of the Reichstag.

Failures : 

• Government found it difficult to reform the Tariff Law.
• The national debt grew to 490 billion marks and experienced a large budget deficit. 

Kaiser Wilhelm II adopted foreign and domestic policies which ignited tension in Europe. 

German ideologies of militarism, imperialism and nationalism plus Kaisers ambitions set the stage for the Great War.

• July 1914 : Schlieffen plan - would see the invasion and capture of France and Belgium in the coming months.
• Late 1914 : Civillian population of Germany was sandwiched between Russian and British-French forces. Their trade and imports were affected by the blockade.
• Mid-1916 : Chancellor and Reichstag implemented 'silent dictatorship'. Imposed food rationing and compulsory labour among adult men and seized control of the press. 
• Aughust 1916 : Agricultural workers were relocated to munition factories under Hindenburg Programme. Unrestricted submarine warfare also introduced. 

Germans saw the outbreak of social democracy within the Reichstag.

November 9, 1918 : Great War ended followed by the Kaisers abdication.

There were food shortages; Gremans were on the brink of starvation, even men in military.

• 750,000 people died of flu, disease and starvation after war.
• Newly established Weimar Government faced problems due to the shock of German defeat.
• German soldiers felt betrayal because of unexpected loss.
• Those who were armed became sources of chaos.
• There were 2 million war casualties; the workforce couldn't recover.

June 28, 1919 : Treaty of Versailles was signed, officially ending WW1.

The allies wrote the treaty with almost no participation from Germany.

The treaty included: 

• 15 parts
• 440 articles
• Establishment of the League of Nations

The treaty also stipulated control of the German military and abolition of the air force. 

Treaty of Versailles : 

• Germany lost land.
• German military was controlled.
• Only 100,000 men allowed in German army.
• 0 tanks. 0 submarines.
• Conscription was banned.
• Navy reduced to 15,000 men.
• Only 6 battleships.
• Monarchy was abolished.
• Germany enters period of isolation.

Countries isolated Germany. E.G: no trade. Isolation from international politics.

The Treaty of Versailles blamed Germany for the first World War.

£6.6 billion payed by Germany as reparations.

• Made it harder for Germany to recover (economy).
• Less people to work in Germany as 1.7 million men died and 4.2 million were wounded.
• Raw materials were lost.
• German economy wasn't able to rebuild as it was paying reparations.
• 1923 : Ruhr taken over by 60,000 French and Belgian troops.

Reasons for Hyperinflation

1) Increase in money supply not supported by economic growth (Economy is not growing, but money is being printed).

2) Demand pull inflation in which demand out-strips supply (Demand for something, but less suply of it). 

Effects

• Key industries and factories located in the Ruhr were controlled by the French.
• Weimar Government persuaded the German workers to go on strike instead of working for the French.
• French sent their own workers to do the work and began arresting leaders of the movement.
• German economy was devastated by hyperinflation due to shortages of food and the governments move to produce money for workers on strike.
• Value of German mark decreased; led to increase on goods.
• Business and trade abroad was impossible.

Weimar Republic was Germanys government from 1919-1933.

Named after the town of Weimar where Germanys new government was formed.

Weimar constitution

The Weimar constitution includes the following : 

• Germany is to be a Republic.
• The government is made of a president, a chancellor and parliament.
• Representatives are elected every 4 years by all men and women over 20.
• The president can serve for 7 years.

Weaknesses of Weimar Government

• Political conflict : clashes between-social democrats vs communist party vs monarchist groups.
• Lack of leadership : Parties had different aims, making it difficult to unite and govern as one. President Ebert was not a popular leader.
• Weak constitution : Article 48 gave president absolute power in emergencies. Proportional representation made the passage of laws by small parties difficult.

Although there were weaknsses, there were also some successes in the Weimar government : 

• Provided Germans with voting system based on fairness.
• Article 48 : - allowed president to make quick decisions in emergencies.

                        - allowed a number of political parties to exist and run the country.

Germans blamed the government for signing the armistice in November 1918 and called them the November Criminals.

German people felt that the brave German army had been stabbed in the back by politicians. 

(Weimar Republic was upopular across Germany. Left and right wings fought for the same thing; to overthrow the Weimar Republic). 

Spartacist

• The Spartacist was left-wing communist attempt that rebelled against the government to overthrow the Weimar Republic.
• Rebelled in 1919 but were defeated by the Freikorps, ex-soliers. 

Kapp Putsch

• Kapp Putsch was right-wing movement who also tried to overthrow Weimar Republic. Led by Dr Wolfgang Kapp.
• Kapp didnt succeed in his take-over of Berlin.