OCR history Germany depth study KQ1

• September 1918: German armies on the Western Front face defeat
• Kaiser Wilhelm abdicates in 1918 as Germany had to sign the Armistice
• Ebert - leader of SPD party became President and a Republic was declared
• some Germans called the politicians the 'November Criminals' as they didn't believe they had actually lost: 'stab-in-the-back' theory
• January 1919: Spartacus League (communists) staged a revolt in Berlin and the Freikorps (ex-soldiers) crushed the revolt
• January 1919: elections held for a National Assembly - they met in Weimar to escape the violence in Berlin and so was called 'Weimar Republic'

• everyone over 21 can vote
• Reichstag = Parliament
• proportional representation
• Chancellor elected every four years
• President elected every seven years

• Spartacus League 1919: communists stage a revolt on Berlin and ex-soldiers called the Freikorps crushed them

• Kapp Putsch 1920: Freikorps provoked a rebellion led by Wolfgang Kapp, marched on Berlin and the army had to intervene and the government fled

• Munich Putsch 1923: Hitler took advantage of economic crisis (hyperinflation) and attempted to seize power in Munich - event was a fiasco and Hitler was imprisoned and sent to prison where he wrote 'Mein Kampf' and realised it was better to seize power legally

• Germany missed a reparations payment at the end of 1922
• French and Belgium troops invaded the Ruhr in January 1923 to seize coal  and iron as payment - take goods in kind
• as a response, German workers went on strike in the Ruhr
• the government promised to pay the workers and so printed off money to pay the workers' wages
• since workers had more money, prices in shops rose (known as inflation)
• but this was on a huge scale and soon a loaf of bread cost 1 billion marks
• known as hyperinflation and people were starving

• Dawes Plan 1924: Germany receive loans from the USA to rebuild the German economy (this means that the German economy is based on foreign loans and they could be recalled back at any time)

Good

• German industry rebuilt - Dawes Plan (1924), Young Plan (1929)
• new currency (Retenmark)
• culture in Berlin - freedom offered to artists and writers
• writer: Brecht and artist: George Grosz became world famous
• improved international position - allowed to join the League in 1926
• 1925 Locarno Pacts with Belgium and France to leave their borders

Bad

• economic recovery based on loans and if the country experiences crisis, the loans will be recalled back ruining the German economy
• Berlin was seen as sleazy and corrupt by some
• Hindenburg was elected in 1925 (a monarchist) and reflected Germany's true feelings that they did not like the Republic
• agricultural groups in trouble 33% of the population - been forgotten