strengths and weaknesses of weimar germany

advantages

• all germans had equal rights - everyone over 20 could vote, freedom of speech
• an elected president and elected reichstag
• reichstag made laws and appointed government which had to do what reichstag wanted

disadvantages

• new govt had to accept treaty of versailles so were hated because of loss of terrirtoy, war guilt clause, army reductions, reparationes etc
• article 48 - in an emergency, the president didn't need agreement to issue a decree, didn't state what an emergency was considered to be, enabled hitler to take power 
• proportional representation encouraged lots of small parties so no one party had enough seats to form a majority government

• invasion of the ruhr (jan 1923)
  - richest industrial area of germany
  - france + belgium took resources
  - workers refused to work + were payed by government
• reparations
  - 6,600 million, treaty of versailles

resulted in hyperinflation and unemployment
- farmers didnt want to sell food for worthless money
- people in debt/businessmen could easily pay back loans
- the rich still had money, land, possessions and foreign currency
- savings lost value
- crime i.e. stealing to get by
- money was worthless, used as wallpaper, building blocks etc
- middle class suffered most 
- bartering 

spartacist revolt (jan 1919)

• karl liebknecht + rosa luxembourg (communists)
• revolt was crushed easily by freikorps because it was futile and badly prepared
• leaders were murdered so it never recovered
• took place in berlin

kapp putsch (march 1920)

•  led by wolfgang kapp (right wing journalist), assisted by general luttwitz
• wanted to take over germany
• ebert called for a general strike which paralysed the movement of all those in support of kapp and luttwitz

important because: only the mass power of a general strike could restore ebert's power, govt. could not put down a challenge to it's authority, govt;. could not restore authority in it's own capital

• founded in 1919 by anton drexler
  - then called the german workers' party 
• hitler joined it in 1919
• hitler's reputation as orator grew, and it became the main reason people joined the party
• in april 1920, hitler advocated changing the name, but socialism was popular in germany (growth of social democrats), so redefined it by adding national in front of it
• took over as it's leader in 1921
• developed a 25 point plan which was further developed in mein kampf
  - lebensraum
  - danger from communists and jews
  - fuhrer: single leader with complete power
  - treaty of versailles should be abolished 

what?

• hitler plotted with kahr and lossow (nationalist politicians) to take over munich in a revolution
• kahr and lossow called it off in oct 1923
• nov 1923 - hitler + 600 stormtroopers burst into beer hall where kahr and lossow were holding a meeting, forced them to agree to rebel then let them go, sa took over army headquarters and local newspaper offices
• next day, hitler and nazis marched through munich, but lossow called in police and army reinforcements
• hitler fled but was found 2 days later

why?

• by 1923, nazis had 55,000 members and was stronger than ever
• weimar govt. was in crisis and about to collapse
• general strike called off in ruhr, nationalists furious
• hitler had large army of stormtroopers but he knew he would lose them if he didnt give them something to do
• wanted to copy mussolini

results

• nazi party banned
• hitler imprisoned
  - when in prison he wrote mein kampf
  - read by millions of germans, his ideas became well known 
• hitler realised he would never come to power by revolution and would have to use constitutional means
•  reorganised nazi party
  - hitler youth
  - propaganda campaigns
  - mergers with other right-wing parties
  - local branches of the party which tried to get the nazis elected into the reichstag
  - ** as his personal bodyguard in 1925 

• called off passive resistance in the ruhr (sept 1923), french and belgian troops left ruhr in 1925
• accepted the dawes plan in 1924
• introduced a new currency (the rentenmark) to make ecoomy more stable
• locarno treaty, 1925 - germany reaccepted its western borders
• joined league of nations in 1926
• loans from dawes plan helped rebuild economy