The Weimar Republic

Germany had to pay reparations to the Allies:

• Reparations worth £6.6 billion

Germany lost land and all its colonies:

• The 1 German colonies in Africa and the Far East were given to the victors
• Alsace and Lorraine were lost to France, Eupen and Malmedy to Belgium and Posen and West Prussia to Poland
• Others voted to decide whether they should stay in Germany
• The German port Danzig was made an international city
• Out of the Saar coalfields were given to France for 15 years
• Germany lost 13% of its European territory, 50% of its iron and 15% of its coal

German forces were cut:

• Army limited to 100,000 troops
• Navy limted to 6 battle ships and cruisers and 12 destroyers and torpedo boats. No submarines
• No air force
• Rhineland demilitarised

The treaty was a diktat (an agreement forced upon someone) and the Germans had no say in the terms of the treaty. They weren't invited to negotiations and the treaty was imposed on them.

Because of the weak state of Germany (Military,Political and Economic) they had to accept.

On 28th June the German delegation signed the Treaty of Versailles.

The treaty made Germany look weaked and defeated and it was humiliating which weakened the new republic from the very beggining.

The German people saw it as Dochstoss (stab in the back) because the Germans felt like their army hadn't been defeated, it failed to win, but was not defeated. They felt betrayed by the politicians.

These politicians were blamed for the harsh terms of the treaty and became known as the 'November Criminals'

Reichstag - The government lead by the Chancellor. Members elected every 4 years by everyone over 20 using proportional representation

Reichstrat - Members sent by local regions depending on size and could delay laws unless overruled by a two thirds majority from the Reichstag

Chancellor - Head of Government and chosen by the president. Can choose ministers and runs the country day-to-day. However in order to pass laws the Chancellor needed a majority in the Reichstag

President - Head of state and elected by the people every 7 years. He took no part in the day-to-day government however he was a powerful figure. He chose the Chancellor which was usually the leader of the largest party. He could dismiss the Reichstag, call new elections and assume control of the army. Article 48 also allowed the president to suspend the constitution and pass laws by decree

All Men and Women over the age of 20 could vote using a secret ballot

The Reichstag and the president were voted in by the people

The government was democratic

The government managed to overcome the protestors and gradually gained control of the country

Proportional representation meant that there were many small parties and it was hard to get a majority in the Reichstag. This caused political clashes between the rival parties.This made the government weak and unstable. If the Chancellor couldn't get the parties to work together he had to ask the president to rule by decree. This made the Chancellor seem weak and the preseident being able to rule by decree undermined the Reichstag and Chancellor.

Germany spent all its gold reserves on the war and was now bankrupt and couldn't pay the reparations.

So the French invaded the Ruhr to try and get what they were owed in raw materials, manufactered goods and industrial machinery. The German government urged passive resistance so workers went on strike and even partook in some sabotage. The french just arrested those obstructing them and put their own workers in. Germany lost about 80% of its coal, iron and steel.

Hyperinflation started when they started printing more marks to try to pay the reparations. The value of the mark went down, the prices of items went up, wages did not go up, people didn't have the money to put into businesses, businesses closed down, more people were unemployed, they had less money to spend at businesses, and the cycle goes on and the gemrna economy starts to fail.

Right Wing

• Want to keep society very stable
• Want a strong government dominated by powerful leaders
• Support capitalism
• Stress the importance of the family unit, law and order and traditional values
• Are Nationalist, places interests of nation over individual

Left Wing

• Want to change society rapidly
• Aim to treat all people as equals and give political power to workers
• Oppose capitalism
• Internationalist - stress cooperation of nations

The Freikorps were an important armed group. They were demobilised soldiers back from war who refused to return their arms. They were anti-communist and worked with the regular army. By March 1919 the Freikrops had about 250,000 members. They sometimes took the law into their own hands and used violence to further their political cause. Between 1919 and 1922 there were 376 political murders (mostly left wing or moderate politicians) overall. No right wing murder was convicted but 10 left wing assassins were. This shows the legal system was filled with right wing supporters

During the winter of 1918 - 1919 there were left wing uprisings throughout Germany.

The main communist leaders were Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht who were the leaders of the Spartacist League.

On 6th January 1919 100,000 communists demonstrated in Berlin and took over key buildings, such as newspaper offices.

The regular army wouldn't be enough so Elbert used the Freikorps to help put down the Spartacist uprisings in early 1919. Several thousand communist supporters were arrested or killed, mostly in Berlin.

The fact that the republic had to rely on force made it appear weak

In 1920 5000 right wing supporters of Dr Wolfgang Kapp marched on Berlin to overthrow the Weimar Republic and bring back the Kaiser. The army refused to move against them so they controlled the city for a while. The government was forced to move to Dresden and urged people not to cooperate and instead go on strike. Many workers obliged and essential services stopped and the capital ground to a halt. Kapp fled to Sweden but was later arrested and he died in 1922. Again the Weimar Republic was shown to be weak.

By 1923 the Nazis had the support of about 55,000 party members, impressive figure head like Goering and von Ludendorff and its own private army.

Hitler thought now would be the oppurtune moment because in 1923 the French had occupied the war and it was the year of hyperinflation.

On 8th November 1923 there was a meeting of 3000 officials of the Bavarian government in a beer hall in Munich. Hitler burst into the meeting with 600 SA storm troopers, brandishing a gun. He fired a shot into the ceiling and declared that he was taking over Bavaria. Kahr (leader of government), Seisser (head of police) and Lossow (head of army) were taken to a side room where, when threatened with pistols, they agreed to support the uprising.

However next morning they withdrew their support which was a blow to Hitler who only had 2000 rifles, far fewer than the local police and army forces. He sent 3000 supporters to occupy key buildings with SA for support. Hitler and his Shock Troop marhced on the city centre to declare him president of Germany. But they were met by state police who opened fire. Hitler's bodyguard threw himself in front of Hitler and was hit by several bullets and Hitler was dragged down. Hitler fled in a car and hid in a friend's house 10 miles south of Munich but was later arrested after being found in a wardrobe.

Hitler was found guilty of treason and imprisoned for 5 years at Landsberg Castle. The Nazis and its newspaper were banned. In short term the Munich Putsch was a failure however he used his trial to make his views public and learned from the failure when he relaunched the Nazi party in 1924

In April 1924, Stresemann agreed to the Dawes Plan. This plan addressed the reparations issue it said:

• Annual reparations payed by Germany would be reduced to an affordable level
• US banks would give loans to German industry

This reassured the allies that they would get their reparations. Stresemann had already called off passive resistance in the Ruhr by German workers. As a result the French agreed to leave the Ruhr. All this improved Germany's economy. Industrial doubled in the period 1923 -1928 fuelled by US loans. Imports and exports increased. Employment went up. Government income from taxation improved. Most Germans were reassured however there where drawbacks. The extreme political parties hated the treaty of Versailles and were furious that Germany had again agreed to pay reparations. Furthermore, the fragile economic recovery depended on America loans.

Stresemann made progress in international affairs. In October 1925 he signed the Locarno Pact. This was a treaty between Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Belgium.

• Germany agreed to keep its new 1919 border with France and Belgium

In return:

• The last allied troops left the Rhineland
• France promised peace with Germany
• The powers agreed to open talks about German membership of the League of Nations

Stresemann saw this as a triumph. It made war in Europe less likely. Stresemann was given the Nobel Peace Prize in 1926. Furthermore Germany was treated as an equal and not dictated to. Some parties resented the the Versailles borders had been confirmed.

Stresemann made further progress with reparations, five years later when in the last year of his life he agreed to the Young Plan. This plan was put forward in August 1929. The reparations were reduced from £6.6 billion to £2 billion and Germany was given a further 59 years to pay them. It reduced the anual amount the government had to pay, this made it possible to lower taxes. This in turn released spending power which boosted German industry and employment. Most saw this as a success for Stresemann, however yet again there were drawbacks. The annual payments were still £50 million per year and they now streatched out until 1988. Several of the extreme political parties were incensed. Adolf Hitler said extending the length of payments was passing the penalty onto the unborn

At the end of the first world war the allies had founded the League of Nations. This was a new international body in which powerful countries discussed ways of solving the world's problems. But Germany had been excluded from the membership. In September 1926 Streseman persuaded the other great powers to accept Germany as a member. Germany was given a place on the LON council which tool the most important decisions of the League. Not all political parties agreed that this was good. For some the League was a symbol of the hated ToV. However, Stresemann's view was different. He saw it as another step towards German equality with other nations.