The Weimar Republic, 1918 - 1929

• Germany was left virtually bankrupt
• National income was 1/3 of what it had been in 1913
• Industrial production was around 2/3 of what it had been in 1913
• By 1925 the government was spending 1/3 of budget on war pensions

• The war left 600,000 widows and 2 million children without fathers

• The war had deepened divisions in German society:
• Huge gaps between living standards of rich and poor
• Many German workers were bitter at restrictions placed on earnings during war while factory owners made vast fortunes from war
• During war many women were called up to work in factories, damaging family values and society as a whole

• Germany had a revolution and became a democratic republic - Weimar republic
• War stresses led to revolution in October-November 1918 and abdiction of Kaiser
• Many ex-soldiers and civillians despised new democratic leaders and came to believe the heroic leader field Marshall had been betrayed by the weak politicians

• Autumn 1918, Allies had clearly won the war
• Germany in state of chaos
• Allies offered Germany peace but under strict conditions including that they became more democratic
• Kaiser refused
• Revolution
• 9 Nomber 1918, Kaiser abdicted his throne and left Germany for Netherlands
• Socialist leader, Friedrich Ebert became new leader of Republic of Germany
• Immediatley signed armistice with allies
• Democratic government set up
• Opposition from right and left wings

• Despite this, January 1919 free elections took place for first time in German history
• Ebert's party won majority and he became president of Weimar Republic

• Weimar constitution attempted to set up probably the most democratic system in the world where no individual could gain too much power

• All Germans over the age of 20 could vote
• System of proportional representation - a party's precentage of votes, equalled percentage of seats in Reichstag (parliament)

• Chancellor appointed by President
• In charge of day-to-day government 
• Needed support of half of Reichstag

• President was head of State
• Stayed out of day-to-day government
• In crisis could rule by decrees using article 48 which gave him emergency powers meaning he did not have to consult the Reichstag
• Controlled the army
• Appointed judges to the courts

Spartacist rebellion, early 1919:

• Communist party led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg
• Party similar to the Lenin Bolsheviks who had just taken power in Russia
• Joined by left wing rebel soldiers and sailors set up soviets in many towns
• Ebert made agreement with Freikorps (ex-soldiers who bitterly opposed communism) to put down rebellion - Ebert Grona Pact
• Bitter street fighting, both sides heavily armed, casualties high
• Liebknecht and Luxemburg murdered and communist revolution had failed

Communist rebellion in Bavaria, February - May 1919

• Bavaria - independent sociallist state led by Kurt Eisner, Ebert's ally
• February 1919, murdered by political opponents
• Communists seized oppertunity to declare soviet rupublic in Bavaria
• Freikorps moved in to crush revolt in May 1919
• Around 600 communists killed

Communists in the Ruhr, 1920

• Police, army and Freikorps clashed with communists, 2,000 casualties 

Kapp Putsch, March 1920

• Dr Wolfgang Kapp led 5,000 Freikorps into Berlin in rebellion
• The army refused to fire on the Freikorps
• Appeared as if the new deomocratic government was going fail to solve this rebellion
• It was the general German public in paticular the industrial workers who ended the rebellion
• They declared general strike which brought capitol to a halt with no transport, power or water
• After a few days Kapp realised he could no longer succeed and left the country 
• He was hunted down and died whilst awaiting trial

• So after all it seemed that the new Weimar government did have the support of the German people or at least, the support over extremist right wing parties.

• First installment in 1921 of £50million was paid
• In 1922 nothing was paid
• Ebert did his best to play for time and negotiate concessions from allies
• Allies refused help, still owed USA huge war debts

• In January 1923, French and Belgian troops entered the Ruhr and began to take what was owed to them in the form of raw materials and goods
• This was legal under the ToV

• Results of occupation of Ruhr were disasterous for Germany
• Government ordered workers to carry out passive resistance (strike) so that there would be nothing for French to take
• French reacted harshly killing over 100 workers and expelling over 100,000 protestors from region
• Halt in industrial production caused collapse of German currency

• Because Germany had no goods to trade and therefore no money, the government made the fatal mistake of simply printing more money in their desperation
• Germany paid off debts in worthless marks including war loans of over £2.2billion
• Set off chain reaction
• With so much money in circulation, wages and prices rocketed

• Money became worthless
• Workers needed wheel barrows to carry home wages
• Workers were paid daily rather than weekly
• Prices of goods could change between joining back of queue and reaching the front

• Poor people suffered
• Worstly effected was the middle-upper classes who had savings and pensioners
• Mney in a savings account which could have bought them a house in 1921 could not even buy them a loaf of bread by 1923

• August 1923, new government under Gustav Strsemann took over
• More skillful politician than Ebert and as a right winger had more support  

• 1923 - Took in all worthles marks and replaced with new currency called Rentenmark
• 1923 - Negotiated US loans under Dawes plan - 800million rentenmarks - money spent on re-building German industries, replacing old equipment and oublic works - created employment
• 1925 - French troops leave Ruhr after calling off passive resistance in Ruhr
• 1925 - Locarno pact with France - agree never to change border
• 1926 - accepted into league of Nations
• 1928 - Kellogg-Briand pact with over 60 countries never to go to war 
• 1929 - Young's plan - extend deadline German reparations payments for further 59 years

• 1927 German industry seemed to have recovered well
• 1928 achieved same levels of industrial production as in 1913
• Regained world's second greatest industrial power
• Wages rose and for most Germans there was higher standard of living

• The Nazi party began as the German worker's party and was led by Anton Drexler
• In 1919 Hitler joined the party interested in their ideas
• Drexler soon realised Hitler's great talent and within months had put him in charge of propeganda and political ideas of party

• 1920 the party announced its 25 point programme
• Renamed itself as National Socialist German Workers' party or Nazis for short
• In 1921 Hitler removed Drexler as leader and became the leader of the party

• HItler's energy, commitment and power as a speaker were soon attracting attention. Hitler also was ahead of his time as a politican as he understood the power and importance of proganda
• Hitler had clear and simple appeal
• He stirred national passions in his audiences - gave them scapegoats to blame for Germany's problems
• In 1921 he set up the SA (also known as storm troopers and brownshirts) which were hired thugs (many ex-soldiers who were unemployed) to protect Hitler's meetings and disrupt those of other parties
• By 1923 still very much a minority party but HItler had given them a high profile

• By November 1923 Hitler belived that the moment had come to topple Weimar government
• Government pre-occupied with economic crisis
• On 8th November, HItler hijacked a local government meeting and anounced he was taking over government of Bavaria
• He was joined by old war hero Ludendorff
• Nazi SA took over official buildings
• Next day government forces hit back
• Police rounded up SA and in brief exchange of shots, 16 Nazis were killed by police
• Rebellion broke up in chaos
• Hitler escaped in car while Ludendorff and others stayed to face police
• Hitler had miscalculated the support and mood of German people - did not rise up to support him
• He and other leading Nazis arrested and charged with treason
• At trial gained huge publicity for himself and ideas and impressed judges
• Very light sentence - 5 years in prison, although only eneded up serving 9 months in comfort of Landsburg castle

• May 1924 elections, Nazis won 32 seats
• Encouraged, HItler set up network of local Nazi parties which in turn set up Nazi youth, Nazi student league and similar organisations

• By 1927, Nazis still trying to appeal to German workers as had done since party set up
• 1925 HItler enlarged SA - about 55% came from unemployed, many ex-servicemen
• Also set up ** - smaller group of thugs but fanatically loyal to HItler personally
• Hitler appoointed Joseph Goebbels to take charge of Nazi propeganda - posters to radio broadcasts - believed the way to reach the "masses" was to appeal to their feelings

• 1928 elections proved they were still fringe minority party with less than 3% support of public, prosperity of Stresemann years made Germans unintersted in extreme politics

• Hitler realised appealing to the workers was simply not going to gain them support so instead decided to try to appeal to peasant farmers, middle-class shop keepers and small businesses
• Large rural population - 35%
• Nazis highlighted importance of peasant farmers in plans for Germany - pure Germans
• However in the years up to 1929 they were still not a minority party