GCSE History Unit 2 - Germany 1918 - 1939

Germany 1919 - 1939

There are 4 sections to revise:

- The Weimar Republic 1918 - 1933

- Hitler and the growth of the Nazi Party 1919 - 1933

- The Nazi Dictatorship 1933 - 1939

- Nazi Domestic Policies 1933 - 1939

Topic 1: The Weimar Republic 1918 - 1923

The End of WW1 - 1918: The Kaiser gave up the throne when Germany were about to lose the war and fled to Holland. The new leader of Germany was called Ebert. Germany had lost the war and surrendered to USA, Britan and France. WW1 was over officially on November 1918. Many Germans were upset that the war lost, they felt betrayed by their new leader.

The new constitution of Germany made in January 1919 - Weimar: All men and women over the age of 20 could vote, they voted for a president - he was the most important man in Germany. He was allowed to be president for 7 years. The Chancellor was the second most important man. He ran the government. The President chose the Chancellor. There was proportional representation which was used. This led to coalition governments. (Many different parties were in charge.) There was also Article 48 which allowed the president to take full control of Germany in an 'emergency'.

Problems with the new constitution: Coalition governments led there to be lots of different parties with different opinions and judgements. This led there to be lots of disagreements. Article 48 gave the president too much power and the army did not like the new constitution and they were unsupportive during crises. Judges also did not like the constitution and did not punish those who challenged the new government.

The Treaty of Versailles - June 1919: At the end of WW1 Britan, France and USA decided Germany needed to be punished. The Treaty was made to do this and Germany was forced to sign it or the war would be started again. The people of Germany were very angry with their government for signing it. Those who signed it were called the November Criminals and they thought they were 'stabbed in the back.'

The Treaty stated: Germany was to blame for starting the war. 13% of Germany's land was taken away. They were only allowed 100,000 in their army and they had to pay £6.6 billion worth of reparations to Britain and France. This made the germans angry because they did not think they were to blame for the war and all countries were responsible, land taken away was unfair because they won it fairly, having their army reduced made them feel unsafe and other countries could attack and they did not have enough money to pay for reparations.

The Spartacist Uprising - January 1919:

Causes: They didnt agree with the new government and wanted Germany to be communist. Lots of people were upset because there wasnt enough food in Germany after the war and many soldiers had come back from the war and was upset that…