World History 3201

November 2014

2.2.4: The Weimar Republic 1918-

1933

German Review

As we have examined in unit 1, Germany became a major

player on the world stage following its unification in 1871

until its defeat in WW1 in 1918

It was ruled by Kaiser Wilhelm II from 1890 to 1918

It led the Central Powers in WW1 and following its defeat in

1918, forced to accept the terms and conditions of the Treaty

of Versailles imposed by the victorious allies USA, Britain, &

France

After Germany lost the First World War, the Kaiser fled and a

new democratic government of Germany was declared in

February 1919 at the small town of Weimar.

It was too dangerous to make a declaration in Berlin where

there had just been a revolt by a Communist group called the

Spartacists.

The Weimar Republic was a genuine attempt to create a

perfect democratic country.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/germany/weimarstrengthweakrev1.shtml

Weimar Democracy

A Bill of Rights guaranteed every German citizen freedom

of speech and religion, and equality under the law.

All men and women over the age of 20 were given the vote.

This was even better than Britain where only women over 30

could vote.

There was an elected president and an elected

Reichstag (parliament).

The Reichstag made the laws and appointed the

government, which had to do what the Reichstag wanted.

Weimar Democracy Flaws Proportional representation - instead of voting for an

MP, like we do in Canada, Weimar Germans voted for a party.

Each party was then allocated seats in the Reichstag exactly reflecting (proportional' to) the number of people who had voted for it.

This sounds fair, but in practice it was a disaster it resulted in dozens of tiny parties, with no party strong enough to get a majority, and, therefore, no government to get its laws passed in the Reichstag.

This was a major weakness of the Republic.

Weimar Democracy Flaws

Article 48 - this said that, in an emergency, the president

did not need the agreement of the Reichstag, but could

issue decrees.

The problem with this was that it did not say what an

emergency was, and in the

end, it turned out to be a

back door that Hitler used

to take power legally.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/germany/weimarstrengthweakrev2.shtml

The Weimar Republic

The Weimar Republic was created at a time of confusion and

chaos after Germany had lost the First World War.

Many people felt that Germany had received a very harsh

deal in the Treaty of Versailles and they resented the

government for signing it and agreeing to its conditions.

Germans felt ‘pain and anger’& that it was unfair.

It was a 'Diktat' – an IMPOSED settlement. They had not

been allowed to take part in the talks – they had just been

told to sign.

The Weimar Republic

Germany & The Treaty of Versailles

Germany had to pay reparations,($33 million in war

damages) the bulk of which would go to France & Belgium

to pay for the damage done to their infrastructure during

WWI

Germany had to admit full responsibility for starting WWI

German had to give up all conquered lands & overseas

possessions which became League of Nations Mandates

Germany was forbidden to unite with Austria

Germany & The Treaty of Versailles

Reduction of German military

Army reduced to 100 000 men

Conscription was banned

Only allowed limited naval ships

Forbidden to have modern weapons such as armoured vehicles,

submarines, aircraft, or tanks

Germany & The Treaty of Versailles

As we have discovered, the old pre-WW1 German

empire in Europe was dismantled at Versailles

Germany lost national territory in Europe to

surrounding countries including Belgium & Denmark

with most going to the newly created Poland

Weimar 1919

Germany between 1918 and 1919 was in chaos. People were

starving, the Kaiser had fled and people hated the

government for signing the armistice in November 1918 -

they called them the November criminals.

From 1919 to 1922, the republic came under attack from

both left and right wing factions who demanded radical

reforms.

This spilled over into violence and unrest between the two

rival camps. The government could not control the situation.

Economic Crisis

The Weimar government's main crisis occurred in 1923,

when the Germans failed to make a reparations payment on

time, which set off a train of events that included:

Weimar Republic

In 1924 the crisis was brought to an end by the Dawes Plan,

which restored the value of the currency.

One result of this was go make the German economy

dependent on loans from America.

When the American Stock Exchange (Wall Street) crashed in

1929, this left the struggling German economy in chaos.

Industries failed and unemployment rose to 6 million.

Social unrest followed, as people starved.