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10 Cards in this Set
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Topic 1: The German Revolution 1918-19 Why did the Germany lose the First World War? 1. The failure of the Schlieffen Plan: Germany’s failure to achieve rapid victory in the summer of 1914. 2. Stalemate: Germany was forced to fight a war on two fronts - east and west. The Allies’ also limited Germany’s imported supplies as they set up a naval blockade. 3. Strengths of the Allies: Britain and France could call on their oversea colonies for men and supplies. From April 1917, the USA entered the war adding an additional 2 million men to the Allied side. 4: Germany’s economy: Imperial Germany was totally unprepared for the cost of the war. 5: Last major offensive: Germany was able to launch a last major offensive on the Western front when Russia surrendered in March 1918. Unfortunately, Germany lost their momentum and by August, German troops were forced to retreat. At the same time its own allies, Austria, Turkey and Bulgaria collapsed. |
Socio-economic problems in Germany after the war 1. Food and fuel shortages 2. Civilian deaths 3. Infant mortality 4. Influenza 5. Inflation 6. Casualties |
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The October Reform The military leaders realised that Germany was losing the war and decided to seek peace with the Allies. Ludendorff pushed for political change. Imperial Germany was was an autocracy and he wanted to change it to a constitutional monarchy. He aimed to establish a more democratic government, while maintaining the German monarchy. On October 3rd 1918, Prince Max Of Baden became chancellor. A series of reforms came into place: • The Kaiser, Wilhelm II gave up his powers over the army and navy to the Reichstag. • The chancellor and their government were accountable to the Reichstag, instead of the Kaiser. • Armistice negotiations with the Allies began. |
‘Stab in the back’ myth: Ludendorff saw the need to shift the responsibility for Germany’s defeat away from the army. Instead, he intended to put the blame for the war on the new leadership. Autocracy: one person who has absolute power. Constitutional monarchy: the monarch has limited power and there is a more democratic government. |
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The German Revolution How and why did the October Reform fail? On 29th October a mutiny began to spread amongst sailors at Wilhelmshaven, near Kiel. Prince Max’s government quickly lost control of the situation and by 2nd November, sailors had gained control of other major ports eg Hamburg. The mutinies were caused by a fear of the planned suicide attack on the British fleet. By 6th November discontent had spread and numerous workers’ councils were set up. By the end of the first week of November it was clear that the October Reforms had failed to impress the German people. The disturbances were prompted by the realisation by troops that the war was lost and the sense of national shock of Germany’s military defeat. Propaganda had delayed the reality for too long. |
On 9th November he announced that the Kaiser would renounce the throne and that a coalition left wing government would be established under Ebert. Ebert-Groener Agreement (army agreement) On 10th November, General Groener phoned chancellor Ebert. • The Supreme Army Command agreed to support the new government and to use troops to protect it. • Ebert promised to oppose the spread of socialism (extreme left) and to preserve the authority of the army officers. Stinnes-Legien agreement (big business agreement) On 15th November, Karl Legien (trade union leader) and Hugo Stinnes (industrial employers leader) held a discussion. • Trade unions promised not to interfere with private ownership and the free market; • In return they would get workers’ committees, an 8 hour work day and full legal recognition. |
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The Treaty Of Versailles Territorial arrangements • Germany lost 13% of its land. • This lost land had important raw materials, such as coal. • Germany was split in two. This gave Poland access to the sea. • German troops were not allowed in the Rhineland. This was to make France feel safe from German attack. • All Germany’s overseas colonies were taken away. Disarmament • Germany had to abolish conscription. • The German army was to be reduced to 100,000 men. • The navy was cut to 15,000 sailors and 6 battleships. • Germany was not allowed submarines, tanks or an Air Force. • The Rhineland was to be demilitarised from the French Frontier. |
War Guilt - Article 231 • Germany were blamed for the war by Article 231. • This enables the Allies to demand compensation from Germany for the damage caused. Reparations • Germany had to pay £6600 million in reparations. • Most of the money would go to France and Belgium. • Germany had to make substantial payments in kind eg in coal • All coal production had to be given to France from the Saar. Maintaining Peace • The Treaty also set out the Covenant of the League Of Nations. Germany had to accept the League, but initially weren’t allowed to join. |
The Treaty’s terms were seen as unfair and were simply described as a ‘Diktat’ - a dictated peace. The Germans felt that the Treaty Of Versailles were imposed with out negotiation. The Treaty severely undermined the Weimar politicians as they were blamed for signing it. They were referred to as ‘November Criminals’ as they had ‘stabbed’ Germany in the back by agreeing to the terms. |
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Topic 2: The Political Threats to the Weimar Republic from the left and right 1919-1923 THREATS FROM THE LEFT WING Threat 1: The Spartacist Rising, 1919 Who? The Spartacist League - A communist group set up by Rosa Luxembourg and Karl Liebknecht. When? January 1919 Where? Berlin Why? Spartacists wanted a communist revolution. They did not trust the new government. What? In January 1919 workers were protesting throughout Germany. The Spartacists tried to turn this into a revolution. In Berlin they took over the newspaper and telegraph headquarters. They hoped protesters would join them and take over other buildings, but this did not happen. |
The government ordered the army and Freikorps to stop the rising over 100 workers were killed. Success? The uprising was badly planned and the Spartacists were not well supported. The leaders were captured and killed so the Spartacists were defeated. |
Threat 2: Red Bavaria, March 1919 Who? Eugen Levine and the Red Army Why? After the collapse of the Bavarian monarchy, Kurt Eisner took over. However he struggled to unite the parties and was assassinated 21 February 1919. What? After the assassination confusion broke out. Eugen Levine set up a Red Army. There 1000 deaths in May by the army and Freikorps - white terror. This changed political views in this area from the Catholic conservative view to right extremism. |
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Threat 3: The Red Rising in the Ruhr, March 1920 Why? In reaction to the Kapp putsch the Ruhr's workers had gone on strike. However, even when the putsch was over, the communists in the work force stayed on strike and formed their own ' Red Army '. What? In 1920 the ' Red Army' of 50,000 workers occupied the Ruhr. Over 1000 workers were killed by the army and the Freikorps. |
Threat 4: The German October, Summer 1923 What? The KPD and SPD had formed coalitions in the regional governments of Saxony and Thuringia, but the communists made military preparation for an uprising with ' Poletarian Hundreds' Success? Stresemann's government ordered the army to crush the Poletarians and the regional governments were re-created without communists. |
The extreme left in reality, caused much less of a threat to Weimar than was believed at the time because they were not widely supported, they were also badly coordinated. This was because of poor leadership. The left wing was consistently dealt with by the Weimar Republic in a much harsher way than the right wing was. |
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THREATS FROM THE RIGHT Threat 1: The Kapp Putsch, 1920 Who? Freikorps units, led by Wolfgang Kapp. Where? Berlin. Why? In 1920, the government ordered that the Freikorps be disbanded. There was little need for them now that the left wing groups had been crushed. What? Around 12,000 Freikorps marched to Berlin. The government fled and Kapp was put forward as new leader. Success? Kapp failed to win much support and in Berlin workers went on strike in protest. After 4 days he fled as it was impossible to rule. |
Threat 2: The Munich Putsch, November 1923 Who? The Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler. What? The Nazis planned to take over the government and they started in Munich. Hitler and 600 of his SA burst into a meeting where the leader of Bavaria, Kahr, was speaking. They forced Kahr to support their plan. Success? The putsch had not been properly planned. Kahr was allowed to leave the hall so he withdrew his support. 14 Nazis were killed by the army and police and Hitler was sent to prison for 9 months. The Nazis nearly fell apart without their leader. |
The right were treated much more leniently by the courts than the left were. For example only 1 out of 705 people involved in the Kapp Putsch were prosecuted. Hitler, the leader of the Munich Putsch, was only given 9 months in jail. The reluctance to deal with the threat from the right would prove fatal to the Weimar Republic as the conservative elites would never support democracy. |
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Topic 3: The reasons for the economic instability of the Weimar Republic 1919-23 The result of fours year of total war seriously dislocated the German economy. By 1919 it faced fundamental problems; • the loss of territories (eg Silesia) which resulted in a 16% decline in coal production and 48% loss of iron-ore. • the cost of paying reparations (£6600 million) • the growing increase in prices. Between 1914 and 1918, the value of the mark decreased, whereas basic goods prices increased nearly fourfold. • the increase in national debt to 144,000 million marks in 1919, compared to 5000 million in 1914. • between 1914 and 1918 world trade had collapsed and even after 1919 it remained slow. |
Causes of The German Inflation Long term After the war Germany didn’t increase taxes and instead, borrowed massive sums by selling war bonds to the public. Consumer goods began to push prices up as the economy was military focused. By 1918, the Weimar Republic had to cope with the massive costs of war and sunk into massive national debt. Medium term To deal with inflation, the government increased taxation in order to raise its income. They also cut government spending. Erzberger wanted to have a deficit financing system. This is a government spending more than it receives to stimulate the economy. He hoped it would give the people more spending money and increase the demand for goods. He also thought it would overcome the problem of demobilising millions of troops. This could also cover the cost of public spending on welfare for example. Reparations had to be payed in hard cash or gold so more money was printed which decreased the value of the mark sharply and inflation climbed even higher. (Reparations are a contributing factor not a cause). Short term Germany was allowed to postpone several instalments of its reparations in early 1922. The Genoa Economic conference was held to try to resolve the crisis. In July 1922, Germany had a “holiday” from paying reparations but the inflation crisis set in. The French government ordered French troops into the Ruhr to take materials as payments. Inflation spiralled out of control. The German government embarked on a policy of “passive resistance” which united German people. Striking and refusing to cooperate with troops actually made the situation worse as the French prevented the delivery of coal to the rest of Germany (had to be imported). The government’s finances collapsed and the mark fell to worthless levels.
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Conclusion • the fundamental cause of the German inflation is the mismanagement of Germany’s finances from 1914 onwards. • German governments lacked the willingness to bring borrowing and spending back within reasonable limits. • in the immediate post war period high levels of debt were allowed to continue. • 1921 - demand for reparations payments made the problem worse - government found it more convenient to print money than address the problems. • August 1923 - Gustav Stresemann introduced a new economic policy which helped to bring stability. |
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Consequences of the Great Inflation Winners • Those who were in debt and were able to pay those debts off, mortgages and loans with worthless money. • Benefitted businessmen and homeowners. • Those who bought up property off those in financial difficulty. • Businessmen who borrowed cheaply and invested in new businesses. • Although working class initially benefited from pay rises - the cost of goods quickly overtook this. Losers • Those who depended on their savings. Germans with money in banks found the real value of their savings had dropped dramatically. • Those who invested in war bonds now found they were worthless. • People such as pensioners who lived on fixed incomes. |
Social Effects • poor diets - health of population impact. • increase in suicides • starvation • decline in law and order • increase in crime • decline in moral standards • tendency to find someone to blame - for example Jews. (Scapegoat) This crisis combined with the second financial crisis at the end of the 1920s, damaged people’s trust in the Weimar system. It caused psychological damage that continued to affect the Republic in future years. |
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Stresemann’s 100 Days In the summer of 1923 the problems facing the Weimar Republic came to a head and it seemed close to collapse: • The German currency had collapsed and hyper-inflation had set in. • French and Belgium troops were occupying the Ruhr. • The German government had no clear policy on the occupation, except for “passive resistance”. • There were various left-wing political disturbances across the country. Yet only a few months later calm and normality returned. The appointment of Gustav Stresemann as chancellor in August 1923 resulted in the emergence of a politician who was actually prepared to take difficult political decisions. |
Stresemann’s Achievements • In September 1923, he called off “passive resistance” in the Ruhr and promised to resume the payment of reparations. He needed to make peace with the French in order to evoke international sympathy for Germany’s economic position. • The governments expenditure was sharply cut. Over 700,000 employees were sacked. • Hjalmar Schacht was appointed to oversee the introduction of a new currency. In December 1923, the Rentenmark was introduced. • Stresemann evokes some sympathy from the Allies for Germany by the ‘miracle of the Rentenmark’ and his peace policy. He asked the Allies to hold an international conference to consider Germany’s plight. The Dawes Plan was established and for the first 5 years it fixed reparations payments in accordance to Germany’s ability to pay. • The extremists of the left and right were defeated. If people have political and economic stability, they are less likely to support extremists. |
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