GERMANY, 1918-45 DEPTH
STUDY
Key Question 1: Was the
Weimar Republic doomed
from the start?
OVERVIEW OF THE TOPIC
• Problems faced by Weimar Germany after the First
World War – a common question of Paper 4
• The extent of Germany’s recovery in the ‘Golden
Age’
LEGACY OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR
Over half the 11 million Germans who fought were injured or
killed.
German government debt tripled due to war costs.
Germany was under blockade throughout the war so over
750,000 died due to food shortages.
German government had begun to lose control by the end of the
war (strikes, riots, navy mutiny) leading to abdication of Kaiser
Wilhelm on 9th November 1918.
CREATION OF THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC
The leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), Friedrich Ebert,
became the Chancellor and immediately entered negotiations to
sign the armistice – Germany surrenders unconditionally
eventually leading to the Treaty of Versailles.
Despite the huge tensions and problems in Germany, Ebert
maintained control long enough to agree a new constitution,
however the assembly which created it met in the town of
Weimar due to the violence and unrest in Berlin.
The new constitution was agreed on 31st July and would later be
nicknamed the Weimar Republic.
STRENGTHS OF THE WEIMAR CONSTITUTION
1. Democratic - allowed individual freedoms for
everyone. This granted the right to free speech, the
right to equality and the right to religion to every
German citizen. All adults over the age of twenty
could vote – women could vote for the first time
2. The system of proportional representation meant
that even smaller parties had a fair share of the vote
3. Checks and balances – no one person or body had
too much power, power was evenly distributed
between the President, Chancellor, Reichstag and
local government
WEAKNESSES OF THE WEIMAR CONSTITUTION
1. Coalition governments – electoral system led to too
many parties in Reichstag, 29 parties throughout 1920s.
No parties gained majorities and were instead large
coalitions lacking strong, clear policies. Frequently fell
apart as well, 9 governments between 1919 to 1923
2. Over-reliance on Article 48 – President could pass laws
by decree without support of the Reichstag in an
emergency. This was used due to lack of strong
governments and effectively undermined the new
constitution and democratic rule
3. Unpopular – many parties in the Reichstag despised the
constitution and the government which created it was
despite by both the extreme left and right
UNPOPULARITY OF THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC
The nature of the war’s end and events following it led to
the government being despised by large sections of German
society:
1. The government surrendered before Germany was
invaded – this led to the ‘stab in the back’ myth that
Germany was betrayed and not defeated
2. The Treaty of Versailles – resented the treaty being a
‘diktat’ despite surrendering and felt the terms were
incredibly harsh
The Treaty damaged the German economy and made
Weimar weak from the outset but dealt more heavy
political damage with its leaders becoming known as the
‘November Criminals’.
POLITICAL THREATS – EXTREME LEFT
Extreme left-wing groups wanted a communist revolution,
and backed by the Soviet Union, attempted to overthrow
the new government.
The strongest challenge manifested itself in the Spartacist
revolt of January 1919. This was an uprising by the extreme
socialist Spartacist League, led by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl
Liebknecht.
The revolt was triggered when thousands of workers
protested in Berlin at the sacking of a popular police chief
by Ebert.
POLITICAL THREATS – EXTREME LEFT
The Spartacists took advantage of the protests by calling for
an uprising and general strike, leading to 100k workers
taking to the streets on January 6th.
The government lost control of Berlin as workers seized
key locations. The army and government were in no
position to put down the revolt, so Ebert ordered army
officers to organise demobilised soldiers into the
‘Freikorps’.
Mostly right-wing nationalists who hated communists.
POLITICAL THREATS – EXTREME LEFT
The Spartacists were no match for the armed, and often battlehardened, Freikorps who had crushed them by 13th January.
The Freikorps then ended their threat when they arrested
Luxemburg and Liebknecht on January 16th, before both were
executed.
The Spartacists clearly posed a significant threat to the
weakened government by taking over Berlin, however, were
ultimately unable to overcome an armed force like the
Freikorps.
POLITICAL THREATS – EXTREME RIGHT
The creation of the Freikorps ultimately backfired on Ebert’s
government. They numbered over 250,000 by March 1919 and
by 1920 decided to disband them due to their lack of control.
In response (and also due to general right-wing discontent with
Weimar) the Freikorps turned on the government and marched
on Berlin. When the army refused to fire on them, the Freikorps
soon controlled Berlin and declared Wolfgang Kapp their leader
and declared the formation of a new government.
The government fled Berlin and were unable to deal with the
uprising.
POLITICAL THREATS – EXTREME RIGHT
The Weimar government urged the workers to refuse
to co-operate with the Freikorps and go on strike.
The workers, with mostly socialist leanings and also in
opposition to the Freikorps wish to restore the Kaiser,
obliged and all essential services came to a halt.
Realising he could not govern the country, Kapp fled
and was imprisoned, leading to the rebellion collapsing
and the Weimar government being restored.
POLITICAL THREATS – EXTREME RIGHT
A recurring problem were political assassinations of mainly leftwing or moderate politicians by right-wing nationalists.
Over 376 political assassinations were carried out between
1919-22 with the most significant being the foreign minister
Walther Rathenau murdered in June 1922.
To make matters worse, mostly nationalist judges meant no
right-wing assassin was ever convicted, compared to ten leftwing assassins.
In this climate, most political parties hired ex-soldiers as armed
guards for their meetings which meant political meetings and
marches often turned violent.
CRISES OF 1923 – OCCUPATION OF THE RUHR
Germany had long argued it was unable to pay reparations
that were imposed on it, and having paid the first instalment
in 1921, in 1922 they announced they would be unable to
pay.
In response, the French sent troops into the Ruhr industrial
area in January 1923 to take their payment in kind by force.
The German government could not physically resist but
instead urged workers to engage in passive resistance and
go on strike.
CRISES OF 1923 – OCCUPATION OF THE RUHR
The French responded by arrested workers who
obstructed them and replaced with their own workers.
They also killed 130 German civilians in clashes.
The Germans bitterly resented the French however many
once again blamed the Weimar government for being weak.
The occupation also further crippled the German economy
with the Ruhr containing key factories and raw materials.
The crisis increased German debt, increased unemployment
and worsened goods shortages.
CRISES OF 1923 – HYPERINFLATION
The most significant impact of the occupation was the
hyperinflation crisis.
The government had to continue paying striking workers in the
Ruhr and also needed to pay debts with a shrinking tax intake.
The government resorted to printing extra money. However this
led to skyrocketing inflation. By the end of the year, a loaf of
bread cost 200 trillion marks.
CRISES OF 1923 – HYPERINFLATION
The crisis had complex effects:
1. Normal living had changed – money was carried in
baskets and workers were paid twice daily to buy goods
before further price rises – some shops even only took
payment in kind
2. People with savings e.g pensioners and middle classes,
were most severely impacted as their savings became
worthless
3. People with loans, in particular big businesses and the
government, saw value of debts go down so benefited
RECOVERY OF THE REPUBLIC, 1924-29
This period is often referred to as the ‘Golden Age of
Weimar’ and is associated with the most prominent
politician of the era – Gustav Stresemann.
Leader of one of the main conservative parties, the DVP, he
was appointed as Chancellor in August 1923 before he was
made to resign in November.
Under the coalition governments of the decade, he was
Foreign Minister until his sudden death in October 1929 – a
position from he was able to take crucial steps to help
Germany recover.
ECONOMIC RECOVERY – ENDING HYPERINFLATION
Stresemann setup a new state-owned bank, the
Rentenbank, which issued a new currency, the Rentenmark
in November 1923 – tied to price of gold and strictly
limited supply. He had also called off the passive resistance
in Ruhr.
This brought the hyperinflation crisis to an end and the new
German currency was much stronger than the previous
mark.
This led a strong economic recovery for German businesses
and the economy, but people’s personal losses during
hyperinflation were permanent.
ECONOMIC RECOVERY – THE DAWES PLAN, 1924
Germany agreed a deal in April 1924 in which:
- Reparations were temporarily reduced to £50 million per
year (before increasing again after 5 years)
- US banks loaned Germany $25 billion between 1924-30
- Germany would resume reparations payments which led
the French to leave the Ruhr
This caused industrial output to double between 1923-28 as
well as higher employment, increased trade and income
from taxation.
ECONOMIC RECOVERY – THE DAWES PLAN, 1924
The main drawback however was that Germany’s recovery
depended on US loans (which would come back to hurt
Germany severely after the Wall Street Crash).
This was also seen as ‘surrender’ by the extreme right who were
furious that the government had agreed to restart paying
reparations.
ECONOMIC RECOVERY – THE YOUNG PLAN, 1929
The Young Plan aimed to build more permanent solutions
on top of the temporary ones made by the Dawes Plan.
- The total reparations debt was reduced to £2 billion (from
£6.6 billion)
- The payment period was extended to 1988, giving
Germany an extra 59 years to pay
- All remaining allied troops also agreed to leave Germany
(the Rhineland)
Despite massive organised opposition to the plan from the
DNVP and Nazis triggering a referendum, 85% voted in
favour of the plan, showing it had massive public support.
ECONOMIC RECOVERY – STANDARD OF LIVING
- Unemployment fell to just 1.3 million in 1928
- Unemployment insurance meant that workers were
provided with 60 marks a week if they became
unemployed or were sick
- Length of the working week fell to 46 hours on average
whilst real wages rose by 25%
- Rent tax was used to fund home building with
government associations building 64,000 new homes,
helping to ease housing shortages
- 750,000 war veterans, 400,000 widows and 200,000
parents paid pensions throughout the 1920s
RECOVERY IN FOREIGN RELATIONS - LOCARNO
Stresemann sought to improve Germany’s international
standing and his greatest success was with the Locarno Pact,
1925.
Germany accepted its 1919 border with France, the
Rhineland was agreed to be permanently demilitarised and
in exchange it was agreed that talks would open about
German membership of the League of Nations.
Extreme right-wing parties were again outraged and
believed this was a betrayal.
RECOVERY IN FOREIGN RELATIONS - LOCARNO
As a consequence of Locarno, Germany was then accepted
into the League of Nations in September 1926.
Germany was also made a permanent member of the
League of Nations Council and was now seen as among the
great powers of Europe and treated as an equal.
Nationalists were of course still angry and communists too
believed the League of Nations was in conspiracy against
the USSR.
POLITICAL STABILITY
The success of Stresemann’s policies in stabilising the
economy and improving Germany’s international standing
led to far more political stability.
The support for moderate political parties which supported
the Weimar Republic rose significantly whilst parties like
the Nazis struggled significantly, losing over a million votes.
Far-right nationalists like the DNVP also became more
accepting of Weimar and became more moderate, in
particular after Ebert died in 1925 and was replaced by Paul
von Hindenburg.
POLITICAL STABILITY
Despite this stability, coalitions continued to chop and
change and Germany had four chancellors in this period.
30% of the vote continued to go to parties that opposed
the Weimar republic, including the DNVP who would
become more extreme again after 1928 and even work
more closely with the Nazis!
The DNVP and Hindenburg, grudgingly, accepted the new
democracy and this meant Germany had politicians in
senior positions who did not ultimately support its
principles.
CULTURAL ACHIEVEMENTS – WOMEN’S RIGHTS
Women did very well in Weimar Germany:
- Equal voting rights with men in 1918, over 90% turnout and
112 women elected (cumulatively) by 1932
- Article 109 gave women equal rights as men
- More women in professional occupations, e.g female doctors
rose from 2500 to 5000 between 1925-32
- Women, especially young urban, had greater job opportunities
and therefore more social independence
CULTURAL ACHIEVEMENTS – ART, ARCHITECTURE,
CINEMA AND SCIENCE
Censorship of the war came to an end, along with new constitution,
which gave artists and writers far more freedom to express
themselves:
- Art and literature abandoned old styles and instead focused on
representing everyday life, criticising army leaders, highlighted
traumas soldiers faced from the war
- The Bauhaus style of design developed which led to new and exciting
buildings and objects being created
- German cinema became world-leading, pioneering genres like horror
(Nosferatu) and science fiction (Metropolis) and its stars were
internationally famous
- German scientists continued to be renowned, winning more Nobel
Science Prizes in the 1920s than any other nation
CULTURAL ACHIEVEMENT – SOCIAL TENSIONS
Social and cultural changes also led to tensions:
- Many felt threatened by growing independence of
women and believed they were undermining German
society
- Some criticised the use of public money to finance the
arts when working people needed basic help
- Right-wing nationalists believed new culture was
degenerate and was a sign of moral decline and was
associated with foreigners
10 MARK QUESTIONS ON THE ‘GOLDEN AGE’
Questions are likely to be about either:
- The extent to which Germany did recover/this period
was a Golden Age
- What the greatest achievement of this era was
- Overlaps with previous question but only discuss the
improvements/achievements