Weimar Republic
Year 12: History
Ms. Nickell
15 march 2010
-ism: Latin suffix; belief system
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"We Social Democrats, in this solemn hour, are at one with the whole of the German nation,
without distinction of party or creed, in accepting the fight forced upon us by Russian
barbarism, and we are ready to fight till the last drop of blood for Germany's national
independence, fame and greatness." (SPD newspaper editorial, July 1914)
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Nationalism
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Militarism
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Imperialism
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(page 13: map as evidence)
Disbelief...shock...disillusionment
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The Great War has ended?
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The Verdict was set: Germany was to blame (Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles)
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Humiliation sets in; this was not what was suppose to happen
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Alsace-Lorraine was surrendered back to France, plus overseas colonies to Britain
along with other lands gained given to Belgium, Denmark and Lithuania.
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16% of all coal fields and farms were confiscated
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No Anschluss with Austria allowed
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All prisoners of war were to be handed over to their respective countries, but Germany
was not to receive her prisoners back in return
Whatever had gone wrong?
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War on two fronts, despite the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, and Treaty of
Bucharest (Russia & Romania)
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America enters the war allied with the Triple Entente (Zimmerman Telegram;
Germany’s alleged alliance with Mexico)
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Naval blockade; by 1917, Germany was suffering the consequences of this
blockade, being “severe shortages of food and vital raw materials.” (fuel
shortage)
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1917 “Winter of Turnips” = starvation, illness, disease
Thus, disillusionment with the war caused civil unrest, tension, anxiety
resulting in the break down of the idealistic existence of Burgfrieden
Germany’s many challenges
1918-1925
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Social Challenges
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Economical Challenges
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Political Challenges
Social Challenges...
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Factory owners made vast fortunes, while workers had restrictions placed on
their earnings
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Women were called to work in the factories. Many saw this as damaging to
traditional family values and society as a whole
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600,000 widows and 2 million children were left without fathers
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Diminished morale; danger of revolution, disillusionment of Burgfrieden
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Deaths from starvation and hypothermia increased:
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1916: 121, 000
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1918: 293,00
• June 24, 1922: 272 Reichsmark (RM) = 1 US dollar
Timeline of Hyper-Inflation
• July 1922: 670 reichsmarks = 1 US dollar
• August 1922: 2,000 reichsmarks = 1 US dollar
• October 1922: 45,000 reichsmarks = 1 US dollar
• August 1-August 7, 1923: RM 3,500,000 = 1 US
Dollar
• August 15, 1923: RM 4,000,000 = 1 US Dollar
• September 1, 1923: RM 10,000,000 = 1 US Dollar
• November 1922: 10,000 reichsmarks = 1 US dollar
• Around September 10 to September 25, 1923:
Prices reportedly rise hourly in several German
cities.
• September 30, 1923: RM 60,000,000 = 1 US
Dollar
• December 30, 1922: 500,000 reichsmarks = 1 US
dollar
• February 1923: Reichsbank buys back RM (or
reichsmark); stabilizes RM at 20,000 to 1 US dollar
• November 15, 1923: Rentenmark issued; pegged
to the Gold Standard; Rentenmark 4.2 = 1 US
dollar; at this time: Old Reichsmark
4,200,000,000 = 1 US dollar.
1 New Rentenmark = 1 billion Old Reichsmark!
Economic Issues...
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Hyper-inflation was a frightening issue
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Agricultural production failed; where are all the farmers?
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The Wall Street Crash; what was its connection with the reparations
that Germany had to pay back at this point?
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National income was about 1/3 of what it had been in 1913
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By 1925 the state was spending 1/3 of its budget on war pensions
In creasing militaryIssues...
control, resulting in growing criticism from the workers and
Political
general public. There was also “the stab in the back” myth.
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Threat from the Left-wing (Communist party: Spartacists). Groups of
Friedkorps were formed, who were anti-communist to counter the Spartacists
influence. Street fighting ensued and the Friedkorps won. In May 1919, 600
Communists were killed. (the revolution from below: Parliamentary Republic)
Threats from the Right-Wing, which was largely made up of Kaiser’s
supporters who had liked his dictatorial style of government. March 1920 saw
Dr Wolfgang Kapp leading 5000 Fridkorps in to Berlin in a rebellion known
was the Kapp Putsch, meaning rebellion. (the revolution from above:
Parliamentary Monarchy)
So what government inherited all
of this chaos?
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One of the demands for Germany from the Allies was that it was
suppose to become more of a democracy
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Thus, in September 1918, General Ludendorff came up with a brilliant
idea
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First, Ludendorff surmised that by having new civilian government
Germany would be able to get better peace terms from the Allies
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Secondly, he cynically hoped this new government would be blamed for
Germany’s defeat because it would have to be responsible for ending
the war.
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Ebert took the bait and signed the Armistice...
A true democracy...or not.
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...“The success of the new government depended on the German
people accepting an almost instant change from the traditional,
autocratic German system of government to this new democratic
system. The prospects did not look good.”
In addition, Ludendorff’s conspiracy theory developed further and had
quite the impact.
Dolchstosslegende; “The Stab in
the Back!”
Activity (pg.14)
•Who was responsible for Germany’s
defeat?
•How do you explain the shock that most
Germans felt in regards to the defeat?
•Wasn’t Germany in a position of victory at
the time of defeat?
•What about the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and
the Treaty of Bucharest?
•Was this new civilian government, The
Weimar Republic, really to blame?
•Does Ludendorff’s maneuver really have
any validation as to the defeat of Germany?
Bibliography
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Hite, John and Chris Hinton. Weimar & Nazi Germany. John Murray
Publishers: London, 2000.
Mountain Steps. “Weimar Republic Hyperinflation Timeline.” 4 June
2004. 15 March 2010.
<http://mountainsteps.blogspot.com/2009/06/wiemar-repulbichyperinflation-timeline.html>
Walsh, Ben. Modern World History. Hodder Murray: London, 2007.