Paper 1 : Development of dictatorship : Germany , 1918-1945 : The establishment of the Weimar Republic and its early problems.

• German Revolution of 1918

Causes of Revolution

• Failure of the First World War
• Germans were confident when WW1 started
• However they now faced combined might of France, USA, Britain and Russia.
• The Germans had launched a desperate spring offensive upon Paris in March 1918.
• Allies counter-attacked in July and drove the Germans back.
• German casualties were as high as 2 million in 1914.
• Morale amongst troops was low.
• A sense of hopelessness amongst Germans.  
• Hardship caused by War
• Allied blockage of the sea caused food shortages and prevented imports of basic supplies.
• Public hardship was worsened by Spanish Influenza epidemic throughout Europe in August 1918.
• The Russian Revolution
• The Russians overthrew the Tsar in 1917.
• Tsar abdication and replaced with a government of the people.
• This created discontent in Germany by stirring up a revolutionary atmosphere.
• It turned into a condition for peace that the Germans got rid of the Kaiser that refused to abdicate.

Events of Revolution

• 25 October 1918- Naval commanders at Kiel sent ships out to fight British fleet.
  - Sailors mutinied
• 26 October - 5 November 1918
  - Kaiser and government did nothing to stop the mutiny.
  - Strikes and demonstrations against the war and the Kaiser ensued.
  - 4th November, 40,000 soldiers joined sailors and set up a Soldiers' and Workers'             Council.
• 6 November 1918
  - Soldiers' and workers' councils took control in cities
  - Their main aim was to end the war.
• 7 November 1918
  - Social Democrats sent an ultimatum to the Kaiser that unless he abdicated, they would join the revolution.
  - The Social Democrats were the party that the worker's traditionally voted for.
• 9 November 1918
  - There was a general strike in Berlin.
  - Armed workers and soldiers joined the streets.
  - Social democrats were afraid extremists would gain control of the revolution.
  - Ebert's colleague announced Kaiser's abdication and the setting up of the German Republic which they would run in coalition with other socialist parties.
  - Friedrich Ebert became Chancellor.

Effects of Revolution

• A new government was established
• New government agreed to armistice on 11th November 1918.
• Germany had to surrender all land won in war.
• Surrender its munitions
• Pull its troops back 48km from France
• Armistice was unpopular and economic suffering continued.
   
• Strengths and weaknesses of new constitution

The Weimar Republic and Weimar Constitution

• Drawn up in 1919
• The Weimar constitution attempted to set up a democratic system where no individual could gain too much power.

Strengths of the New Constitution

• Set up of Reichstag
• Represented the whole nation
• Discussed issues such as tax, finance and foreign policies
• Members of Reichstag was elected every 4 years.
• Proportional representation was used.
• This meant that the number of Reichstag seats which political parties were given depended on the percentage of votes they gained.
• This is to set up a democratic system where no individual could gain too much power.
• Bill of Rights
• Guaranteed every German citizen the right of freedom of speech and religion and equality under the law.

Weakness of the New Constitution

• Proportional Representation
• Everybody was allowed to vote, extremists from both the left and right sides of the political spectrum.
• This also meant that even a party with a small number of votes could get seats in the Reichstag.
• This caused a "congestion" of parties in the Reichstag. 
• To get the majority of the support, Chancellors needed coalitions of several parties such as Social Democrats with the People's Party and Centre Party.
• If each party had different aims, decision making would take a long time and it becomes a tedious process. Thus, rendering it a disorganised system.
• Article 48
• Whenever Reichstag parties could not come to a compromise, Chancellor will suspend the constitution under Article 48 and rule by decree.
• This renders that the new democratic system of the Weimar Republic useless.
• This meant that the Chancellor could virtually rule as a dictator under the legal Article 48, which was what Hitler has done with the Enabling Act.
    
• Reactions to Treaty of Versailles

Treaty of Versailles Terms

• 7th May 1919.
• War Guilt
• Germany had to take the blame for war
• Reparation payments
• Germany had to pay reparations of 6600 million marks.
• Colonies
• Germany had to return all land won in WW1
• Germany had to return Ukraine taken from Russia from the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
• Danzeg became a free city.
• Germany was prohibited from uniting with Austria
• Military
• Conscription was reduced to 100,000 men.
• This increased unemployment of deployed army militants.
• No air forces, naval ships, submarines or weaponry were allowed.
• Allies were allowed to keep their army in Rhineland for 15 years.
• This renders Germany defenseless and demilitarised.
• Land
• Poland became an independent country.
• Germany had to return Alsace-Lorraine to France = lost resources.
• Germany lost all agricultural land.
• Germany was excluded from the League of Nations

  Treaty of Versailles Reactions

• German Outrage
• Germans were furious about Treaty of Versailles.
• They felt that it was unfair and unjust towards all of them because it was a "Diktat"- an enforced settlement. 
• They had not been allowed to discuss or take part in the talks, they only have been told to sign the treaty.
• Humiliation
• Germany was no longer a strong country.
• Germany had a history of strong military tradition but losing the war caused Germany to lose its pride.
• Millions of deployed soldiers were unemployed due to the conscription of army being reduced to only 100,000.
• Economic Crisis
• Germany was already bankrupt from the war.
• To add on top of that, Germany had to repay reparation cost of 6600 million marks.
• The loss of land made it harder to meet preparation fees as most of its agricultural land was taken away.
• The fact that Germany's industrial heart in the Ruhr was occupied by the allies and they had to supply France with resources like coal made it difficult for Germany financially.
    
• Spartacist uprising and Kapp Putsch

Political situation in Germany 1918-1923

• The Treaty of Versailles in 1919 angered many Germans.
• The hardships of the Treaty of Versailles caused inflation and massive unemployment
• Political unrest because political parties had their own armies.
• Private armies had been used for protection but was abused for taking part in violent political activities.

Difference of Left and Right wing

Right wing

• Keep society stable.
• Wants a strong government spearheaded by a strong leader.
• Supports capitalism (the private ownership of land and business)
• Importance of family unit, morals, law and order and traditional values.
• Nationalistic.
• Nazism is extreme right wing.

Left Wing

• Wants to change society very rapidly.
• Aim to treat all people equally.
• Give political power to workers (democracy)
• Opposes capitalism (They want to abolish private ownership of land and business)
• Socialism is left wing.
• Communism is extreme left wing.

Political groups in Weimar Republic 

Right wing

• Led by Social Democrats
• Consists of small nationalist parties
• Hated the communists as they undermined the mutinies and Kaiser in 1918.
• Wanted to reverse the Treaty of Versailles and reinstate the Kaiser.
• Gained support from the military service.
• They opposed in giving the people power in the new democratic Weimar Republic.

Left Wing

• Dominated by the KPD, the communist party.
• Wanted revolution in Germany like in Russia in 1917
• The Weimar Republic gave to little power to the people
• Wanted a government of workers and soldiers.
• Wanted to abolish private ownership of business and land.

Sparacist Uprising

• 6th January 1919
• 100,000 communists demonstrated in Berlin
• They took over key buildings such as newspaper offices, government buildings.
• Chancellor Ebert realised that regular army could not put down the revolt alone.
• Chancellor persuaded the Freikorps (demobilised army soldiers who were deployed due to the Treaty of Versailles) to put down the revolt.
• By March 1919, there were 250,000 Freikorps.
• Several thousand of communists were arrested and killed.
• Rosa Luxemberg and Karl Liebknecht were arrested on January 15th 1919, murdered by Freikorps.

Kapp Putsch 

• In 1920, 5,000 supporters of Dr Wolfgang Kapp marched into Berlin in an attempt to overthrow the Weimar Republic and bring back the Kaiser.
• For a period of time, rebels controlled the city.
• The Government fled to Dresden and urged people in Berlin not to co-operate with the rebels and go on strike.
• Many workers who were socialists obliged as they did not wish to see the Kaiser return.
• Industrial heart ground to a halt. Essential goods like gas, electricity, transport stopped.
• Kapp realised that he did not have enough support of the people and fled.
• He was later caught and put in prison.
      
• French occupation of the Ruhr

Bankruptcy

• The Weimar Government was bankrupt due to the Treaty of Versailles and the war.
• Huge sums of money were poured into war efforts.
• Due to the Treaty of Versailles, Germany lost it's agricultural lands which deprived Germany financially.
• The Treaty also required Germany to pay 6600 million marks.
• With no source of national income, Germany was unable to pay off it's debts in 1923.

French occupation of the Ruhr

• The Ruhr was Germany's, industrial heart. 
• It is the main and largest industrial region of Germany.
• 80% of Germany's coal is produced here.
• Because Germany was unable to pay off its debts in 1923, France retaliated with sending French troops into the Ruhr.
• They confiscated raw materials, manufactured goods, and industrial machinery.
• German workers were treated harshly.
• The German Government urged passive resistance, where workers go on strike.
• The French responded with bringing their own workers and arresting those who obstructed.
• This crippled Germany as the French was taking their resources.
• This disruption increased German debts, unemployment and caused a shortage of goods.

• Cause and effect of Hyperinflation

Cause : French occupation of the Ruhr

• Passive resistance caused the shortage of goods to be produced.
• This caused prices of goods to skyrocket in the market.
• The government needed money to pay off their debts, but unemployment and failing factories meant that they received less money from taxes.
• In 1923, the Government decided to print more money to solve the problem.
• This made it easier for the Government to repay reparations but it worsened the inflation.
• The more money was printed, the more prices rose.
• By 1923, a loaf of bread cost 100,000 marks.

Effects :

• Farmers 
• Profited from rising food prices. 
• They were not exempted from paying higher prices for food.
• Small businesses 
• Could pay off loans as they lost value.
• Could buy up smaller, failing businesses very cheaply.
• Middle class people
• Savings became worthless.
• Money in bank accounts, insurance policies and pensions became lost its value.
• Overall :
• Workers were paid twice a day.
• Workers would leave work halfway to rush out and buy basic necessities before prices rose further.
• Some shops did not accept money, they ask for payment in goods (barter system)
• Money became hard to carry around.
• People needed wagons as purses.