Transcript Slide 1

The Weimar Republic 1918 - 1930
The Reichstag in session 1930
1918 Defeat and Revolution
•By mid 1918, it was clear Germany would lose the war.
•The entrance of America into the conflict ensured fresh
allied troops and supplies while the British naval blockades
and bad harvests in 1917 and 1918 meant that food
supplies were critically low in Germany. As a result,
malnutrition was widespread.
•By August 1918, all land taken during the German Spring
Offensive had been lost and German territory itself was
now under threat.
Defeat and Revolution
•Confident that peace would
be based on Wilson’s
‘Fourteen Points’, moves
were made in Germany to
give the Reichstag
parliament greater powers.
• It was hoped this would
extract more favourable
peace terms from the
allies, as they themselves
had well-developed
democracies.
President Woodrow
Wilson (USA)
Defeat and Revolution
•The new government led by Chancellor Prince Max of Baden
approached the allies for a ceasefire.
•As news of the impending armistice spread, sailors in
Wilhelmshaven refused to follow an order to sail into the
English Channel. They were quickly followed by sailors in
Kiel who also mutinied (above).
Defeat and Revolution
•Workers and soldiers soviets were set up in many towns and
cities and demanded an end to the war.
•A key stumbling block was the continued presence of the
Kaiser – the allies would negotiate only with a new
government.
•On the 9th November the Kaiser fled and Germany was
proclaimed a republic. Frederich Ebert (SDP) was appointed
as Chancellor and Philip Scheidemann (SDP) his deputy in a
provisional government.
An Early Threat to the Weimar Republic
The Spartacist Rising
January 1919
•Left-wing extremists staged
an uprising in Berlin ahead of
the elections for the new
National Assembly.
•They wanted more equal power
and wealth for the working
classes and believed that the
new government would primarily
benefit the middle classes.
• Middle-class newspaper
premises were occupied and the
end of the Ebert-Scheidemann
government was proclaimed.
•Ebert called out the Army and Freikorps (ex-soldiers) units
to deal with the Spartacists (KPD) who continued to hold
out after 3 days.
•Hundreds were killed and Spartacist leaders Karl
Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemberg were shot by Freikorps
officers while under arrest.
•This led to lasting hostility between the SDP and the
Communists which would make co-operation against Nazism
much more problematic in future years.
Main Political Parties in Weimar Germany 1918-1933
KPD (Communist)
•Against the
Republic, wanted
Communist state
instead.
NSDAP (Nazi)
Z (Centre Party)
•Catholic working
and middle class
•Extreme nationalism
and racism
•Wide appeal after
1929
Social Democratic
Party (SDP)
DVP (German
People’s Party)
•Working and lower
middle class
•Upper middle
class, employers
•Received most votes
until 1932
•Led by
Stresemann
DNVP (German
National
People’s Party)
•Junker
landowners,
urban lower
middle class
The New Constitution
•Four days after the murder of the Spartacist leaders,
elections were held for a National Assembly.
•76% of the votes went to parties such as the SDP,
DDP and the Centre party who clearly supported a new
democratic Republic.
•Ebert now became President and Scheidemann
Chancellor.
•In February the new assembly met in Weimar, away
from the disturbances in Berlin and began to draw up a
new constitution for Germany.
The Weimar Republic – intrinsic political weaknesses?
•Universal adult suffrage
Proportional
Representation
•A voting system
in which political
parties gain
representation in
parliament
according to the
proportion of
votes they
receive
•All votes cast were given
appropriately weighted
representation in the Reichstag so
it was a very democratic system
•PR resulted in frequently changing
coalitions as no one party was able
to secure a 50% majority
•Post war Germany had a
particularly high number of
political parties representing very
narrow sectional interests e.g.
religion, regions, social class
Powers of the
President
•Elected directly by
the people for 7
years
•An ‘Ersatz Kaiser’
with the power to
appoint and dismiss
Chancellors
•Under Article 48
the president could
also override the
Reichstag to pass
laws
•Under Article 48 the
elected President could rule
in times of crisis, ensuring a
swift response to a crisis e.g
Ebert’s response to threats
to the Republic 1919-1925
•In the wrong hands Article
48 could threaten democracy
e.g. Chancellors could be
appointed regardless of how
much support they had in the
Reichstag
The Birth of the Weimar Republic – a bad start?
•The shock of sudden defeat following years of wartime
propaganda led some to develop a rabid hatred of the
culprits allegedly responsible for it i.e. ‘Jews’ and
‘Bolsheviks’. This ‘Stab in the Back’ myth particularly
struck a chord with the right wing.
•Widespread hunger and the influenza pandemic provided
the backdrop to rioting, strikes, political instability and
violence.
•Peacetime Germany saw the return of many traumatised
soldiers. There were also huge numbers who would never
return. Many desperate people clung to an unrealistic set
of expectations of what this new Republic could achieve
in the short term.
•The Republic would forever be tainted by the signing of
the peace settlement at Versailles in July 1919.
French soldiers wait outside the Palace of
Versailles for the signing of the Treaty
The Treaty of Versailles
“This is not Peace. It is an Armistice for twenty years”
Ferdinand Foch, French Marshal
Terms of the Treaty
•Alsace – Lorraine to be returned to France and
territories in the East to become part of Poland.
•Loss of foreign colonies.
•Saar coalfields under the control of France and Danzig
to become a free city supervised by the League of
Nations.
•Demilitarisation of the Rhineland.
•Article 231 = war guilt
billion reparations to be paid.
Article 232 = £6.6
•Anschluss (union) between Germany and Austria
forbidden.
•Army to be only 100 000 strong, no Air Force or
submarines allowed.
Dancing in the streets of Paris after the signing of
the Treaty of Versailles 28th June 1919
The Kapp Putsch
March 1920
•Freikorps
units under
the leadership
of Wolfgang
Kapp forced
Ebert’s
government to
flee Berlin.
•In desperation and lacking support from the army, the
Weimar government persuaded the trade unions to lead a
general strike to paralyse the city. Kapp was forced to
surrender but punishments were slight due to government
concerns about alienating the right wing.
The Red Rising
•Two days after the Kapp Putsch, Communists led an
uprising of 50 000 in the Ruhr
•This time the army cooperated and the disturbances
were more easily suppressed.
•The early 1920s were also blighted by political
assassinations.
•Amongst the hundreds of victims of right-wing extremists
was Walter Rathenau, Germany’s Foreign Minister. He was
a popular and charismatic figure, and his state funeral in
1922 was a national trauma.
Hyperinflation
•In August 1914, the war was expected to be short. The
Kaiser financed it through government borrowing, not by
savings and taxation and also by simply printing more money.
•Between 1914 and 1919 prices in Germany had already
doubled.
•Under the Treaty of Versailles Germany was expected to
make huge reparations payments and yet it had to forfeit
the income from important industrial areas such as the Saar
coalfields.
•Critics of Versailles such as the economist JM Keynes were
convinced that the amount set was both unrealistic and
punitive.
•In 1922 Germany claimed it was unable to meet the
second reparations instalment.
Jan 1923
France
occupies
the Ruhr
to seize
coal
Germans
react with
Passive
Resistance
•Rapid
printing of
money
Hyperinflation
and economic
crisis
•Collapse of
confidence in
the mark
•More
economic
disruption
•Increased
welfare
payments
needed for
strikers
The Impact of Hyperinflation
•Choosing to print
more money to pay
striking workers and
compensate
industrialists rather
than raising taxes
had a disastrous
effect.
•A loaf of bread
that cost 0.63
marks in 1918 cost
201 000 000 000
marks by November
1923.
Marks per US dollar 1920-3
Pearl Buck, an American writer was
in Germany in 1923:
"The cities were still there, the
houses not yet bombed and in
ruins, but the victims were millions
of people. They had lost their
fortunes, their savings; they were
dazed and inflation-shocked and
did not understand how it had
happened to them and who the foe
was who had defeated them. Yet
they had lost their self-assurance,
their feeling that they themselves
could be the masters of their own
lives if only they worked hard
enough; and lost, too, were the old
values of morals, of ethics, of
decency."
Wallpapering with marks
July 1923
Why did the German government not act to
halt the inflation?
•The French had sent their army into the Ruhr to enforce
their demands for reparations, and the Germans were
militarily powerless to resist.
• Great German industrialists such as Krupp, Farben and
Stinnes condoned the inflation. A cheaper Mark, they
reasoned, would make German goods cheap and easy to
export, and they needed the export earnings to buy raw
materials abroad. Inflation kept everyone working.
•The German leaders felt that the collapse of the mark
was proving how impossible it was for Germany to pay the
reparations which were demanded. Stabilization of the
mark would have spoiled this ‘proof’.
Hyperinflation – Winners and Losers
•Small tradesmen, craftsmen and shopkeepers were
shielded from the worst effects of the crisis.
•Some of the working class had unions to fight on their
behalf for wage rises.
•Larger businessmen found their debts were wiped out
and they could exploit bankruptcies.
•Those that suffered the most were those on fixed
incomes e.g. pensioners, disabled war veterans.
•White collar workers e.g. teachers, civil servants
struggled as salaries were difficult to negotiate.
Although this group had been supportive of Weimar in
1919, after 1923 many voted for extremist parties.
The ‘Golden Years’ 1924 -29
Gustav Stresemann, the German Foreign Minister,
addresses the League of Nations in September 1926
•Formed the German people’s
Party (DVP) in 1918.
•Chancellor from August November 1923 and resolved
the hyperinflation crisis
•Following this he became
Foreign Minister until his
sudden death in 1929
Gustav Stresemann
(1878 - 1929)
•Initially a supporter of
military force, but later
became convinced of the need
to support the Republic and
find peaceful solutions to
Germany’s problems.
Stresemann’s Achievements
•September 1923 Passive Resistance called off.
•November 1923 The new Rentenmark issued and secured
on a mortgage of all land and industry.
•1924 Dawes Plan reduced the total reparations bill, spread
out the repayments and provided an allied loan of 800
million marks to help Germany meet the instalment.
•1925 Locarno Pact saw Germany voluntarily accept her
Western borders as set at Versailles, including the
demilitarisation of the Rhineland.
•1926 Germany admitted to the League of Nations.
•1929 Young Plan set a time limit for reparations and
reduced the overall amount.
Criticisms of Stresemann
•Calling off Passive Resistance was seen by many as
Germany again surrendering to the allies. Hitler and
other right-wing extremists capitalised on this during
the Beer Hall Putsch in Munich 1923.
•Many Germans felt Stresemann was more of a
European peace broker than a German minister and it
brought him domestic unpopularity.
•Snyder has argued that “the Dawes Plan actually
promoted a cycle harmful for international finance”.
Close links between the German, British, French and
American economies meant that serious problems in one
country would impact unavoidably in the others.
However,
Stresemann was
far-sighted and
calculating,
ensuring that
although
Germany’s
Western borders
were finalised
under Locarno….
….her Eastern
borders could
still be revised.
Stresemann
refused to sign
mutual
guarantees with
Poland and
Czechoslovakia
over this issue
•By the late 1920s Germany was no longer an outcast but
a key player on the European stage once again.
“When we came back from Locarno the English
ambassador made a speech …‘The world will never forget
that it was Germany who took the initiative towards
peace in Europe.’” Gustav Stresemann October 1925
Recovery in Germany 1924-29
•During the late 1920s, the Weimar government
invested heavily in public housing, schools, parks and
other facilities.
•A more comprehensive unemployment insurance
scheme was introduced and wages, particularly in the
public sector, increased.
•By 1927 German industrial production had recovered
to pre-war levels.
•The late 1920s saw a rise in car ownership and a
growth of the cinema industry, both indicators of a
more prosperous society.
•Artistic movements such as the Bauhaus and
expressionism were developed as artists like Klee and
Kandinsky experimented with modern abstract art
The Bauhaus School, Dessau
Verdichtung, 1929
However, economic recovery between 1924-9 was
patchy…
•Farmers faced a world-wide agricultural depression and
were unable to modernise production. In 1929, agricultural
production was only 74% that of pre-war levels.
•Although wages did increase in industry they did not go far
above the cost of living.
•Those without union representation still experienced
economic difficulties e.g. civil servants.
•The balance of trade was in the red i.e. in debt.
•There were still 1.9 million unemployed in early 1929.
•German government finances from 1925 were continuallly
run in deficit.
October 1929
•On October 3rd 1929
Stresemann died suddenly
of a stroke. This would
inevitably leave a political
vacuum.
•The president at the
time, Hindenburg, (elected
in 1924 following Ebert’s
unexpected death) had
been one of the highest
ranking army generals
during the war and was
keen for a return to more
autocratic rule.
Paul von Hindenburg
October 1929
•In October 1929, the
US stock market suddenly
collapsed. On ‘Black
Tuesday’ (29th October)
more money was lost in
one day alone than the
US government had spent
during the whole of the
first world war.
•Banks closed and
businesses collapsed in
America.
Wall Street New York
Oct 1929
•However, American
dominance of the world
economy meant that a
worldwide depression soon
followed.
Fall in demand
Less money
available
The Cycle
of Economic
Depression
Workers left
unemployed
Less goods sold
Effect of the American Depression on Germany
German politics in the early 1930s
•A 5 party coalition struggled on under Chancellor Muller.
•However, the SDP members demanded higher levels of
unemployment benefit, while the DVP wanted lower taxes and
lower benefits. Agreement could not be reached.
The legislative process therefore was paralysed.
Muller asked Hindenburg to pass new laws by decree
instead. Hindenburg refused.
Frustrated, Muller resigned.
Hindenberg replaced him in March
1930 with Bruning, leader of the
ZP, the second largest party in the
Reichstag.
Bruning, keen to avoid inflation,
wanted lower welfare benefits and
increases in taxes was supported
by Hindenberg who passed these
increasingly unpopular measures by
decree.
Bruning
September 1930 Reichstag elections
•The Reichstag challenged the presidential use of Article
48 in July 1930 when Hindenburg used it to put Bruning’s
new budget through.
•In the resulting deadlock, Bruning asked Hindenburg to
dissolve the current Reichstag and call another election.
•However, instead of resulting in a more workable
coalition of centre-right, pro-democratic parties, the
real beneficiaries of the election were to be the
extremist parties of both the left and right.
•The KPD increased their share of the vote to 13.1%
while the Nazi Party with 18.3% of the vote was now
the second largest party in the Reichstag. Democratic
parliamentary government was now going to find it even
more difficult to function.
‘The Dead Parliament’ by John Heartfield
•Produced in October
1930 by a German
communist, the caption
below stated:
“It’s what’s left from
1848! This is what the
Reichstag will look like
when it opens in October
1930.”