Transcript Weimar Republic U-Decide PowerPoint

Weimar Republic
U-Decide
PowerPoint
Directions
• In this game you will play the role of a
politician in the Weimar Government which
ran Germany between 1918-1933. You
are trying to keep Germany afloat in the
tumultuous times after World War I. You
will face some tough decisions, but your
ultimate goal is to maintain the new
German democracy. As you make
decisions, keep track of the number of
“points” you have acquired.
German “Revolutions” 1918Ger
On November 9, 1918- two days before the
ending of the First World Warthousands of Germans swarmed the
streets of Berlin in a nearly bloodless
overthrow of the imperial government.
Berlin was not the only revolutionary
uprising, as the map to the left
demonstrates. A massive and largely
unexpected uprising, the demonstration
converged on the Reichstag (German
Parliament), where the German
Republic was announced. The Kaiser
abdicated only hours before, turning the
government over to Friedrich Ebert. In
addition to wanting to end the war, the
people wanted a popularly elected
national assembly to draft the
constitution of the new republic.
Friedrich Ebert:
First President of the Weimar Republic
• It is November of 1918. The Allies
are clearly winning the war- since
the Americans are bringing in more
troops, the Allies have posed a
blockade, so people are starving,
and the Kaiser has abdicated
rather than surrender. Ebert
states, “We have little choice but to
sign an armistice, whatever the
cost.” The armistice is signed,
and Germany’s first democratic
elections are held. However, the
decision to sign the armistice is
regarded as a betrayal of the
German people. The new leaders
of Germany become known as the
“November criminals” who
“stabbed Germany in the back” by
signing the armistice. t
The “Stabbed-in-the-Back” Theory
Note the Disgruntled German WWI veteran who is circled…who later
claimed the Weimar Republic ended the war early!
Question 1: How to Deal with
the Communist Revolutionaries
•
In two months, however, before the elections could be held- a period of
crisis occurred that verged on civil war. Despite your efforts, the
communists hate the new constitution. They wanted you to replace the
Kaiser with a working-class communist government, but instead you have
created a “bourgeois democracy.”
• The situation is serious. On your way back to the office after lunch, you
pass a large street meeting of the German Spartacist (communist) party.
The leaders- Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Lexemburg- are whipping the
crowds into a frenzy with their criticisms of the “November Criminals.” They
are calling for radical reforms and staging armed uprisings in Berlin.
What Shall We Do With the Rebels?
You get back to the Reichstag quickly. Your government is sitting around a big
oak table in the secret room discussing the problem. One advisor says
“Violence is the only thing the Sparticists understand. We need to have
discipline to make the country safe.”
A second advisor disagrees. “If you use violence, you will simply give them
some martyrs and even more supporters. Ignoring them is the best thing to
do. Ebert asks your opinion. What do you say?
Sparticist Poster
• In this pro-communist
poster, who is the
“Sparticus” fighting?
Option 1: Use violence against
the Sparticus League
Option 2: Leave the League
Alone
Option 1: Use Violence Against
the Sparticust League
• Ebert, upon reflection believes that
violence, although regrettable, is the only
solution. He takes your idea in a new
direction by suggesting to use the
Freikorps, a group of right wing soldiers,
not the army, to kill off the communists.
• For your brilliance, you earn 10 points.
What Really Happened
Option 2: Leave the League
Alone
• Although violence is not the most ethical,
Ebert disagrees with you that it is not an
option. Keeping Germany safe for
democracy is more important than
questioning the ethics of using violence
against the commies.
• You receive 0 points for this decision.
What Really Happened?
The Spartacist League
• Fearful of the Bolshevik-style
revolution, the government
turned against its former allies
and sent militant bands of
workers and volunteers to
crush the uprising. During the
conflict, the fighters executed
Luxemberg and Liebknechtwho instantly became martyrs
for the left. Violence continued
until 1920, creating bitterness
between the government and
socialist groups. The Weimar
Republic is now seen as brutal
and out of touch with the
working class.
Rosa Luxemburg
[1870-1919]
murdered by the Freikorps
The Spartacist League
• More important, the
revolutionary aftermath of the
war gave rise to bands of
militant counterrevolutionaries.
Veterans and other nationalists
joined the so-called Freikorps
(free corps). Such groups
developed throughout the
country. The politics of the
Friekorps were fiercely right
wing. They were anti-Marxist,
Anti-Semitic, and anti-liberal,
they had little respect for the
new German democracy.
Many of the early Nazi leaders
participated in the Freikorps.
• Despite its lack of support, the
new government created a
constitution based on universal
suffrage and a parliamentary
A Betrayal to Soldiers?- the
Treaty of Versailles
• The government has barely had time to recover from the
communist threat when Ebert tells you to pack your bags and
head to Paris-the Allies have finished drawing up the
Versailles Peace Treaty and they want the German
government to sign it! You are met by a French police squad
and escorted to the Palace of Versailles. There, French
President Clemenceau says to you “What do you believe
historians a hundred years from now will think of this treaty?
They will certainly not think that Belgium invaded Germany,
Monsieur!” After reading the provisions, dread fills your belly.
While you hesitate the Big Three quickly remind you that if
you refuse to sign, the war will continue.
Option 1: Sign the Treaty
Option 2: Refuse to Sign
the Treaty
Option 1: Sign the Treaty
• After pausing for a few seconds, you
calmly put pen to paper and sign your
name. Your heart sinks as you realize
how unpopular your government will be for
giving in to this no-win situation.
• Your unpopular status will cause you to
receive 0 points for your decision.
What Really Happened?
Option 2: Refuse to Sign the
Treaty
• After pausing for a few seconds, you throw the
pen violently at Clemenceau screaming that this
treaty is shameful and will not keep peace for 20
years. You throw the desk over and launch
yourself at Lloyd George like a wild animal.
Fortunately you are restrained by other
members of your delegation. They tell you that
there is absolutely no choice, you must sign the
treaty.
• You receive 0 points for this option.
What Really Happened
Europe in 1919
Many of the Weimar Republic’s
problems were born out of
Germany’s defeat in World War I.
The loss shocked many Germans,
who soon latched onto rumors that
the army hadn’t actually been
worsted in battle, but instead had
been “stabbed in the back” by
socialists and Jewish leaders in the
German government. Army officers
cultivated this story even before the
war was over, and though untrue, it
helped save wounded German
pride. In the next decade, those in
search of a scapegoat also blamed
the democratic government and
argued for a strong authoritarian
government.
From the German Point of View
 Lost—but not forgotten country.
 Into the heart
You are to dig yourself these words
as into stone:
Which we have lost may not be truly
lost!
Maimed German WW I Veteran
• The Treaty magnified
Germany’s sense of
dishonor- ceding 1/10 its
land, slashing the size of its
army. Most important, the
treaty saddled Germany
with crippling reparations.
Negotiating the $33 billion
debt created problems for
the government and
provoked anger from the
public who saw continued
doom in Germany’s future.
Indeed, by one estimate the
debt would not be paid off
until 1987.
International Crisis: France
invades the Ruhr
• In January 1923, French and Belgium troops
invade the Ruhr (the industrial heartland of
Germany). They accused the Germans of falling
behind in the reparations payments. They are
trying to force German miners to produce for
France. The German people are outraged, and
workers in the Ruhr adopt a policy of passive
resistance saying they would rather go on strike
than produce goods for the French army. Socially,
the invasion creates terrible tension in the area:
over the next 8 months of the occupation, 132
people are killed and over 150,000 Ruhr Germans
are evicted from their homes.
French in the Ruhr
What do you propose the government
should do since production is shut down
in the Ruhr and you still need to pay
back the French?
Option 1: Inflationary policies- print more
paper money to inflate the economy and
pay back the French.
Option 2: Do nothing. Option 1
Option 2
Option 1: Inflationary Policies
• The German government officials agree
with you that producing more money will
solve the problem. So, in order to plug the
gap in the economy created by the sudden
lack of production in the Ruhr, the German
government simply prints off more money.
• You receive 10 points for this option.
What Really Happened?
Option 2: Do Nothing
• The German people, already uneasy with
the government, do not see the lack of
action as an option. With their faith in you
hanging on the edge of a knife, your pals
in the German government do not see this
as a possibility.
• You receive 0 points for this option.
What Really Happened?
The German
Mark
The German government responded to
paying for reparations payments, social
welfare programs, and other government
services by printing more money. As a
result the value of the German mark
(currency) fell drastically since it was not
backed up by genuine wealth. As the
government prints off more and more
money, inflation becomes nearly
unstoppable, called hyperinflation. For
example, a pound of potatoes cost 9
marks in October and 40 million marks in
October. Millions of Germans watched
their savings vanish since the money they
saved or would receive in their retirement
pension was now worthless. In the eyes
of the German people, the Weimar
Republic was now their enemy. Many
The German Mark
The Beer Hall Putsch: 1923
Adolf Hitler, leader of the Nazi Party sees
the hyperinflation as an opportunity. He
hijacks a government meeting in a
Bavarian Beer Hall and declares that
“The National Revolution has broken out!”
Ebert orders the army to crush the rebels.
So, when Hitler and his 3,000 followers
march on Munich, they are fired upon by
police and soldiers. Sixteen Nazis and
three policemen are killed. Hitler is then
arrested. The “Beer Hall Putsch” is a
failure.
The Beer Hall Putsch Idealized
Hitler in Landesberg Prison
The defeat of the Beer Hall Putsh is a victory for the
Republic. Nevertheless, Hitler successfully turns his
trial into a gigantic advertisement for the Nazi Party and
is given a light sentence. He uses the time to write his
book “Mein Kampf”. The failed rebellion was an eye
opening experience for Hitler who realized that the
Nazis would have to play politics if they wanted to gain
power.
Mein Kampf [My Struggle]
Hitler’s book, Mein Kampf, was an autobiography and
political manifesto that describes the philosophy of
the Nazi Party. He describes the popular theory
that Germany has been betrayed by its enemies
and the country needed strong leadership to
regain its international prominence.
Mein Kampf’s basic themes:
1) lebensraum (meaning living space): Germans
should expand east, liquidate the Jews, and turn
the Slavs into slave labor
2) anti-Semitism & anti-Marxism : Hitler blamed the
Jews and communists for Germany's political and
economic problems (Remember, Marx was a Jew)
3) Leader-dictator, Fuhrer, would have unlimited
arbitrary power- democracy is wrong.
4) Extreme Nationalism- he wanted to unite all
German, Aryan people.
Economic Stability?
• It is now April 1924. In a packed Reichstag (Parliament)
meeting, the new German chancellor announced
“Passive resistance in the Ruhr has been called off and
industrial production in the area has started again.” He
announces that the hyperinflation may come to an end if
the German government accepts the Dawes Plan.
Under this plan, proposed by an American banker
Charles Dawes, German reparations payments could be
spread out over a longer period of time and the US
would lend Germany 800 million marks to rebuild its
economy. Should you accept the Dawes Plan and a
large loan to the German government?
Option 1: Accept the Dawes Plan
Option 2: Reject the Dawes Plan
Option 1: Accept the Dawes
Plan
• You make a statement in the Reichstag
stating that the Dawes plan will “tie us a bit
too close to the American government, but
it is the only thing to do under these
circumstances. Other members of the
Reichstag agree and the Dawes plan is
passed. You receive 10 points for your
decision.
What Really Happened?
Option 2: Reject the Dawes
Plan
• Many German voters are questioning your
decision to not accept the Dawes plan and
end the hyperinflation that has destroyed
their savings. You receive 0 points for
your decision.
What Really Happened?
The Dawes Plan (1924)
Beginning in 1925, Germany’s
economy and government
seemed to be recovering. By
borrowing money, the country was
able to make its scaled down
reparations payments and earn
money selling cheap exports. But
such economic and political
stability were misleading. The
economy remained dependent on
large infusions of capital from the
US set up by the Dawes plan.
This dependence made the
German economy vulnerable to
American economic
developments. When the US
stock market crashed in 1929,
beginning the Great Depression,
the capital flow to Germany
stopped.
German Unemployment: 1929-1938
The Great Depression
pushed the Weimar’s political
system to the breaking point.
In 1929 there were 2 million
unemployed, in 1932 six
million. In those three years
production dropped 44 %.
Artisans and shop keepers
lost both status and income.
Farmers, fared even worse,
since they did not recover in
the 1920s.
The crisis created an
opportunity for Weimar’s
political opponents. Many
leading industrialists
supported the return to an
authoritarian
government…people turned
to the Nazi Party to solve
their economic crisis.
The Great Depression [1929-1941]
German Election Results in 1933
The NSDAP (Nazi Party) had a huge success in the 1933
elections. The reasons for their popular appeal are listed
below:
1)
Economic distress (the unemployment rate was 25%)
2)
Fear of Communism
3)
Appeal of Nationalism
4)
Weak Weimar Government
5)
Leadership of Hitler- he was a strong, charismatic orator
(speaker) who promised to restore Germany’s greatness
Should Hitler Become
Chancellor?
• After 1925 General Hindenburg has been acting as
chancellor for Germany. He has made it clear his
contempt for democracy. Now, in the critical year of
1933, he must choose a new chancellor for Germany.
Hindenburg hopes to create a conservative coalition
government that will bring the Nazi’s into line with less
radical parties. Many believe, however, that in order for
this to happen, Hitler must be included in the political
process. Many politicians believe that once given the job
of chancellor they will gain the support of Nazi people
AND be able to control Hitler in the process.
Option 1: Appoint Hitler
Option 2: Do Not Appoint
Hitler
Option 1: Appoint Hitler
• Hindenburg agrees that Hitler’s talent of
public speaking and the support of the
Nazi party members are critical in building
an alliance of conservatives. This move,
however, will not help you achieve your
objective of maintaining a German
democracy. Therefore, you receive 0
points.
What Really Happened?
Option 2: Do Not Appoint Hitler
You are wise to believe that Hitler cannot be
trusted. His goal is to destroy democracy,
not maintain it- which is your goal. You
receive 10 points for your decision.
What Really
Happened?
The Weimar Republic Becomes
a Totalitarian Dictatorship
Hindenburg and others in the government underestimated
the Nazis’ power and popularity. Legally installed in
office, Hitler made the most of it. When a Dutch
anarchist with links to the communist party set fire to the
Reichstag on February 27, 1933 Hitler seized the
opportunity to suspend civil rights as “a defensive
measure against Communist acts of violence.” He
convinced Hindenburg to dissolve the Reichstag and
order a new election in March, 1933. Under Hitler’s
sway, the new parliament legally granted him unlimited
powers for the next four years. Hitler proclaimed the
new government the Third Reich, the Third Empire.
(The first Reich was the German empire of the Middle
Ages, the second was the Kaiser’s after Germany
united).
Nazi Germany
•
•
By the fall of 1933, Germany was a oneparty state. The socialist and communist
left was crushed by the new regime.
Almost all non-Nazi organizations were
either abolished or forced to become part
of the Nazi system. Nazi party leaders
took over various government
departments.
Ironically, the end of the party’s first year
of power the most serious challenge to
Hitler came from within the party. The SA
(Hitler’s paramilitary group) had grown in
power. If he were to remain chancellor, he
needed to get them under control. On
June 30. 1934 more than 1,000 SA
officers were executed in a bloody purge
known as the Night of Long Knives. The
purge allowed for the SS (a second
paramilitary group) and the Gestapo, the
state secret police, to gain power- under
the direction of Hitler. The SS was
responsible for building the concentration
camp system and the Gestapo for
arresting and murdering German citizens
who resisted the Nazi rule.
Economic Life in Nazi Germany
Hitler breaking ground for
the Audubon German
Highway
• The Nazis took command of the
economy and created an
“economic miracle.” New laws
banned strikes, dissolved labor
unions, and gave the
government authority over
business. Hitler put millions of
Germans to work. They
constructed factories, built
highways, and manufactured
weapons. As a result, Germany
got out of the depression by
1935.
Nazi Germany’s Control over
Society
•
•
To shape public opinion, the Nazis became
masters of propaganda. Hitler used film and
media to promote Nazi ideology. Publishers,
universities, and writers brought into line.
Democratic, socialist, and Jewish literature put on
blacklists. Students and professors burned
forbidden books in public squares. Modern art
and architecture was prohibited ("degenerate
art"). School children had to join the Hitler Youth,
organizations who indoctrinated children into the
Nazi Ideology. The Catholic church was
restricted and all Protestant churches were united
into one Christian religion controlled by the state.
Lastly, women were greatly impacted by the Nazi
attitude who portrayed women as critical in
creating the Nazi racial state. To the Nazis,
women’s primary role was to be a wife and
mother and for men to be warriors and political
leaders. Women were given awards for having
many German children. Furthermore, at the
beginning of the Nazi rule, women were driven
from heavy industry and other jobs more “fit” for
men.
Your Fate
• Cleary, since you are a proponent of
democracy you are an enemy of Hitler,
who sees you as a political opponent.
Your destiny is fulfilled after the
development of the Gestapo. Your
neighbors called the secret police because
they heard you commenting on the newly
placed restriction on your political rights.
You were arrested at night and never
heard from again.