World History 3201
November 2014
2.2.4: The Weimar Republic 1918-
1933
German Review
As we have examined in unit 1, Germany became a major
player on the world stage following its unification in 1871
until its defeat in WW1 in 1918
It was ruled by Kaiser Wilhelm II from 1890 to 1918
It led the Central Powers in WW1 and following its defeat in
1918, forced to accept the terms and conditions of the Treaty
of Versailles imposed by the victorious allies USA, Britain, &
France
After Germany lost the First World War, the Kaiser fled and a
new democratic government of Germany was declared in
February 1919 at the small town of Weimar.
It was too dangerous to make a declaration in Berlin where
there had just been a revolt by a Communist group called the
Spartacists.
The Weimar Republic was a genuine attempt to create a
perfect democratic country.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/germany/weimarstrengthweakrev1.shtml
Weimar Democracy
A Bill of Rights guaranteed every German citizen freedom
of speech and religion, and equality under the law.
All men and women over the age of 20 were given the vote.
This was even better than Britain where only women over 30
could vote.
There was an elected president and an elected
Reichstag (parliament).
The Reichstag made the laws and appointed the
government, which had to do what the Reichstag wanted.
Weimar Democracy Flaws Proportional representation - instead of voting for an
MP, like we do in Canada, Weimar Germans voted for a party.
Each party was then allocated seats in the Reichstag exactly reflecting (proportional' to) the number of people who had voted for it.
This sounds fair, but in practice it was a disaster it resulted in dozens of tiny parties, with no party strong enough to get a majority, and, therefore, no government to get its laws passed in the Reichstag.
This was a major weakness of the Republic.
Weimar Democracy Flaws
Article 48 - this said that, in an emergency, the president
did not need the agreement of the Reichstag, but could
issue decrees.
The problem with this was that it did not say what an
emergency was, and in the
end, it turned out to be a
back door that Hitler used
to take power legally.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/germany/weimarstrengthweakrev2.shtml
The Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic was created at a time of confusion and
chaos after Germany had lost the First World War.
Many people felt that Germany had received a very harsh
deal in the Treaty of Versailles and they resented the
government for signing it and agreeing to its conditions.
Germans felt ‘pain and anger’& that it was unfair.
It was a 'Diktat' – an IMPOSED settlement. They had not
been allowed to take part in the talks – they had just been
told to sign.
The Weimar Republic
Germany & The Treaty of Versailles
Germany had to pay reparations,($33 million in war
damages) the bulk of which would go to France & Belgium
to pay for the damage done to their infrastructure during
WWI
Germany had to admit full responsibility for starting WWI
German had to give up all conquered lands & overseas
possessions which became League of Nations Mandates
Germany was forbidden to unite with Austria
Germany & The Treaty of Versailles
Reduction of German military
Army reduced to 100 000 men
Conscription was banned
Only allowed limited naval ships
Forbidden to have modern weapons such as armoured vehicles,
submarines, aircraft, or tanks
Germany & The Treaty of Versailles
As we have discovered, the old pre-WW1 German
empire in Europe was dismantled at Versailles
Germany lost national territory in Europe to
surrounding countries including Belgium & Denmark
with most going to the newly created Poland
Weimar 1919
Germany between 1918 and 1919 was in chaos. People were
starving, the Kaiser had fled and people hated the
government for signing the armistice in November 1918 -
they called them the November criminals.
From 1919 to 1922, the republic came under attack from
both left and right wing factions who demanded radical
reforms.
This spilled over into violence and unrest between the two
rival camps. The government could not control the situation.
Economic Crisis
The Weimar government's main crisis occurred in 1923,
when the Germans failed to make a reparations payment on
time, which set off a train of events that included:
Weimar Republic
In 1924 the crisis was brought to an end by the Dawes Plan,
which restored the value of the currency.
One result of this was go make the German economy
dependent on loans from America.
When the American Stock Exchange (Wall Street) crashed in
1929, this left the struggling German economy in chaos.
Industries failed and unemployment rose to 6 million.
Social unrest followed, as people starved.