Was the Weimar Republic doomed from the start? How did Germany emerge from defeat at the end of the First World War? Before 1914, Germany was a military autocracy. Kaiser Wilhelm II was the hereditary monarch, appointed the Chancellor, controlled the army and called or dismissed the Reichstag. Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated and fled the country after Germany lost WWI. A new Republic was declared that was a parliamentary democracy. In January 1919, elections were held for a new Reichstag and in February 1919, in the town of Weimar, a new government was agreed. Friedrich Ebert was elected President of the new Republic. Describe the German Revolution of 1918: ‘Bavaria was declared to be the Bavarian Soviet Republic. ‘The Kaiser abdicated and went into exile in the Netherlands on the 9th of November. ‘Ebert declared that Germany was a republic with himself as President and Scheidemann as Chancellor. The Spartacists decided to found the Communist Party of Germany to achieve their aims. Bill of Rights promises all Germans equality before the law and political and religious ​ freedom. What was the role of the President under the Weimar Constitution? ● Appointing chancellor ● Foreign relations….representing country ● Commander in chief…..controls army ● Dissolution of Reichstag Chancellor: -President appoints the chancellor -Leader of the party with the most seats in the Reichstag -Representative of the Reichstag -Communicates with the president Role of the Army: Political Groups: Social Democrats- Left wing, set up Weimer and constitutions, supports socialism, high tax ​ for the rich, low for the poor Conservative- Right wing, dislikes Weimar, want a kaiser, no to socialism and communism, ​ rich people Spartacist- Extreme left wing, communist, power and wealth to be equally distributed, ​ dictatorship, hates Weimar Republic Freikorps- Extreme Right Wing, unofficial army, hates communism, hates Weimar Republic, ​ veterans dominated, violence and terror, military run country German Worker Party- Extreme Right Wing, what is later known as the Nazis, Hitler, hates ​ communism, hates jews, hates democracy, hates Weimar Republic, Autarky, Lebensraum and Anschluss Strengths in the Weimar Constitution ● Few countries allowed everyone to vote (Germany allowed men and women) ● Proportional representation was very fair ● Free speech, freedom to set up trade unions, anyone could form a party (modern for the time) Problems faced by the Weimar Republic 1919-23 ILRIMA ​ Ineffective Constitution ​ ● Proportional representation was if a party got 12% of the vote they would get 12% of the number of seats in the Reichstag. This meant that radical parties were represented and could be part making important decisions. It also meant that there were many small parties so it was hard to have a majority. Meaning it was slow and difficult to pass laws ● Article 48 where in an emergency the president could rule by decree (dictatorship) and make laws without the Reichstag - used too often Left Wing Rebellions ​ ● Spartacist Uprising in January 1919 ● Led by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebnacht ● Tried to start a revolution- controlled newspaper headquarters and telegraph ● Had some support from the working class ● Weimar Government used the Freikorps to defeat the Spartacists ● 13 Freikorps dead, 100 Spartacists, Karl and Rosa killed Right Wing Terrorism ​ ● Kapp Putsch March 1920 ● Freikorps (WW1 soldiers with weapons) led by Dr Wolfgang Kapp ● Marched into Berlin and set up new right wing government ● Ebert and Weimar Government ran away ● Weimar Republic appealed to workers to go on strike and not work for the Freikorps ● Kapp had to pull out of Berlin and was not punished because the judges favoured right wing Invasion-Inflation: the crisis of 1923 (Impact of TOV on Germany- economic ​ depression) ● Germany failed to pay reparations in 1922 ● France invaded the Ruhr in 1923 for resources ● Workers went on strike so there would be nothing for the French to take ● Lowered industrial production and so government printed more money causing hyperinflation ● Lead to Dawes plan later and further depression ● Lost support from middle class and more hate from right wing parties Munich Putsch ​ ● On 8–9 November 1923, Hitler’s Nazis tried to take control of Bavaria Army- ​ ● Did not support government in the Kapp Putsch, not fully under government control To what extent did the Republic recover after 1923? Stresemann's Achievements (DIFFERS) ​ ​ Dawes Plan, 1924 ​ ● Stresemann called off the 1923 Ruhr strike and started to pay reparations again – but the American Dawes Plan gave Germany longer to make the payments (and the Young Plan of 1929 reduced the payments). Inflation controlled, November 1923 ​ ● Stresemann called in all the old, worthless marks and burned them. He replaced them with a new temporary Rentenmark (worth 3,000 million old marks) and then the Reichsmark in 1924. French leave the Ruhr, April 1924 ​ ​ ● Stresemann persuaded the French to leave. Foreign Affairs ​ ● In 1925, Stresemann signed the Locarno Treaty, agreeing to the loss of Alsace-Lorraine and that he would not try and change Germany’s western borders with France and Belgium. As a result, in 1926, Germany was allowed to join the League of Nations. Germany had become a world power again. ● In 1928, Germany signed the Kellog-Briand Pact promising not to use violence to settle disputes Economic Growth ​ ● Germany borrowed 25,000 million gold marks, mainly from America. This was used to build roads, railways and factories. The economy boomed and led to prosperity. ● Cultural life also boomed (the Roaring Twenties) Writers and poets flourished. Famous Bahaus style of design and architecture was developed - Walter Gropius. Artist Paul Klee and Otto Dix. Golden age for cinema, Marlene Dietrich- international star, Fritz Lang- celebrated director. Reforms ​ ● Stresemann introduced reforms to make life better for the working classes - Labour Exchanges (1927) and unemployment pay. Also, 3 million new houses were built. Strength at the Centre ​ ● Stresemann arranged a 'Great Coalition' of the moderate pro-democracy parties (based around the SDP, the Centre party and Stresemann's own 'German people's Party', the DVP). United together, they were able to resist the criticism from smaller extremist parties, and in this way, he overcame the effects of proportional representation - the government had enough members of the Reichstag supporting it to pass the laws it needed. ● Standard of living was good so people did not see a reason to support extremist groups However… ● Precarious situation - all based on US loans, could be called in anytime ● Extremist parties were still there ● German democracy elected Hindenburg as President in 1926 - he was very opposed to democracy ● Large gap between rich and poor ● Unemployment rose ● Nationalists attacked Stresemann for joining LON and Locarno Pact - meant Germany accepted TOV Why was Hitler able to dominate Germany by 1934? What did the Nazi Party stand for in the 1920s? Nazis- NSDAP Prior to 1923 ● Hitler joined the Party ● Founded by Anton Drexler ● Hitler made it popular as he was a good speaker ● Set up the 25 points with Anton Drexler which were the party’s beliefs and aims ● Designed propaganda and the swastika ● Set up the SA aka brown shirts (unofficial army) ● Changed the name from German worker party to National Socialist German Workers Party aka NSDAP ● Aims: Lebensraum, superiority of aryan race, Autarky, destroy TOV and communism Why did the Nazis have little success before 1930? Munich Putsch November 1923 ● Hitler thought it was time to overthrow the Weimar Government ● Thought he had support of the people and the army and Bavaria (Kahr) ● Stresemann had just called off passive resistance in the Ruhr - occupied with economic crisis ● 8 November Hitler stormed into a government meeting in Bavaria with old war hero Ludendorff and 600 Storm Troopers ● Held Kahr at gunpoint and persuaded him to support Hitler in overthrowing the government ● Let Kahr go, soon clear that his pledge at gunpoint was useless ● Still marched on Munich anyway Failures ● 16 Nazis dead ● Hitler shot and arrested Failed because of ● Poor organisation - letting Kahr go, bad execution ● Small party only 3000 Successes ● Judges liked Hitler, gave him time to talk to win people over ● Light sentence - only 5 years in Ludendorff Castle - then turned to 9 months ● Good propaganda ● Time for Hitler to write Mein Kampf After Munich Putsch ● Funding- Herman Goering was in charge, he was upper class, managed to receive money and respect for the Nazis (people used to think they were boisterous and rough), got support from big business men and a media tycoon ● Propaganda- Josef Goebbels was in charge of spreading nazi ideas through radios, films, tv,posters and rallies, funding from rich people who were afraid of communism, hatred of TOV, Communism and the Weimar republic appealed to the public, Fuhrer Cult (Hitler as a godly figure) ● Fuhrer Prinzip- one leader of NSDAP ● Rearranged Structure- Fuhrer Prinzip at the top, Gauleiters to enforce nazi ideology in Gauls (regions) and to spread terror and gain followers, they also controlled organisations such as Nazi Teacher Organisation, Hitler Youth and League of German maidens and gaining members. Why was Hitler able to become Chancellor by 1933? LIMP PAPER ​ All the following were present from the 1920s: ● Long-term bitterness ​ Deep anger about the First World War and the Treaty of Versailles created an underlying bitterness to which Hitler’s viciousness and expansionism appealed, so they gave him support. ● Ineffective Constitution ​ Weaknesses in the Constitution crippled the government. In fact, there were many people in Germany who wanted a return to dictatorship. When the crisis came in 1929–1933 – there was no one who was prepared or able to fight to stop Hitler. Too many elections, overuse of article 48 (66 decrees in 1932 due to large amount of parties) and only 5 laws were passed in the Reichstag in 1932. ● Money ​ The financial support of wealthy businessmen gave Hitler the money to run his propaganda and election campaigns.