He wanted to be harsh on
Germany, Britain had lost
many men during the horrors
of war, so he felt that he
owed his country some
justice. However he didn't
want to make relations too
foul with Germany, because
he still wanted to trade and
did not want another war
Georges Clemenceau-FRANCE
He wanted revenge for the absolute
destruction of France during this war,
a whole generation had been wiped
out, he owed the people of France
Justice
Clemenceau wanted to
CRIPPLE GERMANY
financially and in military terms
for two reasons- NUMBER 1 =
REVENGE, AND NUMBER 2=
he didn't want Germany
regaining strength and being
able to damage France again
Woodrow Wilson = USA
Wilson was probably the MOST LENIENT on Germany
Wilson didn't want to cripple Germany because he worried it would cause
tensions and ultimately another war. He devised his 14 POINT PLAN which
included the idea of self determination which would make the distribution of taken
land from Germany democratic
TERMS
The terms of the treaty
were very harsh on
Germany
"stab in the back
theory" The
German people felt
betrayed by the
German
Government for
signing the treaty
and accepting war
guilt - essentially
sentencing it to
death.
Reparations
=£6.6 billion,
would have
been paying
them off until
1984
Armed forces
completely reduced
down, 100,000 men, air
force, naval forces
severely hit- Germany
left defenceless
essentially, Rhineland
(between France and
Germany ) demilitarised
Germany lost a lot of
its land, much of it
was given to the BIG
THREE, one
particular area, Alsace
Lorraine, caused a lot
of dispute as it went to
FRANCE, Argued
about for a long time
Germany was also no
longer allowed to join with
Austria, yet another big
blow for Germany
The League of nations-
Germany was NOT ALLOWED
TO JOIN!
THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC- 1919- 1929
Led by Ebert until 1923
Between 1918 and 1919 Germany was in CHAOS, people were
starving, the Kaiser had fled and people hated the government for
signing the TOV LABELLING them the NOVEMBER CRIMINALS-
Groups of soldiers called the FREIKORPS refused to disband and
formed private armies - it was not a good start
PROBLEMS
THERE WAS CONSTANT VIOLENCE AND UNREST
1919- SPARTACIST UPRISING - Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxembourg
were the leaders, it was the communists which Ebert used the Freikorps to
crush- Rosa and Karl assassinated and bodies dumped in canal
KAPP PUTSCH- 1920 - Freikorps
uprising, this very nearly brought down
the Weimar republic, Ebert had to call on
the workers to strike to bring the country
to a standstill and stop the rebellion, the
Freikorps were powerful but they
couldn't hold an uprising without
production still going
THE CRISIS YEAR - 1923
THE INVASION OF THE RUHR - Germany wasn't keeping up on reparations, so
the French invaded, workers tried to resist, 100 were killed so they decided to
PASSIVE RESIST- all industry production halted, Germany had no income
HYPERINFLATION- because the industry was halted, Germany was making
NO MONEY, it was behind on its reparation repayments, it couldn't afford to
feed its people, so the banks began to print more and more money, until it
practically lost all worth- billions of marks could only JUST buy you a loaf od
bread,people would throw their wages out of the window at midday because at
evening the interest rates would have changed and it would have lost even
more worth
THE MUNICH PUTSCH - this is where we first see Adolf Hitler having some
considerable power, in the beer halls in Munich, Hitler spoke to people, getting the
message of the National socialists out, slowly building support for the party, preaching
anti-sematic views, anti communist arguments and promises that his rebellion would
bring down the Weimer, the November Criminals, and make Germany better.
HOWEVER Htiler's putsch failed, he simply didn't have the support, and as he marched
on Munich, the army generals who he had trusted weren't along side him and he was
arrested, and imprisoned and the rebellion led to nothing
Hitler whilst imprisoned wrote MEIN KAMPF, in which he
basically outlined his motives and plans for saving Germany -
stating that it couldn't be taken by force, but bit by bit
Ebert flees -
Stresemann takes
over in 1924
Stresemann did a lot for the Weimar
republic during the years he was in
charge
In the years between 1923 and 1929 the Weimar bloomed
CULTURAL
Singer/Actress- Marlene Dietrich
Gropius- leader of the
Bauhaus movement
artists- Paul Klee and Otto Dix
Erich Maria Remarque who wrote
All Quiet on The Western Front
The Wandervogel - country
people in Germany at the time
did not approve of the cultural
change
Young Plan
reducing the amount of reparations, the new
governments of Europe were much more
lenient
Dawes Plan
this was a system of loans which Germany received from America,
it allowed them to pay off their reparations to Britain and France,
also for their economy to bloom, meaning they could pay America
back
Locarno treaty
1925
Rhineland pact- Belgium, France
and Germany agreed their borders
were fixed as laid down in the
TOV. These borders would be
guaranteed by Britain and Italy
The Rhineland would remain demilitarised
France guaranteed to help Poland and
Czechoslovakia if attacked by Germany
Germany agreed not to use force to
settle disputes with its neighbours
THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS- JOINED IN 1926
WAS IT STABLE?
EVERYTHING depended on the
American loans from the Dawes plan
If it collapsed
then Germany
was doomed ...
1929
THE WALL STREET CRASH
1929
In 1929, the American Stock Exchange collapsed, leading to
a GLOBAL DEPRESSION
The USA withdrew its loans to Germany, meaning that German was in deep
trouble, unemployment rose to 6 MILLION