History paper one- PART ONE- 1919- 1929

The Treaty of Versailles - signed 1919
1. The Views of the Big three!
  1. Lloyd George - BRITAIN
    1. 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
  2. Georges Clemenceau-FRANCE
    1. 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
      1. 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
  3. Woodrow Wilson = USA
    1. Wilson was probably the MOST LENIENT on Germany
      1. 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
2. TERMS
  1. The terms of the treaty were very harsh on Germany
    1. "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.
    2. Reparations =£6.6 billion, would have been paying them off until 1984
      1. Armed forces completely reduced down, 100,000 men, air force, naval forces severely hit- Germany left defenceless essentially, Rhineland (between France and Germany ) demilitarised
    3. 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
      1. 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
1. Led by Ebert until 1923
2. 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
  1. PROBLEMS
    1. THERE WAS CONSTANT VIOLENCE AND UNREST
    2. 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
    3. 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
      1. 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
3. Ebert flees - Stresemann takes over in 1924
  1. Stresemann did a lot for the Weimar republic during the years he was in charge
    1. In the years between 1923 and 1929 the Weimar bloomed
      1. 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
    2. Young Plan
      1. reducing the amount of reparations, the new governments of Europe were much more lenient
    3. Dawes Plan
      1. 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
    4. Locarno treaty
      1. 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
    5. THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS- JOINED IN 1926
4. WAS IT STABLE?
  1. EVERYTHING depended on the American loans from the Dawes plan
    1. If it collapsed then Germany was doomed ...
1929
1. THE WALL STREET CRASH 1929
  1. In 1929, the American Stock Exchange collapsed, leading to a GLOBAL DEPRESSION
    1. The USA withdrew its loans to Germany, meaning that German was in deep trouble, unemployment rose to 6 MILLION
    2. This was the final nail in the Weimar's coffin.
2. Stresemann Died
3. END OF THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC

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History paper one- PART ONE- 1919- 1929

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