Germany In Transition

Page 1

Beginning of Weimar

Background to WW1

Greatest travesty - Huge loss of life

From the offset Germany was the enemy

20 million wounded and could not work

German government in debt from four year war

Kaiser Wilhelm

The Kaiser was in charge of the government and the army - The German people liked this form of Government as they felt being told what to do was a sign government was strong.

Kaiser Wilhelm II (old king of Germany) abdicates his throne on November 9th 1918 - The war ended 11th November 1918.

Problem Created - No system of authority

Weimar Republic Constitution

The republic founded in 1919 that was a semi-presidential representative democracy. People did not like the democracy.

This is the first democratic system of Government in Germany.

New System - President (Head of state) elected by public every 7 years (Long Term)

President can choose the chancellor and ministers who have power to make decisions.

A constitution is a set of written laws that say what the government can and cannot do.

The Reichstag - German Government

In order to get a seat you must be voted in (Over 20’s voted)

Proportional representation

Fair voting system - Party gets a number of seats directly proportional to the % of votes.

There was not enough for a majority which led to many little parties forming a co-alicante trying to work together. This was a major weakness as no government could get its laws passed.

Article 48

In an emergency the president did not need the agreement of the Reichstag to issue laws. The problem with this is that they did not specify what an emergency was. This clause was open to abuse.

Effects of WW1 on Germany

Political Effects

After the Kaiser left the Reichstag parties has to take control, and they had no real experience or power.

Physical and Financial Effects

British navy was blocking German ports meaning Germany could not get food into the country and around 750,000 Germans died due to hunger.

Germany had borrowed money to pay for the war, and was now effectively bankrupt.

Psychological Effects

Germany worked really hard and made sacrifices to win the war.

They were assured by the leaders they would win - Losing devastated their pride and they felt weak politicians in the New Weimar Republic had cost them the war.

‘The Stab In The Back’ myth

It was actually the army that signed the surrender but people blamed the Weimar Republic.

The Reichstag - New German Government

The Armistice (1918) leads to the ‘stab in the back’ myth.

Before the Government was formed it was blamed.

At the end of WW1 Germany was in chaos.

People were bitter that Germany surrendered when they were winning the war.

Elbert was the leader of the new democratic government - many people did not like the government and wanted the Kaiser to return.

Page 2

The Treaty of Versailles

The Treaty of Versailles

Peace treaty forced upon Germany for losing WWI

Germany expected a fair treaty because WWI had bankrupted Germany and people were starving. The Weimar Government thought the treaty would be light to not cost anymore German lives.

Germany assumed the winning powers would want to help the democratic government remain stable.

The Germans believed the treaty would follow Wilson’s ‘14 points’ of making a better world which would allow Germany to recover.

FRANCE - Clemenceau wanted to crush Germany and forever prevent her from being a major world power.

Wanted Germany to pay massive reparations and have no army.

BRITAIN - David Lloyd-George wanted to punish Germany harshly and get money off them but wanted them to be able to recover.

USA- Wilson believed the war was everyone’s fault. He feared Germany would one day want revenge if the treaty was too harsh.

Terms of the Treaty

Land - 13% of land lost (10% industrial and 15% agricultural)

Alsace and Lorraine returned to France

Saar Coalfields given to France for 15 years

West Prussia (The Polish Corridor) given to Poland

People were angry as they felt their land and people were being stolen.

Created huge financial problems for Germany as a big portion of industrial and agricultural land was taken from an already bankrupt country

Army - Army was reduced to 100,000 men

No air force

Navy limited - no submarines

Rhineland to have French troops for 15 years

Germany was humiliated as they were no longer a strong country to fear.

Germany who had strong military traditions lost pride in losing the military.

Millions of German soldiers out of work.

Money - Germany had to pay £6.6 billion in reparations in annual installments.

Germany was already near bankrupt so had almost no chance of meeting the payments.

Reparations meant Germany was unlikely to recover and become an important country again

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Blame - The Guilt Clause stated Germany must accept complete blame for starting the war.

Germans were angry as they believed they were not the only ones to blame for starting the war.

Problems

The treaty caused many problems for Germany.

The Weimar Republic was blamed for signing it - making the government even more hated.

The president did not even want to sign it but the army told him to because they said they would be unable to stop an allied invasion of Germany.

Treaty of Versailles Interpretation

The Treaty was fair

The Treaty could have been a lot worse. It was fair as it demanded punishment for what Germany had done in the war.

The Treaty was too harsh

The reparations were harsh as it took an unreasonable amount of money from an already bankrupt country leaving them without the ability to recover. Plus, Germany were not completely to blame.

The Treaty was too lenient

The Treaty did not include all the things Clemenceau had wanted to ‘Crush’ Germany. The Treaty was lenient considering Germany had done worse to Russia.

Page 3

Political Extremists

January 1919 - The Spartacists

Political - Communists, extreme Left Wing

Leaders - Karl Liebnecht and Rosa Luxeburg

Aims - To overthrow the Weimar Republic and create a Communist Government in Germany

What they did - Tried to start a Revolution in Berlin.

They took control of the Government's newspaper headquarters.

Failed to capture anything else.

Won some support from the working class.

What Happened - Weimar Government used the Freikorps (right wing ex-soldiers) to defeat the Spartacists.

They murdered Liebnecht and Luxmburg

March 1920 - The Kapp Putsch

Political - The Freikorps, extreme Right Wing

Leaders - Wolfgang Kapp, a Freikorp commander

Aims - To overthrow the Weimar Republic and create a military right wing dictatorship, to ignore the TOV

What they did - Marched into Berlin and took it over.

President Ebert and the Weimar Government were forced to run away.

Kapp declared a new right wing Government.

What happened - President Ebert appealed to ordinary workers to help - they went on strike.

The strike was so successful that Kapp had to pull out of Berlin within days.

However, none of the leaders of this putsch were punished. Judges were more sympathetic to right wingers.

Page 4

Invasion of the Ruhr and Hyperinflation

Ruhr - Major industrial area of Germany

After Germany did not pay their second reparation payment, the French and Belgians (supported by troops) invaded the Ruhr.

They wanted to take what they were owed.

The German Government's response was passive resistance.

They ordered workers to strike so the French and Belgian's would gain nothing.

Government paid the workers who were on strike.

Without trading of goods the government were not earing any money, yet were paying money out.

This was causing more debt.

The Government made more paper money but it was useless as it had no value.

By 1923 Germany was out of control.

People burned their paper money as it was cheaper than fuel and would use it for wallpaper

The Government was to blame and there was more support for extremist parties.

Causes of Hyperinflation

The Treaty of Versailles made Germany pay reparations

Reparations were to be paid with money, coal and wood. However, Germany only paid with printed money.

DEC 1922 - Germany does not pay French using coal and wood.

JAN 1923 - French invades the Ruhr to take what they believe they are owed.

French force the Germans to work for them in order to reach reparation money

Weimar Republic tell workers to strike

German Government print ore paper money to pay strikers, this increases debt

Money becomes worthless and used for fuel/wallpaper

Germany has to print even more money to buy coal off other countries as the Ruhr was not producing any,

Hyperinflation was one of the worst inflationary crises in history

German people lost all confidence in their currency, it's value plummeted.

The German mark was worthless and the price of everyday items rose between 20% and 100%n a day.

People resorted to barter, selling objects such as coal or sausages,

By November 4th the German Mark was 200,000,000,000 to the dollar.

The Weimar Republic was in debt as the economy collapsed.

Effects of Hyperinflation

People with savings lost the most as their hard-earned savings were worthless and had no value as prices rose.

Those who had purchased War Bonds with fixed rates of interest found their investments to have lost all value.

Those who relied on pensions, benefits and landlords receiving fixed incomes also struggled as the value of their income fell.

By 1923 the cost too a landlord for a window replacement may be greater than all rent paid over ten years.

Some people benefitted from hyperinflation.

People in debt paid off their loans with the devalued currency saving significant amounts,

People who rented property with long term rents gained as the real value of their payments fell.

Owners of foreign exchange who converted their money into millions of marks greatly benefitted

Stinnes

Hugo Stinnes benefitted from hyperinflation as he used his ties with the Reichsbank to gain cheap credit in order to buy struggling competitors.

He sold products from his business in coal, iron and electricals abroad in order to convert the foreign currency into millions of marks which he used to expand his plant.

He also used valueless marks to pay off loans.

By 1924 he was known as 'King of the Ruhr' as he owned an estimate of 20% of Germany's industries.

He did not support the Weimar Republic. Instead he hoped to support a dictatorship capable of restoring Germany to greatness.

The Left Wing criticised Hugo Stinnes . They portrayed him as a power hungry man who showed little empathy to suffering Germans.

Cartoonist often show him enjoying luxury whilst others struggled to afford essentials.

Page 5

Hitler

In 1923, Hitler emerges in attempt to overthrow the Government.

Hitler had co-written the 25 Point Plan for the Nazi Party in 1920.

National Socialist German Workers Party (NAZIS)

Nationalists -Strong leadership, Country only inhabited by Germans, Powerful country.

Militaristic (Army)

Incorporate land that belong to country

Socialists - Equality (No class divisions)

Controlled wages

Looking after workers

Not profiting off others

Workers - Better wages

Better working conditions

Working less hours

Adolf Hitler

Joined Bavarian Army

End of WW1 joined German Workers party in Munich

Awarded the Iron Cross in the war

Hospitalised during the war due to gas attack and was devastated at defeat (Very bitter)

1919 employed as spy

September 1919 joined German Workers Party as committee member (Nationalists and Socialists)

Feb 1919 - Drew up 25 Point Plan with Drexlar and changed Nazis which appealed to many people

Hitler was desperate to be recognised - believed he was destined for great things

Hitler was going to be a charismatic leader and energetic, he was able to get people to listen and believe in what he was saying.

Munich Putsch

November 1923 Hitler tried to take advantage of the crisis facing the Weimar Government.

Hitler assembled a large group of storm troopers (unemployed young men and former soldiers)

Hitler hoped to take power by starting a revolution.

He would go into the Beer Hall where Gustav Kahr was giving a speech.

The Storm Troopers would control the crowd while Hitler took Kahr and the other ministers.

Hitler would force Kahr to support him at gunpoint.

They would declare a new Government for Bavaria and the army would support them.

What went wrong???

Ludendorff was late. Even at gunpoint, Kahr and the ministers wouldn't support Hitler because they thought he was lying about Ludendorff supporting him.

Ludendorff allowed Kahr and the ministers to go home and they contacted the Weimar Government who mobilised the army.

Hitler, Ludendorff and the Storm Troopers decided to march to the town hall. The army were waiting.

Hitler never really had enough support to pull it off in the first place.

Success of the Munich Putsch

The judge liked him - He was able to win over the courtroom with his great speeches and passion for change in Germany.

Reporters from across Germany were there - Everything Hitler said was written down in newspapers and read by Germans everywhere, this was huge publicity for the Nazis.

Hitler became seen as a leader of the Right Wing.

Hitler got a lighter sentence - The judges sympathised with Hitler's ideas and despite finding his guilty of treason, sentenced him to only 5 year. (Would be eligible for parole after 9 months, very light sentence for treason)

His prison was very cushy - he could have as many visitors as he wanted and was able to walk around freely. He ran the NAZI party from prison.

Hitler had the time to write Mein Kampf - This set out all his ideas for the Nazi party and Germany's future.

Page 6

Gustav Stresemann

Chancellor in 1923 for one year, after that he was the Foreign Minister (trading and negotiations). This was a challenging job.

At first he opposed the Weimar Republic, but changed when he realised the alternative was anarchy (lawlessness)

He was a Nationalist so did not like the democracy.

Achievements

Inflation Controlled, November 1923

Dawes Plan 1924

French leave the Ruhr, April 1924

Foreign Exchange

Economic Growth

Reforms

Inflation Controlled 1923

Stresemann called in all the old, worthless marks (due to hyperinflation) and burned them.

He replaced them with the new Rentenmark worth 3,000 Million old marks.

This stabilised inflation.

The Rentenmark put a value on what existed in Germany as it mortgaged against Germany's entire industrial and agricultural resources.

The Dawes Plan 1924

Stresemann called off the strike on the Ruhr and start to pay off the reparations,

People did not like this as they thought it was 'giving up'

Germany borrows money off the USA

Germany can pay off reparations, therefore France and Britain can repay loans to USA

The Dawes Plan was seen as a temporary measure.

The reparations would be set lower and rise again in 5 years.

To enforce payments, the allies would continue their control of Germany's railways, customs duties and the Reichsbank.

France would know of any economic growth as soon as it occurred.

Germans were not happy but this was a compromise. They criticised Stresemann for being 'too soft'

The reality of the situation is that he could not pay less without them asking for something in return.

Germany had more money to rebuild the economy.

Able to increase production which created more jobs.

Revival of culture such as the arts eg cinema

However, the Wall Street Crash had a negative effect when the Germans had to repay the loans

French leave the Ruhr, April 1924

As the French were getting paid, the troops had no reason to occupy the Ruhr

Foreign Affairs

Locarno Treaty 1925

Signed by Germany, Italy, Britain, France, Czech-Solvakia

Germany had to agree to keep it's borders - Can not push to expand land. Stresemann agreed.

This diplomatic negotiation pleased the other countries. However, upset the Nationalists.

In 1926 Germany was allowed to join the League of Nations and become a world power again.

They were now accepted into diplomatic circles and able to make links.

Germany was rich in iron ore and other countries wanted them as trading partners.

However, there were still to some degree restrictions to Germany's power on the LON

The Treaty of Berlin, 1926

Rapallo Treaty signed by Germany and Russia in 1922

Re-established diplomatic relations

There was a mutual interest in revision of the border settlement with Poland

April 1926 Treaty of Berlin signed which promoted economic and Military exchanges

Kellogg-briand pact 1928

Had to agree on non-aggresion

Could not go to war - 40 other countries signed

This gained respect and restored status for Germany, it was positive for the Weimar Republic as less people voted for extremist parties

The Young Plan 1929

Hitler and his party were opposed to the Young Plan.

All the money Germany had were from loans, this was increasing the country's debt

Loans worth $1293 million from the USA to be paid back

Nationalists felt the reparations should stop being paid altogether, not be negotiating better terms.

Payments were suspended in 1931

Historian Views

Sally Marks - Believes Stresemann's actions only benefitted Germany.

Suggests he was not actively trying to make foreign relations beneficial to all.

Pro-European relations a ploy to give Germany power

Kolb - Takes the view Stresemann was a Nationalist but his keen sense of reality meant that he viewed Germany's resparation and European peace as interdependant.

Suggets he realised in order for Germany to make progress he had to have help from foreign countries

Richard Evans - Believes Stresemann was the Republics most skilled politician and his actions were built on realism, including the fact there was little chance of Germany defeating the allies in a war.

Page 7

Changing Fortunes of the Nazi Party

What did the NAZIs stand for in 1920??

Abolish the Treaty of Versailles

Destroy the Weimar Republic

Destroy Communism

Remove Jews from all positions of leadership

Increase the old age pension

Strong central government

Rearm Germany

Unemployment

Nazi ideas to reduce unemployment

Offering to extend public work schemes

This became appealing as it was involved in most of Hitler's speeches in 1930 to 1933.

Between 1928 and 1932 the votes for the Nazi party grew drastically from 800,000 to 11,700,000

Businessmen supporting Hitler

Fear of communism - Did not want to lose business

Fearful of trade union - Discussing wage amount

Hitler made promises to abolish the issues

Working class did not feel they would lose out if he abolished trade unions and replaced them with something else

Hitler was reliant on funding/money from big companies/businessmen

Money used for propaganda

Propaganda

Election Poster - Shows how people from different backgrounds/ genders support- Helping everyone

Propaganda played a huge role in convincing the public that Hitler was their 'saviour'

Hitler not only wanted to be a respected politician, he also ran for president

Time of crisis - People gave support

The growing support boosted his ego and made him more determined

Was Propaganda instrumental in Hitler's rise to power?

Used every sector of German society from film, radio, posters and rallies with propaganda

Nazi propaganda was hammered into people's minds everyday

Joseph Goebbels - Minister of propaganda ensured there was no anti-Nazi propaganda

Everyone was targetted by propaganda

Hitler took advantage of the eimar's weakness and economic conditions

Hitler's brownshirts at rallies showed organisations which the Weimar did not face.

Rallies, speeches etc would not have been effective without propaganda

Promises

Working Class - Jobs

Farmers - Higher prices for produce

Army - Greater role in German life

Industrialists - Protection from Communists

Middle Class - End to economic depression and Jewish banks

German Youth - Brighter future

Page 8

Hitler's rise to power

Role of SA (Storm Troopers)

They were used to generate a lot of excitement for the movement

Present at meetings which gave the illusion of a very organised party

Used violence and intimidation to restrict some forms of the opposition

They distrupted other meetings (mainly communists) and if communists did not hold public meetings the support would decrease.

Bullied people into supporting and voting for the Nazi party (some votes need to be considered as voting out of fear not support)

Act as strike breakers - Beat up communists

Nazi's were seen as stronger to deal with communists - the 'Antidote'

Wallstreet Crash 1929

Ended the 'Golden Age' that the Weimar were experiencing as Weimar could not deal with the problems

Creates an open market for the extremist parties to say they would solve the problems

Needed this particular problem to gain support.

By 1931 German banks completely collapse and open their eyes towards the NAZI party doing something to fix it

Up until the Wallstreet Crash the Weimar were doing well - Not the fall of the Weimar