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Weimar Notes
by Queen Grace Stark Tue Apr 05, 2016 9:47 pm
Hi, thought I'd share with you my pre-vision for revision 
Weimar Republic Summary
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, but it faced many problems and had weaknesses.
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.
However, hidden in the detail were two flaws that eventually destroyed the Republic:
Proportional representation and Article 48 (below)
Perhaps the greatest danger was 'the weakness within' - the constitution gave the President, the states and the army too much power, whilst proportional voting meant that the Reichstag was divided and weak. In 1919-23, extremists on both the Left (especially the Spartacist revolt) and the Right (especially the Kapp Putsch) tried to overthrow the government. The worst crisis occurred in 1923, when the French invaded to try to force Germany to pay reparations. This led to hyperinflation and a number of rebellions (particularly Hitler's Munich Putsch).
1919 Spartacist revolt (Jan) and other Communist rebellions.
Communist 'People's Government seizes power in Bavaria.
1920 Kapp Putsch (Mar)
'Red Army' (communist) rebellion in the Ruhr
1921 Assassination of Matthias Erzberger
1922 Assassination of Walter Rathenau
1923 (Jan) France invades the Ruhr
General Strike and hyperinflation
(Oct) Black Reichswehr rebellion
The Rhineland declared independence (Oct) and Communists take power in Saxony and Thuringia
(Nov) Hitler's Munich Putsch
ILRIM
1. Ineffective Constitution
The Weimar Constitution did not create a strong government:
• Article 48 of the constitution gave the President sole power in ‘times of emergency’ – something he took often: 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.
• The system of proportional voting led to 28 parties. This made it virtually impossible to establish a majority in the Reichstag, and led to frequent changes in the government. During 1919-33, there were twenty separate coalition governments and the longest government lasted only two years. This political chaos caused many to lose faith in the new democratic system.
• The German states had too much power and often ignored the government.
• The Army, led by the right-wing General Hans von Seeckt, was not fully under the government’s control. It failed to support government during the Kapp Putsch or the crisis of 1923.
• Many government officials – especially judges – were right-wing and wanted to destroy the government. After the Kapp Putsch, 700 rebels were tried for treason; only 1 went to prison. After the Munich Putsch, Hitler went to prison for only 9 months.
2. Left-wing Rebellions
The Communist KPD hated the new government:
• In Jan 1919, 50,000 Spartacists rebelled in Berlin, led by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Leibknecht.
• In 1919, Communist Workers’ Councils seized power all over Germany, and a Communist ‘People’s Government’ took power in Bavaria.
• In 1920, after the failure of the Kapp Putsch, a paramilitary group called the Red Army rebelled in the Ruhr.
3. Right-wing terrorism
Many right-wing groups hated the new government for signing the Versailles Treaty (June 1919):
• The Kapp Putsch: in March 1920, a Freikorps brigade rebelled against the Treaty, led by Dr Wolfgang Kapp. It took over Berlin and tried to bring back the Kaiser.
• Nationalist terrorist groups murdered 356 politicians. In August 1921 Matthias Erzberger, the man who signed the armistice (and therefore a 'November criminal'), was shot. In 1922, they assassinated Walter Rathenau, the SPD foreign minister, because he made a treaty with Russia.
4. Invasion-Inflation: the crisis of 1923
The cause of the trouble was Reparations – the government paid them by printing more money, causing mass inflation. In January 1923, Germany failed to make a payment, and France invaded the Ruhr. This humiliated the government, which ordered a general strike, and paid the strikers by printing more money, causing hyperinflation:
• In Berlin on 1 October 1923, soldiers calling themselves Black Reichswehr rebelled, led by Bruno Buchrucker.
• The Rhineland declared independence (21–22 October).
• In Saxony and Thuringia the Communists took power.
5. Munich Putsch
On 8–9 November 1923, Hitler’s Nazis tried to take control of Bavaria (the Munich Putsch):
At first, the Nazis were just a terrorist group. Hitler assembled a large group of unemployed young men and former soldiers, known as the storm troopers (the SA), which attacked other political groups. Hitler hoped to take power by starting a revolution. During the crisis of 1923, therefore, Hitler plotted with two nationalist politicians - Kahr and Lossow - to take over Munich in a revolution.
But then, on 4 October 1923, Kahr and Lossow called off the rebellion. This was an impossible situation for Hitler, who had 3,000 troops ready to fight. On the night of 8 November 1923, Hitler and 600 storm troopers burst into a meeting that Kahr and Lossow were holding at the local Beer Hall. Waving a gun at them, Hitler forced them to agree to rebel - and then let them go home. The SA took over the army headquarters and the offices of the local newspaper. The next day, 9 November 1923, Hitler and his Nazis went into Munich on what they thought would be a triumphal march to take power. However, Kahr had called in police and army reinforcements. There was a short scuffle in which the police killed 16 Nazis. Hitler fled, but was arrested two days later.
Why did Hitler attempt the Munich Putsch in 1923?
1. By 1923, the Nazi party had 55,000 members and was stronger than ever before.
2. The Weimar Republic was in crisis and about to collapse.
3. In September 1923, the Weimar government had called off the general strike, and every German nationalist was furious with the government.
4. Hitler thought he would be helped by important nationalist politicians in Bavaria.
5. Hitler had a huge army of storm troopers, but he knew he would lose control of them if he did not give them something to do.
6. Hitler hoped to copy Mussolini - the Italian fascist leader - who had come to power in Italy in 1922 by marching on Rome.
Results:
• The Nazi party was banned, and Hitler was prevented from speaking in public until 1927.
• Hitler went to prison, where he wrote 'Mein Kampf'. Millions of Germans read it, and Hitler's ideas became very well-known.
• Hitler decided that he would never come to power by revolution; he realised that he would have to use constitutional means, so he organised: the Hitler Youth, propaganda campaigns, mergers with other right-wing parties, local branches of the party, which tried to get Nazis elected to the Reichstag, the SS as his personal bodyguard, which was set up in 1925. It was this strategy of gaining power legitimately that eventually brought him to power.
After 1923
In 1923, the Weimar Republic was on the verge of collapse, but, surprisingly, the crisis was the start of a period of stability and success. The period 1923-1929 was a time when the economy boomed and cultural life flourished in Germany. This dramatic turnabout happened because Germany was saved by two people - Gustav Stresemann and Charles Dawes.
Gustav Stresemann had been a nationalist, but he realised that something needed to be done to save Germany. The most important thing he did in 1923 was to organise the Great Coalition of moderate, pro-democracy parties in the Reichstag. At last, Germany had a government that could make laws! Under Stresemann's guidance, the government called off the strike, persuaded the French to leave the Ruhr and even got the rest of the world to allow Germany to join the League of Nations in 1926. Stresemann also introduced reforms to help ordinary people such as job centres, unemployment pay and better housing.
Charles Dawes was the US budget director. In 1923, he was sent to Europe to sort out Germany's economy. Under his advice, the German Reichsbank was reformed and the old money was called in and burned. This ended the hyperinflation. Dawes also arranged the Dawes Plan with Stresemann, which gave Germany longer to pay reparations. Most importantly, Dawes agreed to America lending Germany 800 million gold marks, which kick-started the German economy.
However:
• The Great Coalition collapsed before the end of 1923, and the Reichstag returned to chaos. When the crisis came, it was unable to respond.
• The nationalists and fascists did not win many seats in the Reichstag, but they were allowed to exist and campaign, so they were just waiting for the right opportunity to attempt a takeover again.
• Everything depended on American money - if that stopped, Germany was ready to return to crisis.
Doomed?
It was beset by problems in the early years, but the stability and prosperity enjoyed by Germany during the period 1924-1929, suggests that it was successful to a degree. However, throughout this time, Hitler and the Nazi party came to prominence and eventually gained control in 1933.
It is arguable that the problems which beset the Weimar Republic from the start finally 'got it in the end':
• The vilification of the government as the November Criminals continued even into the 1930s, when Hitler referred to the government as the November Criminals in his election speeches.
• The weakness of the Reichstag governments because of proportional representation continued right to the very end, and lay behind the Hindenburg/Papen deal with Hitler in January 1933.
• Hitler used Article 48 to destroy the Republic after January 1933.
However:
• The Republic lasted 13 years - the world in 1933 was very different to 1919, so there was no simplistic cause-and-effect.
• The Republic was very successful during the period 1923-1929. When the pro-democracy parties organised themselves properly, the Republic could be very strong.
• The Republic would have survived if Hindenburg and Papen hadn't made Hitler chancellor; the Nazis had not done as well in the November 1932 elections as they had in July 1932, and some historians believe that their appeal was beginning to wane.
Websites:
http://alphahistory.com/weimarrepublic/social-democratic-party-spd/#sthash.x3ukX7X4.dpuf
http://www.theholocaustexplained.org/ks3/the-nazi-rise-to-power/how-did-the-nazis-gain-support/effects-of-ww1-on-german-politics/#.Vr8bO4_XLD4
http://www.factmonster.com/encyclopedia/history/spartacus-party.html
http://www.johndclare.net/Weimar3.htm
https://www.bundestag.de/blob/189776/01b7ea57531a60126da86e2d5c5dbb78/parties_weimar_republic-data.pdf
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/germany/
Weimar Republic Summary
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, but it faced many problems and had weaknesses.
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.
However, hidden in the detail were two flaws that eventually destroyed the Republic:
Proportional representation and Article 48 (below)
Perhaps the greatest danger was 'the weakness within' - the constitution gave the President, the states and the army too much power, whilst proportional voting meant that the Reichstag was divided and weak. In 1919-23, extremists on both the Left (especially the Spartacist revolt) and the Right (especially the Kapp Putsch) tried to overthrow the government. The worst crisis occurred in 1923, when the French invaded to try to force Germany to pay reparations. This led to hyperinflation and a number of rebellions (particularly Hitler's Munich Putsch).
1919 Spartacist revolt (Jan) and other Communist rebellions.
Communist 'People's Government seizes power in Bavaria.
1920 Kapp Putsch (Mar)
'Red Army' (communist) rebellion in the Ruhr
1921 Assassination of Matthias Erzberger
1922 Assassination of Walter Rathenau
1923 (Jan) France invades the Ruhr
General Strike and hyperinflation
(Oct) Black Reichswehr rebellion
The Rhineland declared independence (Oct) and Communists take power in Saxony and Thuringia
(Nov) Hitler's Munich Putsch
ILRIM
1. Ineffective Constitution
The Weimar Constitution did not create a strong government:
• Article 48 of the constitution gave the President sole power in ‘times of emergency’ – something he took often: 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.
• The system of proportional voting led to 28 parties. This made it virtually impossible to establish a majority in the Reichstag, and led to frequent changes in the government. During 1919-33, there were twenty separate coalition governments and the longest government lasted only two years. This political chaos caused many to lose faith in the new democratic system.
• The German states had too much power and often ignored the government.
• The Army, led by the right-wing General Hans von Seeckt, was not fully under the government’s control. It failed to support government during the Kapp Putsch or the crisis of 1923.
• Many government officials – especially judges – were right-wing and wanted to destroy the government. After the Kapp Putsch, 700 rebels were tried for treason; only 1 went to prison. After the Munich Putsch, Hitler went to prison for only 9 months.
2. Left-wing Rebellions
The Communist KPD hated the new government:
• In Jan 1919, 50,000 Spartacists rebelled in Berlin, led by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Leibknecht.
• In 1919, Communist Workers’ Councils seized power all over Germany, and a Communist ‘People’s Government’ took power in Bavaria.
• In 1920, after the failure of the Kapp Putsch, a paramilitary group called the Red Army rebelled in the Ruhr.
3. Right-wing terrorism
Many right-wing groups hated the new government for signing the Versailles Treaty (June 1919):
• The Kapp Putsch: in March 1920, a Freikorps brigade rebelled against the Treaty, led by Dr Wolfgang Kapp. It took over Berlin and tried to bring back the Kaiser.
• Nationalist terrorist groups murdered 356 politicians. In August 1921 Matthias Erzberger, the man who signed the armistice (and therefore a 'November criminal'), was shot. In 1922, they assassinated Walter Rathenau, the SPD foreign minister, because he made a treaty with Russia.
4. Invasion-Inflation: the crisis of 1923
The cause of the trouble was Reparations – the government paid them by printing more money, causing mass inflation. In January 1923, Germany failed to make a payment, and France invaded the Ruhr. This humiliated the government, which ordered a general strike, and paid the strikers by printing more money, causing hyperinflation:
• In Berlin on 1 October 1923, soldiers calling themselves Black Reichswehr rebelled, led by Bruno Buchrucker.
• The Rhineland declared independence (21–22 October).
• In Saxony and Thuringia the Communists took power.
5. Munich Putsch
On 8–9 November 1923, Hitler’s Nazis tried to take control of Bavaria (the Munich Putsch):
At first, the Nazis were just a terrorist group. Hitler assembled a large group of unemployed young men and former soldiers, known as the storm troopers (the SA), which attacked other political groups. Hitler hoped to take power by starting a revolution. During the crisis of 1923, therefore, Hitler plotted with two nationalist politicians - Kahr and Lossow - to take over Munich in a revolution.
But then, on 4 October 1923, Kahr and Lossow called off the rebellion. This was an impossible situation for Hitler, who had 3,000 troops ready to fight. On the night of 8 November 1923, Hitler and 600 storm troopers burst into a meeting that Kahr and Lossow were holding at the local Beer Hall. Waving a gun at them, Hitler forced them to agree to rebel - and then let them go home. The SA took over the army headquarters and the offices of the local newspaper. The next day, 9 November 1923, Hitler and his Nazis went into Munich on what they thought would be a triumphal march to take power. However, Kahr had called in police and army reinforcements. There was a short scuffle in which the police killed 16 Nazis. Hitler fled, but was arrested two days later.
Why did Hitler attempt the Munich Putsch in 1923?
1. By 1923, the Nazi party had 55,000 members and was stronger than ever before.
2. The Weimar Republic was in crisis and about to collapse.
3. In September 1923, the Weimar government had called off the general strike, and every German nationalist was furious with the government.
4. Hitler thought he would be helped by important nationalist politicians in Bavaria.
5. Hitler had a huge army of storm troopers, but he knew he would lose control of them if he did not give them something to do.
6. Hitler hoped to copy Mussolini - the Italian fascist leader - who had come to power in Italy in 1922 by marching on Rome.
Results:
• The Nazi party was banned, and Hitler was prevented from speaking in public until 1927.
• Hitler went to prison, where he wrote 'Mein Kampf'. Millions of Germans read it, and Hitler's ideas became very well-known.
• Hitler decided that he would never come to power by revolution; he realised that he would have to use constitutional means, so he organised: the Hitler Youth, propaganda campaigns, mergers with other right-wing parties, local branches of the party, which tried to get Nazis elected to the Reichstag, the SS as his personal bodyguard, which was set up in 1925. It was this strategy of gaining power legitimately that eventually brought him to power.
After 1923
In 1923, the Weimar Republic was on the verge of collapse, but, surprisingly, the crisis was the start of a period of stability and success. The period 1923-1929 was a time when the economy boomed and cultural life flourished in Germany. This dramatic turnabout happened because Germany was saved by two people - Gustav Stresemann and Charles Dawes.
Gustav Stresemann had been a nationalist, but he realised that something needed to be done to save Germany. The most important thing he did in 1923 was to organise the Great Coalition of moderate, pro-democracy parties in the Reichstag. At last, Germany had a government that could make laws! Under Stresemann's guidance, the government called off the strike, persuaded the French to leave the Ruhr and even got the rest of the world to allow Germany to join the League of Nations in 1926. Stresemann also introduced reforms to help ordinary people such as job centres, unemployment pay and better housing.
Charles Dawes was the US budget director. In 1923, he was sent to Europe to sort out Germany's economy. Under his advice, the German Reichsbank was reformed and the old money was called in and burned. This ended the hyperinflation. Dawes also arranged the Dawes Plan with Stresemann, which gave Germany longer to pay reparations. Most importantly, Dawes agreed to America lending Germany 800 million gold marks, which kick-started the German economy.
However:
• The Great Coalition collapsed before the end of 1923, and the Reichstag returned to chaos. When the crisis came, it was unable to respond.
• The nationalists and fascists did not win many seats in the Reichstag, but they were allowed to exist and campaign, so they were just waiting for the right opportunity to attempt a takeover again.
• Everything depended on American money - if that stopped, Germany was ready to return to crisis.
Doomed?
It was beset by problems in the early years, but the stability and prosperity enjoyed by Germany during the period 1924-1929, suggests that it was successful to a degree. However, throughout this time, Hitler and the Nazi party came to prominence and eventually gained control in 1933.
It is arguable that the problems which beset the Weimar Republic from the start finally 'got it in the end':
• The vilification of the government as the November Criminals continued even into the 1930s, when Hitler referred to the government as the November Criminals in his election speeches.
• The weakness of the Reichstag governments because of proportional representation continued right to the very end, and lay behind the Hindenburg/Papen deal with Hitler in January 1933.
• Hitler used Article 48 to destroy the Republic after January 1933.
However:
• The Republic lasted 13 years - the world in 1933 was very different to 1919, so there was no simplistic cause-and-effect.
• The Republic was very successful during the period 1923-1929. When the pro-democracy parties organised themselves properly, the Republic could be very strong.
• The Republic would have survived if Hindenburg and Papen hadn't made Hitler chancellor; the Nazis had not done as well in the November 1932 elections as they had in July 1932, and some historians believe that their appeal was beginning to wane.
Websites:
http://alphahistory.com/weimarrepublic/social-democratic-party-spd/#sthash.x3ukX7X4.dpuf
http://www.theholocaustexplained.org/ks3/the-nazi-rise-to-power/how-did-the-nazis-gain-support/effects-of-ww1-on-german-politics/#.Vr8bO4_XLD4
http://www.factmonster.com/encyclopedia/history/spartacus-party.html
http://www.johndclare.net/Weimar3.htm
https://www.bundestag.de/blob/189776/01b7ea57531a60126da86e2d5c5dbb78/parties_weimar_republic-data.pdf
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/germany/
Queen Grace Stark- Admin
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Join date : 2016-03-23
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