THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC

Revision: The End of the First World War Consider picture 138. What problems was Germany facing in 1918? How many of these issues were directly the result of World War I? Revolt of sailors at Kiel. Largely socialist uprising. 9 November 1918. Abdication of the Kaiser. Friedrich Ebert new leader of the Republic. Signed treaty with the Allies. A new constitution drawn up: “The Weimar Constitution”. Free elections held in January 1919.

The Weimar Constitution Ebert was duly elected the first president of the so-called ‘Weimar Republic’ See page 139: Factfile and Source 3 In what ways was the Weimar Republic ‘democratic’?

Threats to the New Constitution The Spartacists Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg The Freikorps The Communist Revolution

Pressure from the Right The Kapp Putsch (p. 141) 5000 Freikorps marched on Berlin, March 1920 Army refused to fight the Freikorps General strike by Berlin workers Political Assassinations E.g. assassination of Kurt Eisner, in Bavaria, 1919 E.g. assassination of foreign minister, Walther Rathenau, 1922 Growth of Nationalist parties The German Workers Party a.k.a. the National Socialist German Worker’s Party or Nazis

The Republic in Trouble The Treaty of Versailles

The Treaty of Versailles (pp. 91) 28 June 1919 Germany lost: 10% of its land in Europe: Alsace-Lorraine; Saarland; North Schleswig; West Prussia and Posen; Upper Silesia; Estonia; Latvia; Lithuania Its overseas colonies Africa: Togoland; Cameroon; German South West Africa [Namibia]; German East Africa; Asia: New Guinea; Samoa; Marshall, Mariana, Caroline Islands 12.5 %of its population 16% of its coalfields, c. 50% of its iron and steel

The Treaty of Versailles (pp. 91) 28 June 1919 Other stipulations: Had to accept blame for starting the war Army reduced to 100, 000 men No conscription No air force Could only have 6 battleships Rhineland de-militarised Reparations 6600 million pounds The League of Nations

The Republic in Trouble The Treaty of Versailles The Invasion of the Ruhr Valley Jan. 1923 Belgian and French troops invade Germans workers went on strike French retaliation Hyperinflation Without goods, government simply printed money And the problem is/was ….?!

The Stresemann Years Gustav Stresemann 1878-1929

Outline Stresemann was Chancellor in 1923 His main role was as Foreign Minister from 1924 He was a right-winger and more able than Ebert He built up Germany’s prosperity again although all of Europe was recovering His role contributed to survival of the Weimar Republic …. In fact this was due to several factors. What were they? See page 145.

The Dawes Plan (1924) He signed Germany up to the Dawes Plan in 1924 Charles G. Dawes was the US Vice-President Germany’s reparations paid over a longer period America lent money to German industry and also to the Government to pay reparations German currency reorganised (Rentenmark)

Foreign Policy Stresemann showed real skill in foreign policy – 1925 Locarno Treaties – 1925 1926 – Germany joined the League of Nations Young plan - 1929 After a number of years in the wilderness Germany was accepted back into the international community

Locarno Treaties Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Poland met at Locarno in Switzerland. Signed a number of treaties to settle disputes between themselves France, Belgium and Germany agreed to accept borders as drawn up by Treaty of Versailles Rhineland stayed demilitarised France would protect Poland and Czechoslovakia if attacked by Germany Germany would not use force to settle disputes with neighbours

League of Nations The League of Nations was the fore runner of the United Nations Its aims were to: prevent aggression by any nation Encourage co-operation between nations Work towards international disarmament Improve the living and working conditions of all people The core was collective security – members of the League could prevent war by acting together .

Other features of the Stresemann Years POSITIVES: Growth in Economy Stabilisation of politics Golden age of German cinema Night life, cabaret Removal of censorship NEGATIVES: Unemployment and poverty still high Middle classes and small farmers disillusioned Growth of immigration/erosion of traditional values Growing prosperity based on USA loans (subject to recall) Growth of extreme left and right parties

Anything else? Stresemann wasn’t popular with either the extreme nationalists like Hitler and the Nazis, or with the Communists Hitler disliked the League because it supported the Treaty of Versailles BUT both the Nazis and the Communists made little progress in these years because people were much better off and their EXTREME ideas did not appeal to people