The Creation of the Weimar republic 1918-1923 Post WW1 Germany The Creation of the Weimar republic 1918-1923

Defeated in War By the end of WW1, German generals were forced to admit they had lost the war in Europe. Germany was forced to accept the consequences of the lost war. In order to do so, they had enacted a new constitution that was to make them (for the first time in their history) a republic. Their country was now going to be run by a government that included a modern, liberal democratic political structure. Their parliament (called REICHSTAG) was to be elected through universal suffrage.

This period in history has been known as the ‘Weimar republic’, because this constitution was signed in the city of Weimar. This government had to now act to rebuild a country that had been completely destroyed by the first world war. To make matters worse, the government was forced to accept the conditions of the Treaty of Versailles. It should be noted that during the signing of this treaty, Germany was not allowed to negotiate any of the post-war stipulations. Please copy down all the stipulations on page 114 in your textbook.

Conditions of the Treaty As noted previously, these conditions that were forced upon Germany were very unfair. These conditions led to a long lasting resentment among the German population. The results of the Treaty of Versailles would contribute to further problems in the later stages of the Weimar Republic. The population of Germany was not happy with the outcomes of the ToV and they took their frustrations out on the government. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj_eiyBsSSc&feature=fvw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbok5tQICes&feature=related

Weimar Republic 1918-1923 The first five years of the W.R proved to be very difficult. One reason was the shock of defeat: Wartime propaganda had created a feeling that Germany was no doubt going to be victorious during the war. The surrender of Germany proved to shock the entire country.

Even though Germany had little choice in signing the treaty, much of the German population blamed the government for the humiliation and economic hardship the treaty was to cause for years to come. This resentment would undermine German confidence in their liberal democratic government Furthermore, many Germans associated liberalism with the countries that defeated them in WW1

The Treaty of Versailles not only hurt Germany as a nation, but many of the populace felt betrayed by their own government officials. The officials were labelled criminals for signing the document. There has been a history of bitterness towards this treaty since it had been signed. The ToV lead to increasing economic problems in the Weimar Republic. In 1923, Germany declared that they were no longer able to continue making reparations payments imposed by the ToV. As a consequence, France and Belgium invaded the Ruhr ( an industrial area of Germany) in hopes to take their profits as a method of payment.

Ruhr Situation In response to the invasion, the German government called the workers to use “passive resistance”, meaning to slow production. The workers also used general strikes to slow production. The problem here was that this area of Germany had been essential to the German Economy. As a result, Germany faced terrible consequences. By April 1923, the government was spending seven times more than it was receiving.

The solution was to print off more money. This created the serious problem known as Hyperinflation. Hyperinflation is described by a situation in which the value of money falls extremely quickly until it becomes worthless. In these situations, it is common for people to resort to bartering (exchanging) of goods and services. Ex. Price of a Loaf of Bread: Dec. 1918: 0.54 marks Nov. 1923: 201,000,000,000 (201 Billion) marks

Activity: Read pages 115-117 Complete the ‘Third Question’ on page 117.