Early Weimar Germany: 1918-1923 LO: To understand the early problems of the Weimar Republic, why there was opposition, and how well it was dealt with Starter: Think about what problems Germany might face at the end of the First World War? Jot down ideas in your book

German revolution 1918. Watch the programme about why there was a German revolution in 1918? (a)List the reasons. (b) Add to your reasons using P.5. (Then tick the reasons that were due to the war)

Military Economic Political Social Related to the armed forces Economic Related to money and wealth Political Relating to power and government Social Relating to the welfare of people

What problems did Germany face in 1918? Military Economic Political Social Key Word: Armistice – To stop fighting Draw the above table and use page 5 in your textbook to fill it in. Which problem do you think was the most important in bringing about the armistice?

The Weimar Republic Founded in January 1919 in the small town of Weimar because fighting was going on in Berlin Elected the Social Democratic Party leader Friedrich Ebert as its first President Created a new constitution for Germany Keywords: Republic, Constitution, Chancellor, Reichstag, Proportional Representation, Judiciary

DIT

Strengths and weaknesses of the Constitution and the Treaty of Versailles L.O: Recap the definitions Compare the strengths and weaknesses of the new German Government Discuss whether the Treaty of Versailles was fair to Germany

Early Weimar Keywords Quiz A keyword definition will be shown Write down the keyword

Early Weimar Keywords Quiz A government which consists of two or more political parties Coalition The end of fighting (e.g. In a war). A ceasefire Armistice The German word for their Parliament Reichstag

Early Weimar Keywords Quiz A system of government without a King or Queen A Republic What the Prime Minister was called in the Weimar Republic The Chancellor Another word for a collection of judges Judiciary

Early Weimar Keywords Quiz A system of rules that says how a country is governed. May be written or unwritten A Constitution A voting system in which the number of representatives (MP’s) elected is in direct proportion to the number of votes cast for their political party in the country as a whole Proportional Representation

The New Constitution 1) Copy the diagram of the Weimar Republic Constitution into your exercise books 2) Read page 7 of your textbook and in pairs complete the following table in your exercise books: Strengths of the Constitution Weaknesses of the Constitution 1) 2) 3) 3) “The Weimar constitution had more strengths than weaknesses”. From the evidence in your table, how far do you agree or disagree with this view? (Write a paragraph)

Strengths of the Constitution Weaknesses of the Constitution Equal civil rights for all Germans, including the right to vote over age 20 Reichstag elected every 4 years Chancellor had to have consent of Reichstag to rule 4) A strong President – in an emergency could use special powers (Article 48) to make laws without the consent of the Reichstag 5) Proportional Representation – parties given a fair share of the seats in the Reichstag 6) Individual states within Germany had devolved powers 1) Proportional representation led to election of extremist groups 2) Proportional representation meant that all Governments had to be Coalitions which were often unstable and weak 3) Presidential emergency powers could be used to override the will of the Reichstag 4) Powerful groups such as the judiciary and the army were not reformed and were able to undermine the Government

Give the constitution a mark out of ten and two reasons why

ROLE PLAY

The Treaty of Versailles In 1919 Germany signed a peace treaty with the victorious powers Britain, France and the USA Germany was not invited to the peace conference – the terms were imposed by diktat (dictated) The terms of the treaty were very harsh for Germany and many Germans were angry and opposed the treaty Keywords: Treaty, Diktat

Territorial Losses at Versailles Free City (L of N) West Prussia and Posen The Polish “Corridor” (German speaking) Rhineland demilitarised Saarland (L of N) COAL Alsace-Lorraine to France (iron and steel)

Other Treaty Terms Loss of overseas colonies (East and South West Africa) Reparations – £6.6 bln per annum War Guilt (Article 231) No military planes or submarines Navy reduced to six battleships Army reduced to 100,000 men GERMANY VULNERABLE TO ATTACK!

What can you learn from this source? It’s from a German Magazine published in July 1919 The man on the left is meant to be the French President, Clemenceau The woman on the right is Germany

One Against All Discuss in Groups: Do you think the Versailles Treaty was Unfair to Germany? Throw the Dice. The student with the Highest Number has to argue that the Treaty was Unfair to Germany Everyone else has to argue that the Treaty was Fair When the student arguing that the Treaty was unfair has run out of arguments, throw the dice again, and choose a new student to argue that the Treaty was unfair

Use Pages 7 in ‘Life in Germany’ Treaty of Versailles Summarise the terms of the treaty divided up by these headings: Territorial Terms Military Terms Reparations War Guilt (Article 231) A Stick the Map of the Versailles Treaty into your exercise book - label and colour in Germany’s main territorial losses (refer to map on page 7) B Use Pages 7 in ‘Life in Germany’ Explain what many Germans meant when they said Germany had been “stabbed in the back”. Which Germans were most likely to say this? Who did the stabbing? C EXTENSION READING: The Versailles Settlement (from Collier and Pedley, ‘Germany 1919-1945’

Plenary One thing they knew before Two questions Three thing they have learn today

Whilst the Class Register is being taken spend five minutes revising the terms of the Treaty of Versailles

Early Risings against the Government Spartacist uprising Kapp Putsch 1919 1920

Key Terms Left Wing Right Wing

Who were the Spartacists? Two views of the Spartacists What can we learn from these sources? * Think * Pair * Share

The Spartacist Uprising (1919) Led by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebneckt Communist revolutionaries who did not believe that the Weimar Government would act in the interests of the Working Class Uprising started in Berlin on 5th January 1919 Suppressed by a volunteer force of 4,000 ex-soldiers, created by President Ebert and Army leaders, called the Freikorps (Free Corps) Luxemburg and Liebneckt taken prisoner and murdered by Freikorps

The Kapp Putsch Attempt by Freikorps in March 1920 to overthrow the Government because of opposition to the Treaty of Versailles Led by Dr Wolfgang Kapp, an extreme nationalist Took over Berlin. Weimar Gov fled the city Army refused to act against Kapp – showed its sympathy towards violent uprisings from the Right Kapp unable to rule Germany due to General Strike by German workers – fled to Sweden

Early Risings against the Government Spartacists (1919) Kapp Putsch (1920) What was the cause of each uprising? What were the main consequences of each uprising for the Republic? Complete table from pages 10 and 11 in ‘Life in Germany’

Early Risings against the Government Spartacists (1919) Kapp Putsch (1920) What was the cause of each uprising? Attempt to replace the Weimar Government with a Communist Government like the one in Russia Opposition to the Weimar Republic and the Treaty of Versailles, especially reducing size of Army and disbanding the Freikorps What were the main consequences of each uprising for the Republic? Demonstrated the instability of the Government The Weimar Government depended on the support of the Army to suppress the revolt. In return it had to promise not to change the Army leadership, even though they were Generals from the Kaiser’s reign and remained hostile to the Government. Showed that the Republic had the support of workers Showed that Army was not prepared to defend the Republic against Right Wing uprisings, and was in sympathy with extreme nationalism The Weimar Government assumed that the most serious threat came from the Left (Communists), and focused on suppressing them, whilst allowing the Right to organise and grow stronger