From 1919 through 1924, Germany was a deeply troubled country due to massive social, political, and economic problems. The Weimar Republic that came to power in Germany after The Great War was widely unpopular, due to the leadership accepting the harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles and introducing a new form of government after the Kaiser’s abdication. Unfortunately, the government also had to face attacks from both extreme Left and Right wing parties. The result of the country’s disunity was hyperinflation, strikes, and an ever worsening economy due to the Treaty of Versailles. It was not until 1923 that Gustav Stresemann, the newly appointed Chancellor, brought Germany into a new Golden era. Overall the Treaty of Versailles created
The first major revolt against the Republic was led by a communist group, the Spartacists. In 1919, the Spartacists and their founders, Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht led a group of workers in an armed uprising in Berlin. Friedrich Ebert, Weimar 's leader at the time, withdrew from Berlin to Weimar, letting the army handle things. The uprising was bloodily put down by the extreme Right known as the Freikorps. The Freikorps, despising the Left more than the Weimar Republic, took up arms against the Spartacists, resulting in the deaths of many radicals including Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht. The uprising not only showed Weimar 's inability to handle violent revolts, but revealed a greater threat at hand, the
On January 11, 1923 the Ruhr Valley was occupied and in response to this, the Weimar government ordered passive resistance. The occupation meant all work in the Ruhr was to be stopped, and since the Ruhr was Germany’s major industrial region, it further ruined the economy. By the end of November 1923, the mark was completely worthless, with 4.2 trillion marks equivalent to 1 dollar. Overall, the economy and the occupation of the Ruhr caused chaos and discontent. What further worsened in Germany was social resentment between classes, since some lived quite well compared to others. On August 1923, Gustav Stresemann was appointed the new Chancellor and would eventually revive the Germany economy. He did this by introducing a new currency and working with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, which would lead to plans that would reduce the reparations burden. Though many have maintained that the Weimar Republic was a failure, did not take into account of the miracle that the Weimar government stayed in power for fourteen years. Nevertheless, Weimar Germany during the period from 1919 through 1924 faced extreme unpopularity, attacks from both political parties, and a disastrous economy. If the Weimar Republic had been more successful, Hitler might have not been able to use these troubling factors against the Republic, to come into
Also the Freikorps methods were very harsh and many Germans saw that this was wrong and wasn’t democratic to which the Government was aiming to make Germany as.
The first major reason that the Weimar republic failed was that it was extremely inefficient and did not have clear goals set within the government. All the different ideas coming from the parties in the republic, created a situation where the people of Germany were getting very unclear, vague messages. This problem can be seen in the struggle between the German Democratic Party and the Communist Party. Troeltsch, a theologian and leader of the German Democratic Party said, “The development will not stop at democracy, and a ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’ will assume the form of terrorist domination by a minority” (Doc 1). This statement is only somewhat reliable because Troeltsch was a politician, and he would benefit from over exaggerating what would happen if the opposing party were to gain control. The exact opposite of this idea is the view of Communist Party member Clara Zetkin. When she talks about how the only way that Germany can really get rid of monarchy is by having a proletariat uprising it can be seen that she obviously embraces communist policy. (Doc 3)....
Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles reads: "The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies."(1) These words fueled the Nazi Party's rise to power and ignition of a Second World War. After World War I, the Allies dissected, punished, and disarmed Germany to prevent the outbreak of another brutal war. Consequently, German lands, acquired by Nazi force, were given back to their original countries, and Germany's army was reduced to 100,000 men. In addition, Germany was responsible for paying immense retribution to all of the Allied Forces, causing German money to lose its value. The result of the Treaty of Versailles was a weakened Germany, both martially and economically. The Weimar Republic, a liberal government set up after Germany's defeat, was inefficient in handling Germany's massive problems. Germany's ill state was the curtain call for a change in the Weimar administration, and Adolf Hitler led the push for a transformation. Once in power, Hitler designed laws that redefined the responsibilities of the citizen. The citizens' duties would allow the Germany to regain her autonomy in the eyes of the world. Although the citizens worked to increase Germany's overrall welfare, the State did not attempt to improve individual well-being. The State held one responsibility. It must protect the lives of its people, so that the people can, in turn, carry out their duties for the S...
The Posing of Threats by the Political Right to the Weimar Republic in the Years 1919-25
After the First World War Germany recognised her first ever democratic government, the Weimar republic lasted from 1918 – 1933 an astonishingly long time given its turbulent start. The November revolution saw the election of soldier and worker councils similar to that of the Russian revolution in 1917, it spread across Germany like wildfire and in turn split the country before a democracy could even be instated nevertheless on November 9th 1918 the German republic was established. From then on The Weimar Republic was set on unstable and insecure path and this is why it is one of Germanys most important historical periods; it was Germanys earliest form of non-imperial government and rule and its collapse in 1933 paved the way for the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party. For these reasons there have been endless works published on the Weimar republic and the outpouring of literature post world war two focuses on the collapse of the Weimar republic and how the Nazi party came to power. However, to understand why the debate surrounding the Golden Era in the Weimar Republic is an interesting one and lacking in historical works, it is key to examine the historiography of the Weimar republic as a whole. Furthermore, to understand why historians focus on other periods in the Weimar’s history in particular the consequences of the treaty of Versailles and the consequences of the Wall Street crash in 1928 which led to its collapse.
The general public of Germany had never had any say in political matters; they allowed the Kaiser to make all the decisions regarding themselves and their once-prosperous country. The groups controlling Germany began to change during October and November 1918. More power began to fall into the hands of the people as they realised the blame for their involvement in the war was the Kaiser’s. People such as the armed soldiers, sailors and workers started protesting and going on strike. This was a far cry from before the war, when Germany was wealthy, proud and ambitious. So for a brief period, it seemed that a revolution would take place, with the people of Germany wanting a social and political revolution.
The German government ordered passive resistance but workers needed to be paid. The government printed money and hyperinflation set in. During this crisis in Germany, caused indirectly by the Treaty, when Hitler tried to seize power he was unsupported. Therefore the Treaty of Versailles, on its own, was not a reason why Hitler rose to power. After 1929, the Great Depression acted as a catalyst, igniting the German people's anger for the Treaty of Versailles and it then became a factor in Hitler's rise to power.
Richard Bessel’s article stresses the political structure of Weimar Germany as the cause of its failure. Its structure was flawed in numerous ways, all of which contributed to its inevitable failure. First of all, the problems within Germany due to the First World War were massive. This caused economic, political and social problems which first had to be dealt with by the new Weimar government. The loss of the war had left Germany with huge reparations to pay, and massive destruction to repair. In order to gain the capital needed to finance efforts to rebuild, and repay the Allies, the economy had to be brought back to its prewar levels. This was not an easy task.
Hyperinflation is an economic condition characterized by “a rapid increase in the overall price level that continues over a significant period” and in this period the concept of inflation is essentially rendered meaningless (Kroon 90). The post-World War I German economy experienced a crippling period of hyperinflation which lasted nearly two years and had an enormous impact on the economy. The hyperinflation began inconspicuously as the inflation rate crept just a percent or two per year during the war years. In the post-war period inflation began to rise and in early- to mid-1922, inflation raged. During this period, businesses reached full operational capacity and unemployment nearly disappeared. While nominal wages increased, real wages dropped precipitously. Workers were paid two or three times a day, and they rushed home to pass the money to family members who could go and exchange the rapidly depreciating currency for real goods (clothing, food, etc.) before it became completely worthless. Prices rose so rapidly pe...
The main reason was that people were discomposed that Germany had lost a war and most of the people blame for the defeat. On the other hand, during 1929-1933, the worldwide Great Depression, which impacted Germany, and there was no leader of Weimar could solve the economic problem.
The Weakness of the Weimar Republic and Hitler's Rise to Power The question directly relates to the idea that the political power of a country can be taken over by ambitious people in different ways. From our knowledge we know there is three ways this can be done…by take over by force, also known as a 'coup d'etat', in a more democratic and just way or by a political deal. In the 1920's and the 1930's Hitler led a right wing political party and was seen by many as a dictator. He wanted to overthrow and control the German government and he tried all three of these ways in an attempt to do so, some methods were more successful than others.
Faced with harsh peace terms at the end of World War I, Germany was put in the perfect position for extreme political turmoil to rise, along with the need to place the blame for the German defeat. The Treaty of Versailles, which was the Allies’ peace treaty with Germany following World War I, “... took territories from Germany in the east and west, destroyed the Austro-Hungarian Empire, humiliated Germans by including a “war guilt” clause, imposed disarmament, and demanded heavy reparation payments for war damage” (Weisser). This “peace” treaty, littered with bitter terms for Germany, did great harm to the nation. Germany was not only stripped of its once powerful nation by depriving it of its territories and armaments; but also by the destruction of its economy through hyperinflation, a result of printing more money in order to pay reparations. This treaty therefore ruined Germany, putting it in an atrocious state, which would eventually allow for dramatic political change and the placing of blame for the...
The German Weimar Republic was an attempt to make Germany a more democratic state. While this was a very good idea in theory, the Weimar Republic was ineffective due to the instability that came with it. Several factors contributed to the instability of Germany’s Weimar Republic, such as the new political ideals brought forward and the government’s hunger for war. To begin, one of the factors that contributed to the instability of the Weimar republic was the presence of new political ideals. Marie Juchacz unintentionally highlighted that reason in her speech to the National Assembly.
...After we consider all these points mentioned we begin to see how everything worked and connected to form one huge disaster for Germany. We start to see how all these things played a part, the reparations led to unemployment that led to no money that led to overprinting of money. How the huge consequence of the reparations led to the unsuccessful paying of it leading to the French invasion of the Ruhr which led to strikes and therefore no products to trade with. How the unstable Weimar government led to extremist parties that damaged the economy further and brought inflation to its highest. The effects were probably the worst, the starvation coupled with the disease epidemic that killed people off and the worthless tonnes of paper notes roaming around the nation. It all in all was a very bad time in Germany one that they always found it hard to recover from.
German people were unused to a democracy and blamed the government “November criminals”, for signing the Treaty of Versailles. From the very beginning, the new Weimar government faced opposition from both sides of the political spectrum. The Left wing Spartacist group, lead by Liebknecht and Luxemburg, looked up to the new Soviet councils in Russia, wanted to place Germany into a similar system.