DEPTH STUDY B

GERMANY 1918-45

KEY QUESTION

1) Was the Weimar Republic doomed from the start?

FOCUS POINTS

● How did Germany emerge from the defeat of the First World War?

● What was the impact of the Treaty of Versailles on the Republic?

● To what extent did the republic recover after 1923?

● What were the achievements of the Weimar Period?

GERMANY 1918-33

In 1918 Germany suffered defeat in the First World War and the victorious powers were
France, Russia, Britain and the USA. War destroyed much of the German power and left it
in ruins. Germany before the war was not a democracy. It had an elected parliament but
this could be overruled by the Kaiser who had enormous powers and could even choose and
sack ministers.

The 29 year old Wilhelm II came to power in 1888 and took Germany to war in 1914 but by
October 1918 they were very close to defeat.

The German Revolution of 1918

This revolution was caused by war weariness. The German people had suffered hardships
and experienced starvation as a result of the blockade of their ports by the British Navy.

There were shortages of everyday necessities such as gas, electric lights, lamp oil, soap,
medicines and many other things. The revolution began on the 30th of October in the North
Sea port of Kiel when the German navy refused to attack the British navy. Workers and
soldiers took over Kiel and nearby ports, and cities throughout Germany joined in the revolt.
Morale in the army and at home had collapsed and a series of defeats led to strikes
throughout Germany.

On the 9th of November 1918 the Kaiser abdicated and on the following day a German
Republic was set up under Friedrich Ebert, leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD).

On 11 November an armistice was signed in a railway carriage at Campiegne in the north of

Paris.

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Weimar Germany

This was the name given to the period in German history from 1919 to 1933. It got its name
from the fact that the constitution of the post war republic was drawn up in the town of
Weimar in South Eastern Germany. This place was chosen because it was more peaceful
when compared to Berlin.

Many Germans who supported the German revolution demanded the following:

● Peace as quickly as possible

● Better food supplies

● Improved working conditions

● Free press and a right to express their opinion openly

● Right for all adults to vote

● A parliament with power to control the government

The Weimar Republic was therefore born out of military defeat and the revolution at the
end of the First World War. Under the threat of military collapse, the Kaiser’s Second Reich
was transformed into the Weimar Republic.

The revolution had occurred in two phases;

● The first revolution from above started as early as October 1918 when the military
machine handed over power to the civilian cabinet. Ludendorff and Hindenburg saw
that defeat was inevitable and they wanted to avoid direct blame for surrender and
they gave power to Prince Max who now became chancellor. He resigned on 9
November and was replaced by Ebert. It was also done in an effort to make the
government look legitimate and acceptable to the allies and so that they would get a
lenient treatment.
● The second phase was a revolution from below which brought down the Second
Reich altogether-the mutiny by sailors at Kiel and Wilhelmshaven.

HOW DID GERMANY EMERGE FROM DEFEAT IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR?

In 1914 the Germans were proud people and the Kaiser Wilhelm II was celebrated for his
achievements. Their army was the finest in the world and there was great optimism about the power
and strength of Germany. However, four years later, this was not the case. The proud Germany army
had been defeated and the German people were surviving on turnips and bread mixed with sawdust.

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ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE WAR

-Germany was virtually bankrupt and the national income was about one third of what it had been
1913.

-Germany was only producing 50% of the milk and 60% of the butter and meat.

-Industrial production was about two thirds of what it had been in 1913.

-The war left 600 000 widows and 2 million children fatherless.

-By 1925 the state was spending about one third of its budget on war pensions.

-300 000 people died from starvation and hypothermia.

SOCIAL IMPACT

-The war deepened divisions in German society. There were now huge gaps between the living
standards of the rich and the poor.

-One and half million soldiers returned to a society full of disillusionment.

-German workers were bitter because of the restrictions that had been placed on their earnings
during the war.

-The Germans were angry about losing the war and there was a wave of unrest. Law and order were
breaking down in the country.

POLITICAL IMPACT

-Germany’s revolution had produced an unstable democratic republic and groups with extremist
political views tried to gain power.

-Stresses of the war led to a revolution in October and November 1918. The right wing and left wing
groups were fighting.

THE WEIMAR CONSTITUTION

-The constitution was drafted by a special committee under Jurist Hugo Preuss and after several
months of deliberations, it was adopted on the 31st of July 1919 and it came into force on the 11th of
August 1919.

-The German name was preserved but the country was now declared to be a republic. The national
flag was changed from black, white and red to black, red and gold.

-The old states (lander) were preserved so that Germany would become a federal republic and not
unitary one like that of France and Britain. Every state of Germany was to have a republican
constitution.

UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE

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-The constitution was very democratic. All people over the age of 20 could vote-men as well as
women. This was the universal suffrage.

The President

-The executive head of state was to be the President, chosen by all German people. His presidency
was to run for seven years but he could be re-elected after that.

-He could be deposed before the expiration of his term by a referendum and if the referendum came
into his favour it would be counted as a new election.

-The president appointed the Chancellor as the head of government but the chancellor needed the
support of the majority of the Legislature which was called the Reichstag-the lower house of
parliament. This would make it possible for him to form a workable coalition government by
negotiating with leaders of other parties.

-He was the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. He also had the power to dissolve the
Reichstag.

-The president had emergency powers through Article 48. Article 48 gave the president the power in
an emergency to rule by decree and to override the constitutional rights of the people. This created
a very complex relationship between the powers of the president and the Reichstag and chancellor.

The president’s choice of the chancellor was going to play an important part in the events of 1930-
1933.

THE REICHSTAG

-This was the central legislative/law making body. The president of the country was directly elected
by the people and was vested with extensive powers so that he would be the counterweight to the
Reichstag.

-The Reichstag operated according to the principle of proportional representation and because of
this a large number of small parties would win seats. Proportional representation was a system that
allocated parliamentary seats in proportion to the total number of seats. It was the only fair way in
the context of the Weimar Republic. There would be one member for every 60 000 votes in an
electoral district.

-The chancellor and ministers were made responsible and answerable to the Reichstag.

-It contained members elected every four years.

THE REICHSRAT

-This was the upper house of parliament which represented the states. This house could hold up but
not veto most of the laws passed by the Reichstag. Its consent was important for any matters
affecting the states.

-The members were chosen from representatives of all the 17 state regional governments (the
Lander).

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-The Reichsrat could only initiate or delay proposals but the Reichstag would always overrule it.

Social welfare

-The Weimar Republic was a liberal democracy. Provision was made for an eight-hour working day
and for unemployment relief.

-There was also welfare provision for housing, the disabled and orphans.

-There was a Bill of Rights which guaranteed a range of individual rights and outlined broad
freedoms such as freedom of speech and equality before the law for all Germans.

PROBLEMS OF THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC

ECONOMIC PROBLEMS

The most serious problems of the republic had to do with the economy. The economic
collapse that happened in 1917-1918 happened partly as a result of the blockade which
confined Germany to her own resources and those of the conquered territories for her food
supply.

This collapse was also partly because if her cartelized and central economy which could not
be adapted to the changed situation. As a result, there was urban hunger and hoarding,
black market and profiteering.

There were shortages of coal, leather, textiles etc and the work capacity and morale of the
people went down. There were industrial strikes in Berlin, Magdenburg, Brunswick and
Liepzig.

Germany was required to turn over to the Allies large quantities of materials and the
transfer of Alsace and Lorraine to France with its iron ore and potash deposits seriously
affected the economy of Germany.

The temporary loss of the highly industrialized Saar District and the giving up of Upper
Silesia with its coal mines to Poland dealt a severe blow to German industry.

Germany was also expected to surrender all the merchant ships exceeding 1600 gross
tonnes, half of the merchant ships between 1000 and 1600 gross tonnes, one quarter of the
fishing fleet, 5000 local locomotives and 150 000 trucks.

All German investments in the allied countries were seized or surrendered. The credit of
Germany in the capital markets of the world was seriously undermined. The result was that
Germany was not able to pay the reparations imposed on her.

The Reparation Commission announced on the 27th of April 1921 that they had assessed
Germany liability to be at 132 billion gold marks which is equal to $32 billion or £6.600

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million pounds. 50 million pounds was supposed to be paid at the end of May 1921 and
failure to do so would result in the occupation of the Ruhr valley by the Allies.

POLITICAL PROBLEMS

The success of the Weimar government depended on the German accepting the change
from the traditional and autocratic German system of government to a new democratic
system of government led by Ebert with freedom of speech, freedom of worship and better
working conditions.

Indeed the Weimar Republic was a democratic republic as illustrated by the number of
political parties allowed to contest in the government of the country. Unfortunately, there
were many political parties that were against the republic and this was to cause a lot of
problems for Ebert and his government.

Ebert was a moderate and worried that the extreme left would gain the upper hand in
parliament. He was determined to maintain law and order and to prevent a civil war. He
also feared the return of the demobilized soldiers and that they would destabilize the
country and cause political problems. This was the context for the Ebert-Groener
Agreement.

The Ebert-Groener Agreement

On 10 November 1919, a day after the declaration of the republic, General Ebert Groener,
Ludendorff’s successor, negotiated with chancellor Ebert. Their agreement was very
significant. The Supreme Army Command agreed to support the new government and to use
troops to maintain the stability and security of the new republic.

In return, Ebert promised to oppose the spread of revolutionary socialism and to preserve
the authority of the army officers. This deal has simple become known as the Ebert-Groener
agreement.

Ebert wanted a socialist republic committed to parliamentary democracy and he was anti-
Soviet style communism. He was a leader of the SPD and he worked hand in hand with
Philip Scheidemann in this leadership position of the party. Ebert was determined to restore
law and order in the country. The SPD was the largest party in the Reichstag after the 1912
election.

The following table shows the main political parties and their attitude to the republic.

PARTY SUPPORTERS ATTITUDE TO THE

REPUBLIC

KPD (GERMAN COMMUNIST Working class Against

PARTY)

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 SPD (GERMAN SOCIAL Industrial working class and Supported
DEMOCRATIC PARTY) others.

DDP (GERMAN Mostly middle class Supported

DEMOCRATIC PARTY)

ZP (CENTRE PARTY) Roman Catholics Supported

DVP (GERMAN PEOPLE’S Wealthy middle class Reluctant supporters

PARTY)

DNVP (GERMAN NATIONAL Middle and upper class Against

PEOPLE’S PARTY)

NSDAP (NAZI PARTY) Nationalists, conservatives, Against

lower middle class

USPD (INDEPENDENT Working class Against

GERMAN SOCIAL
DEMOCRATIC PARTY)

Ebert’s first task was to restore law and order and hold democratic elections as soon as
possible. However, restoring law and order was not going to be easy because there was one
extremist group that was committed to the overthrow of the new government.

THE SPARTACIST REVOLT

This revolt was orchestrated by a Bolshevik inspired party which changed its name in
December 1918 to German Communist Party. This party was on the extreme left and had
been formed in 1905 as a faction of the SPD and by 1918, it had 5 000 members. It
immediately made plans to take over power. The attempted revolution of January 1919 was
named the Spartacist revolt.

The Spartacists were led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg. Rosa was born in Poland
and was one of the few women to be prominent in German political history. The Spartacists
wanted the following;

● a Germany ruled by workers’ councils or soviets similar to the Bolshevik government

which had taken over power in Russia. They therefore wanted a sovietization of
Germany.
● To overthrow Ebert’s moderate government which was based on parliamentary
democracy.

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 ● To get rid of a national parliament.

● They were anti-democracy.

The Spartacists were joined by rebel soldiers and sailors. They;

● tried to take over power on 5 January 1919 by occupying public buildings

● seized some newspaper offices in Berlin

● organized general strikes

● formed a revolutionary committee

● set up soviets or workers’ councils in many towns.

Government’s Response

Ebert created a volunteer force of 4 000 soldiers known as Freikorps. This was a paramilitary
group that was made up of tough men who hated communists and liked to fight. They were
to later become a law unto themselves and they were employed by the government in a
crucial role to suppress the extreme left. However, the Freikorps were anti-republican and
had no respect for the Weimar government.

After two weeks of bloodshed and violence the Spartacists were suppressed. Both sides
were heavily armed and the casualties were high. 100 people died. Liebknecht and
Luxemburg were brutally killed.

Reasons for Failure

● The Spartacists were divided as to which tactic should be used; delay or immediate
seizure of power. They had no real strategy and their revolutionaries were just
workers with rifles.
● Death of the leaders.

● Loyalty of the army and ruthless methods of the Freikorps.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE REVOLT

The Spartacist revolt was important for several reasons;

It showed how unstable and weak the new republic was since a mainly socialist government
was attacked by a more left-wing group.

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It forced the new republic to seek the support of the army in defeating the communists. In
return, Ebert had to promise not to change the army. This army remained as it had been
under the Kaiser and gave little support to the republic. (Refer to the Ebert-Groener Agreement)

The government had to rely on the Freikorps, an independent group over which they had
little control.

It led to a number of further communist rebellions which were similarly crushed by the
Freikorps.

Communism remained a significant influence in German politics throughout the 1920s and
early 1930s. The survivors of the Spartacist revolt formed a new German Communist Party
(KPD) which remained extremely hostile to the SPD. In March 1919 the KPD tried again to
organize a revolt but once again the Freikorps suppressed it. Ebert’s ruthlessness had led to
an everlasting bitterness between his socialist party and the communists. The communists
were to remain an anti-government force in Germany throughout the 1920s.

BAVARIA

Bavaria was an independent socialist state led by Kurt Eisner and he was an ally of Ebert.
Eisner was murdered in February 1919 by political opponents and the communists there
took advantage of his death and declared a communist soviet republic in Bavaria.

The Freikorps moved in once again to crash the revolt in May 1919. This resulted in the
deaths of 600 communists.

THE RUHR

There was a communist agitation in the Ruhr region and communists organized a red rising
in the Ruhr valley and several other areas.

As a result, communists, Freikorps, army and police clashed. The rising was defeated mainly
by the army and the Freikorp units but there were 2 000 casualties and these were mainly
workers.

The Kapp Putsch (Six days of crisis)

In March 1920, Dr. Wolfgang Kapp led 5000 Freikorps into Berlin in a rebellion known as the
Kapp Putsch.

Reasons

● The Freikorps hated the Treaty of Versailles and the new government that had
signed it.

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 ● They were also angry at this time because the government had ordered that the
Freikorp units should disband. This was because of pressure form allies because of
the limit of the army limits of the Treaty of Versailles.
● The Freikorps wished to see a Germany in which the Kaiser was restored to his full
powers.

The Freikorps attempted to take over power and the government fled from the city of
Berlin. Kapp set himself up as the new head of government. The police at this point were
also sympathetic to Kapp’s cause.

When ordered to fire on the Freikorps, the army refused to do so. However, the republic
was saved by the German people and especially the industrial workers of Berlin (the Red
Workers) who went on a massive strike and brought the capital to a standstill. This strike
was done under socialist and communist leadership. Before leaving Berlin, the SPD
members had called a general strike.

After 4 days, Kapp had lost his grip and he fled the country and escaped to Sweden but he
was hunted down, was caught and brought back to Germany where he died awaiting trial.

Significance

● The putsch showed that the republic had gained much support from the workers of
Berlin. It had retained the backing of the people of Berlin and had withstood the
threat from the right effectively
● It also revealed the lack of support from the army who wanted a return to the
Germany of the Kaiser where the army was glorified. The army had proved to be
unreliable and it was clear that the Ebert-Groener agreement had made the army a
state within a state.
● I also highlighted the weaknesses of the Weimar Republic.

The Assassinations

In addition to uprisings from the far left, the Weimar Republic also faced opposition from
the nationalist right and the conservatives. These were used to the more authoritarian rule
of the Kaiser and viewed democracy as a foreign idea which had been forced on the German
people by the allies.

Most civil servants, judges, police and the army commanders who had been appointed by
the Kaiser had stayed on their posts and deeply resented the republic.

These right-wing extremists carried out a series of murders against republican politicians.

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 ● In the summer of 1922, Ebert’s foreign minister Walther Rathenau who had
democratic inclinations and was a Jew, was murdered by the extremists. Rathenau
was also a foreign minister for the Weimar Republic.
● Matthias Erzberger, Finance Minister 1919-21 was also assassinated. He was
murdered because of he was a Catholic and a member of the ZP and had signed the
armistice.
● Karl Gareis, leader of the USPD, he was murdered on 9 June 1921 because he was a
committed socialist.

These assassinations were mainly carried out by ex-Freikorp members.

❖ Whereas the communist leaders had been murdered and dealt with severely when
they crossed the government’s path, most right-wing offenders were let off lightly
and the government was unable to intervene. For example, of the 22 left wing
assassins, 10 were sentenced to death.
❖ Out of the 354 right wing assassins, 28 were found guilty and were punished but
none of them was executed.
❖ Only 1 of the 705 prosecuted after the Kapp Putsch was actually found guilty and
was sent to prison for 5 years.

This was mainly because the judges were biased and their hearts were not with the republic.
In fact, throughout Germany, the legal and teaching professions as well as the civil service
all tended to be anti-Weimar and this was a crippling handicap to the republic.

The Treaty of Versailles

In May 1919 when the allies announced the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, nearly all
Germans were furious. The German government refused to sign the treaty and many
ministers resigned. Ebert and his government had no choice but to sign the treaty.

Through the treaty, Germany lost:

● 10% of its land

● All of its overseas colonies

● 12.5% of its population

● 16% of its coal

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 ● 48% of its iron industry

The army was reduced to 100 000 and Germany had to accept the blame for causing the
war and the country had to pay reparations.

It had been generally assumed among the German public opinion that the treaty would
result in a fair peace. Defeat had not been expected even in the summer of 1918 and the
Germans thought the treaty would be based on Wilson’s Fourteen Points.

After the publication of the terms of the treaty the first Weimar government led by
Scheidemann resigned in protest.

The Germans were shocked by these terms because the allied troops had not been able to
cross into German territory and they did not understand why they had to be punished like
this when the Kaiser had already left. They hated the treaty and called it a diktat and in the
minds of the Germans, Ebert and his government were to blame for signing such an unfair
and unjust treaty.

However, the allies were not ready to negotiate and the Reichstag had to accept the treaty
by a vote of 237 to 138 in June 1919.

Opponents of the republic especially the army, referred to the Weimar Government as the
‘November Criminals’. The nationalists accused them of having stabbed the German army
in the back. They did not know that Ludendorff, the German general had actually asked for
the armistice.

Hermann Muller led the armistice delegation and signed the treaty on 28 June 1919 in the
Hall of Mirrors near Paris.

Germany could not afford to pay the reparations because of the war, loss of land and the
coalfields of the Saar.

1923-The Crisis Year

The Ruhr Invasion

In 1919, Germany was close to bankruptcy because of the enormous expense of the war
which lasted much longer than most people expected. Reparations were regarded as a
perpetual mortgage on the future of Germans.

Attempts by Germany to pay reparations made the economic situation of the country
worse. The reparation amount had been fixed by the IARC-the Inter-Allied Reparations
Commission in 1921.

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 In August 1921, after paying the 50 million pounds due, Germany requested permission to
suspend payments until economy recovered. The Germans had fallen behind in their
reparations payments to Belgium and France and could not pay their second installment.

The French premier, Poincare ordered that the French army should invade the Ruhr,
Germany’s richest industrial area in order to take food, coal, iron ore and steel as payment.
The French were angry because they needed to pay their debts to the USA. They marched
into the Ruhr valley, an industrial area rich in coal and steel.

When this happened, a clamour of national indignation swept over Germany. The German
workers in the Ruhr valley went on strike and started passive resistance. However, many
Germans condemned this as a weak response.

Some strikers sabotaged the pumps in some mines so that they flooded and could not be
worked.

To support the workers in this patriotic idleness, the Weimar government paid them
benefits by grinding more paper money off the printing press for this reason.

The French reacted harshly, shooting and killing over 100 workers and expelling 100 000
protesters from the region.

Effects of the Invasion

● It united the Germans against the French and the Belgians.

● The strikers were seen as heroes by the German people.

● The government was appreciated for organizing the passive resistance.

● It had disastrous consequences for the German economy as the government had to
print money to pay the workers and this led to hyperinflation.

Hyperinflation

The inflation that followed the Ruhr invasion was of catastrophic and ruinous proportions.
Paper money became literally worthless and the German currency collapsed. Hyperinflation
was when the German mark lost its value and totally collapsed. It had been losing its value
since 1918 but in 1923 it collapsed.

In January 1923, 72 000 marks were of the same value as one pound. The money that could
buy a house in 1921 could only buy a loaf of bread in 1923. Workers now needed
wheelbarrows to carry their wages and their wages were paid daily and not monthly.
Sometimes the prices of goods could rise as one was waiting in the queue to buy.

Causes

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The main cause of the hyperinflation was the printing of paper money which was ordered by
the Weimar government in order to pay the workers who at the time were engaged in
passive resistance.

It was also caused by the fact that in 1923, Germany had sent large quantities of goods to
France and Belgium as part of the reparation payment. As a result, the prices rose because a
lot of money was chasing too few goods.

Impact

Germans realized their savings had been wiped out overnight and their wages were now
useless pieces of paper. Pensions, proceeds, and insurance policies which represented
foresight and good economic planning now had become nothing.

The middle class was pauperized and demoralized as they were now in the same position as
workers or the proletariat. They lost faith in society itself and this created a moral void with
nothing to hope for or believe in.

Communists threatened a revolution against the whole idea of the democratic government.
Workers were badly hit as wages failed to keep pace with the inflation.

Middle classes and capitalists lost the most and began to look to the Nazis.

Landowners and big industrialists came out of the crisis well because they owned material
wealth in the form of mines, land and factories. They had control of big business in Germany
and they swallowed the small businesses that went bankrupt.

Those who had debts also took advantage of the hyperinflation as they paid their debts in
the worthless money. Around £2.2 billion was paid off within Germany.

The Beer Hall Putsch/Munich Putsch

Bavaria in 1919 was the focus of communist offensive in Central Europe. The Bavarian Soviet
Republic had existed for three weeks but had been crushed by Social Democrats. Bavaria
was a busy centre for all kinds of revolutionary and counter revolutionary agitation-anti-
communist, anti-republic and anti-democratic.

On 8 November 1923, another threat to the Weimar government occurred in Bavaria. There
was much public annoyance because of the French occupation of the Ruhr, the industrial
heartland of Germany and also because of the fall of the value of the Deutschmark.

In addition, Stresemann had ended the passive resistance in the Ruhr and people were not
at all happy about this.

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The Munich Putsch was led by Adolf Hitler, the leader of the National Socialist Party-
NSDAP and he was assisted in this by General Von Ludendorff. The two aimed to take
control of the Bavarian state and then march to Berlin and overthrow the Weimar
government. Hitler also aimed to create a national revolution against the government. Hitler
was inspired by Mussolini’s March on Rome which had happened in October 1922 in Italy.

The putsch was announced in in Munich in a beer hall where it derived its name-the Beer
Hall Putsch. It was to start in Munich and was to then spread to the rest of Bavaria where
the Nazis were strongest and they received a lot of support from senior army officers and
police chiefs.

On 8 November 1923, Hitler and the SA took over a meeting in a beer hall which was being
addressed by Von Kahr, the Bavarian state government leader and the army and police
chiefs, Von Lossow and Von Seisser. At first, these officials were persuaded to join the plan
but they later changed their minds fearing the failure of the putsch. During the address, the
building was surrounded by the SA men.

The attempt to take over the state happened on 9 November 1923 Putsch when Hitler led a
march together with Goering, Rohm, Himmler and General Ludendorff. At this point, the
Nazi were still weak and Hitler was viewed as a drummer and was not taken seriously.

It was a Nazi march of 3 000 SA members but it was blocked by the police. The police had
been alerted by Von Kahr and Von Lossow. In the fighting which followed, one policeman
and 16 Nazis were killed. Hitler fled but was later captured while hiding in the attic. The
putsch had failed and had been easily broken up.

Reasons for the failure of the putsch

● Hitler grossly over-estimated the level of public support for a putsch-despite ythe
problems faced by the republic in 1923
● He showed a lack of real planning

● He relied too heavily on the promise of support of Luderndorff

● Most significantly, at the eleventh hour, Kahr and Lossow decided to hold back.

Hitler in prison

Hitler was arrested, charged with treason, tried and sentenced to 5 years-the lightest
possible sentence instead of life.

Hitler was able to use his trial to attack the whole Weimar system and this gave him national
exposure for the first time. He was released after serving only nine months at Landsberg
prison. The NSDAP was banned. At this point, Hitler’s party was relatively new and was not

15
very organized. He served such a short time mainly because the Bavarian government
sympathized with him.

While in prison, Hitler wrote a book entitled Mein Kampf which means ‘my struggle’. This
was to later on become a Nazi Bible when he came to power. It narrated all the details
about what he wanted to achieve in Germany as well as the ideals and values of a Nazi
state.

The Recovery of the Republic 1924-29/The Stresemann Era

The second period of the Weimar Republic began in stability and it is often referred to as the golden
age of the Weimar Republic. During the dark days of 1923, Gustav Stresemann was appointed
chancellor and his policies helped to transform the fortunes of the Weimar Republic. At first,
Stresemann felt no loyalty to the new republic and he opposed the Treaty of Versailles and had even
set up his own party, the DVP/the German People’s Party.

His views developed, however, and he now advocated for a great coalition of the SPD and the DVP
to consolidate democracy against the extremes of left and right. Stresemann’s three months of
power as Chancellor marked the turning point for the republican regime.

He became chancellor in August 1923 and his government lasted 100 days until November 1923 but
he remained as foreign minister in successive coalitions until his death in October 1929. He was
unpopular with some right wingers because he was perceived to be giving in to the French demands.

In 1923, when Stresemann became the new chancellor, Europe was now coming out of a post war
depression and Stresemann was a more skilled and able politician than Ebert and he was also a right
winger thus things turned around during his term of office.

Stresemann’s Economic Changes

The Currency

Stresemann introduced a new currency, the Rentenmark to replace the old worthless Deutshmark
which was then withdrawn from circulation. The Rentenmark was a temporary currency and was
later replaced in 1924 by the Reichsmark which was based on gold and was usable in international
trade. He also created a central bank, the Reichsbank to control the new currency.

Negotiations with the French

He persuaded the French to evacuate the Ruhr in return for resumption of the payment of
reparations so production rose and inflation fell. This was a crucial step as he stopped the financial
support to the general strike in the Ruhr. The French forces withdrew from the Ruhr in 1925 also
because of Anglo-American pressure.

As the currency was stabilized, there was a boom in such industries as iron, steel, coal, chemicals
and wealthy industrialists became happy since they were now doing well.

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The Dawes Plan

In 1924, when Stresemann became foreign minister, he negotiated the Dawes Plan. It was a plan
which was named after the American, Charles G. Dawes which was meant to ensure the flow of
reparations.

● It made reparations easier to pay and provided an immediate loan from the USA equivalent
to 800 million Reichsmarks.
● The reparation payments were renegotiated and reorganized so that Germany would pay
only what she could afford to pay each year.
● It was viewed as a temporary measure until Germany regained its economic strength.

● The French agreed to withdraw from the Ruhr.

The Young Plan

The Young Plan was named after Owen Young, an American banker. The plan was a revision of the
Dawes Plan and was signed in June 1929. Under negotiation and pressure from Stresemann and
shortly before his death, the Allies agreed to reduce the total amount of reparations from 6.6 billion
pounds to 1.85 billion pounds and these were to be paid in annual installments. This was only one
quarter of the 1921 figure.

The period of payment was to be extended to a period to sixty years.

It was accepted by the Reichstag in 1930. However, its implementation was hampered by the Wall
Street Crash which eventually led to the suspension of both plans and paved the way for the
Laussane Conference of 1932 which removed the reparations altogether.

Foreign Loans

With foreign confidence restored, Germany could borrow from abroad. Between 1924 and 1929,
foreign loans amounted to 25 000 million gold marks, which was over three times the amount of
reparation payments in the same period.

● The loans were used to build new factories and machines

● To build new houses and public buildings

● Help farmers.

Effects of the changes on the economy

● Some of the money went into German businesses, replacing the old equipment with the
latest technology.
● The other money went into public works like swimming pools, sports stadia and apartment
blocks. In addition to providing facilities, these projects created jobs.

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 ● By 1927, Germany industry had recovered very well and by 1928, Germany had achieved the
same levels of production as before the war and had even regained is position as the world’s
second industrial power.
● Wages for the workers rose and many Germans experienced a higher standard of living.
Even exports were on the increase and the government increased welfare benefits and
wages for state employees.
● By 1930, Germany was one of the leading exporters of manufactured goods. New factories
had sprung up as well as public facilities. Nearly 3 million homes were built.

Nonetheless, there were still some worrying problems. Unemployment remained stubbornly high
and the farming sector never fully recovered. Most importantly, most of the recovery was based on
foreign American loans.

Politics

Virtually all the governments of the republic were characterized by chronic instability and
short terms of office. Most of the governments during this period included the Centre Right
which initially regarded the republic with skepticism.

One of the fiercest opponents of the republic was the German People’s Party, the DNVP. It
was a representative of the conservative monarchists camp and it fought the democratic
system right from the outset. The communist Party the KPD also fought the government
fiercely.

President Ebert died in 1925 and was replaced by Field Marshall Hindenburg as president.
He was a conservative and was opposed to democracy. He is said to have written to the
Kaiser in exile for approval before he took up the post.

The NSDAP, the Nazi Party also continued to grow as it was a conservative, anti-Weimar
party.

However, the period 1924-28 saw more stable governments and after 1928 the Social
Democrats joined a government coalition with other parties who supported the republic. At
this time, middle class parties were no longer too suspicious of the socialists.

German people were becoming more reconciled to the way things were and parties that
supported Weimar democracy did well in these days.

There was also less support for extremist parties such as the NSDAP. They only won 12 seats
in the Reichstag in the 1928 elections. This was less than 3% of the vote. The communists
also didn’t do very well the 1924 and 1928 elections.

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In the 1924 elections, parties which supported the system only won 52% of the seats while
opponents won 39.4% but by 1928 supporters of the system had grown to 72.8% and
opponents fell to 13.3%.

There were no more attempted revolutions after 1923 and by 1928, moderate parties had
136 more seats in the Reichstag when compared to radical parties. Overall, the parties
which were had cooperated during the 1918 revolution began to work together again. The
SPD, the Catholic Centre Party, the German Democratic Party -DPP and the DNVP worked
well together generally in the years 1924-29.

However, despite the relative stability of the Weimar Republic politics during this period,
both the Nazis and the communists were building up their parties. Around 30% of the vote
regularly went to the parties opposed to the republic.

It is worth noting that the DNVP and the Nazis began to collaborate more closely and the
Nazis were looking more and more respectable.

Foreign Policy

As foreign minister, Stresemann was responsible for several successes in foreign policy;

● In 1925, Germany signed the Locarno Treaties with Britain, France and Italy. These
guaranteed Germany’s frontiers with France and Belgium unconditionally. This
marked the highest point in international goodwill.
● In 1926 Stresemann persuaded the allies to let Germany to join the League of
Nations. Germany was recognized as a great power and was given a permanent seat
on the League’s Council alongside France and Britain.
● In 1928 Germany signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact along with 64 other countries and it
was agreed that they would keep their armies for self-defense and that the solution
for all disputes would be sought by peaceful means.

However, nationalists criticized Stresemann for joining the League of Nations and for signing
the Locarno Treaties because it signified that Germany had accepted the unfair Treaty of
Versailles.

CULTURE

The 1920s saw a huge cultural revival in Germany and some people believe that this was the
greatest period in German history for writers and artists to try new ideas. At this time,
Germany became the world center for the arts. The Warburg Institute in Hamburg became
a leading center for art studies.

Painting

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The key painters of the time such as Georg Grosz and Otto Dix used art to criticize society
and German museums collected the latest modern art paintings and sculptures. Their
painting and caricatures had strong political and social messages and in their artistic
approach they showed an ugly and aggressive style.

Grosz produced powerful paintings like Pillars of Society which criticized politicians,
business, church and army leaders of the Weimar period calling them heartless and
mindless.

His other paintings highlighted how soldiers had been traumatized by war experiences. His
painting, the Grey Day, was a comment on the boredom experienced by most people in
their everyday lives.

Plays and Operas

Germany also became a center for new plays and operas and the famous playwright of the
time was Bertall Brecht whose Three Penny Opera was a great success.

Arthur Schnitzer was also another recognized playwright.

Music and Literature

Music also flourished in Berlin and many other cities such as Hamburg, Munich and
Frankfurt. Literature was dominated by Eric Remargue who wrote the famous anti-war
novel, All Quiet on the Western Front. This novel described the horrors of the Western
Front and within 3 months of its publication in 1929 it had sold 500 000 copies. It was later
made into a very successful film.

Show Business

There was also great progress in the area of cinema and the best known director was Fritz
Long and he produced epic films like Metropolis which was the most technically advanced
film of the decade. It was a sci-fi classic that raised frightening issues about the direction of
modern industrialized society.

The cinema also produced one of its greatest ever international stars Marlene Dietrich who
was also directed by Long. She acted in the film Blue Angel of 1930 which openly focused on
female glamour and touched on sexual issues.

However, the popular appeal of the comedy of Charlie Chaplin showed that Weimar culture
was part of an international mass culture and was not exclusively German.

The Weimar Arts and Crafts School -The Bauhaus

This became the center for experiment in arts and architecture. Therefore, the Bauhaus
style of design and architecture developed.

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Artists such as Walter Gropius, Paul Klee and Wassily Kadinsky taught at the Bauhaus
Design College in Dessau. The Bauhaus architects rejected traditional designs and created
new and exciting buildings. They produced designs for anything from houses to shops, to art
galleries and factories. The first Bauhaus exhibition attracted 15 000 visitors.

Problems

Although the Weimar Culture was colourful and exciting, to many people living in Germany’s
villages and country towns, the culture of the cities seemed to represent a moral decline and
this was made worse by American immigrants and musicians.

The Bauhaus Design College in Dessau had actually been forced out of Weimar because of
the hostility of the town officials there.

The Wandervegel Movement

Organizations such as the Wandervegel Movement were a reaction to Weimar’s culture.

They called for a return to simple country values and wanted to see more help for the
countryside and less decadence in the towns. This feeling was later taken advantage of by
the Nazis in later years.

Although Weimar was an exciting and vibrant era that celebrated its liberal creativity and
culture, there were many respected and conservative intellectuals like Arthur Moller and
Oswald Spengler, who condemned democratic and industrial society. In addition, many of
the writers in the 1920s proudly glorified the sacrifices of the First World War.

Weaknesses of the Weimar Republic

● The new prosperity of the republic depended on American loans and if they
stopped, German industries would collapse.

● German nationalists were unhappy with the democratic politicians whom they
blamed for defeat in the war and for signing the Treaty of Versailles. They still
resented the payment of the reparations and the calling off of the passive resistance.
Communists saw Locarno as a plot against the Soviet government and nationalists
did not like the fact that Stresemann had signed these treaties.

● Many of the middle-class people did not forgive the government for the loss of their
savings in 1923 and they still feared the threat of communism.

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● Political violence by private armies did not quite end in the republic and was still
common.

● Unemployment remained a serious problem as the economy was not growing fast
enough for Germany’s rising population.

● Farming suffered throughout the 1920s due to the fall in food prices. Income from
agriculture went down between 1925 and 1929.

● Growth in industry also began to slow down in 1927.

● The basic problems of the constitution also remained as there was no one party that
could secure a majority in the Reichstag and there were frequent short-lived
governments.

● Extreme parties such as the Nazis and Communists were also still determined to
overthrow the republic.

● The election of Hindenburg in 1926 as president indicated that all was not well on
the political front as he had been one of Germany’s war leaders under the Kaiser and
he disliked the new republic.

● All the achievements of the Weimar Republic were cancelled out when Stresemann
died in October 1929 on the eve of the Wall Street Crash and many people believe
that he could have saved Germany.

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