-
Spartacist Revolution
The spartacists were a group of radical socialists who revolted against Ebert's givernment. The group was led by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, and they were trying to turn Germany into a communist country. The group tried to revolt but was easily crushed by the Freikorps which were made up of ex-soldiers. -
Weimar Establishment
The Weimar Republic was a democratic republic constitution which was formed after the German Revolution in November 1918. It is called the Weimar Republic because the constitution assembly has their meetings at the place called Weimar. The Weimar Republic was led by Friedrich Ebert. Ebert tried to unite the whole of Germany after World War One. Ebert and his defence minister, Gustav Noske, had created the Freikorps which consisted of volunteer soldiers and ex-soldiers. -
The signing of Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was signed on the 28th of June 1919. By signing the treaty, Germany was to take all the blame for starting World War 1. The treaty was very harsh and caused Germany many problems. Germany's army was cut down to 100,000 which meant the loss of jobs for many people, all of Germany's colonies were taken away from them, and the Reparations bill was very high. -
Berlin Kapp Putsch
Many people of Germany were humiliated when the Weimar Government signed the Treaty of Versailles, and among these people was Wolfgang Kapp. He was a right-wing journalist and had decided to threaten and overthrow the Weimar Government. Kapp led Freikorps units and marched into Berlin. He declared a new national government. Ebert ordered the army not to do anything and called for a general strike. This froze up those who supported Kapp and eventually Kapp fled from Berlin on the 17th of March. -
Founding of Nazi Party
The Nazi Party was known first known as the National Socialist German Workers' Party, and soon the english called them the Nazi party because it came from the word Nationalsozialist. The people of the Nazi Party were both nationalistic and were solcialists. They had believed that Germany was great and that everyone should be equal. -
Walter Rathenau Assassinated
Walter Rathenau was a businessman and a scholar who participated in World War One. He was the foreign minister of the Weimar Government in 1922, and he shifted from being a monarchist, militarist, and a nationalist to a republican and internationalist. Rethenau participated in the negotiations of the armistice and stopped WW1 and signed the Treaty of Versailles. He was shot by a right-wing nationalist who hated him because he was a jew and a democrat. -
Stresemann becomes Chancellor
Gustav Stresemann was the chancellow of the Weimar Republic in 1923 but for only a brief period. He then became the Foreign Minister from 1923-1929. During his career, he represented three successive liberal parties, he was the dominant figure int he German people's party, and he was generally seen as the most influential cabinet member of the Weimar Republic. Stresemann believed that by reaching an understanding of the Allies would allow Germany to finally rebuild its battered economy. -
Berlin Riots on Hyperinflation
The riots in Berlin were cause because of the hyperinflation. Many Germans believed that it was the Jews' fault so they started riots targetting the Jewish-owned businesses. Then the Central Association of German Citizens of the Jewish Faith pledged to defend the rights of Jews. These riots caused the Berlin riots. -
Munich Beer Hall Putsch
On the 8th of November, the Bavarian government held a meeting in a Munich beer hall, and during the middle of the meeting, Adolf Hitler and his armed troops stormed in and stated that the National Revolution had begun. Although Hitler had armed troops, they were easily defeated by the army and police and Adolf Hitler was sent to prison for 5 years. -
Dawes Plan
The Dawes Plan was introduced because Germany could not pay back the Reparations bill and had decided to stop paying back. Charles Dawes, an American, resloved the problem by loaning them large amounts of money so that the Germans could rebuild its trade and industry. Money would then flow into the government and then they could pay the regular reparations. -
Hindenburg becomes President
Before the 1925 elections, Friedrich Ebert died a premature death which changed the course of the Weimar Government. Because Ebert had died, Hindenburg had "allowed" himself to become the second president of the Weimar Republic. -
Germany Joins the League of Nations
Gustav Stresemann was the one responsible convincing the Allies to allow Germany to partake in the League of Nations. When Germany entered the League of Nations, it meant that this was a sign that Germany was quickly becoming a "normal" state. Germany’s admission was a victory for Stresemann and the Republic. -
The Young Plan
The Young Plan was an agreement between the Germans and the Americans, British, and French. The Young Plan expanded the loan program of the Dawes Plan, and also lowered Germany’s reparations payments under the Treaty of Versailles. The Nazis, the conservative Nationalist party, and the Stahlhelm, a right-wing veterans group formed an alliance because they did not like the plan as they didn't want to pay any Reparations at all. -
Weimar Germans and Americans Part 2
Because the Germans depended on the loans of America, the Germans suffered heavily, as did many other countries, when the Wall Street crash occurred. If the Wall Street market hadn't crashed, the Germans would not have suffered fromt he Great Depression, and many families would not have suffered from unemployment. Because there were high unemployment rates, poverty was a common occurrence which ma ahve caused the Germans to feel hatred towards the Americans. -
Weimar Germans and America
The Germans had relied on the loans of the Americans, from the Dawes and Young Plan, in order to repay the reparations bill. So we could perhaps say that the Germans were thankful to the Americans. But there were many cases which possibly made the Germans dislike the Americans. If it wasn't for the Americans to begin with, perhaps the Germans would not have lost WW1 meaning that they wouldn't have to suffer this much. -
US: Wall Street Crash
The US economy was still booming during the start of 1929 and everyone had believed that it would continue to boom. But by the end of October, the ecnomy had dropped a little which caused a lot of panic to the Americans. They started to lose confidence in the sharemarket and started selling all their shares. The economy came crashing down and soon the Wall Street crash occured. -
5 Million Unemployed
During the Great Depression, many, many people had sufffered severely due to the lost of jobs and poverty. By 1932, 5 million people were unemployed and could not find enough money to feed their families. -
Citizens' expectations of the government Part 2
There are many disputes going on within the Reichstag and government itself, and so many battles are fought within different towns. Because of these fights, many citizens would get dragged in and may be injured because of an internal fight between two different parties. These internal disputes take up so much of the government's time that they don't even ahve the time to consider the citizens which makes them unreliable. The citizens cannot expect much from their government at all. -
Citizens' expectations of the government
The citizens of Germany could not expect much from their government because the citizens were suffering a considerable amount and the government could not do much about it. In 1932, 5 million people suffered from unemployment due to the Great Depression and lack of jobs and therefore poverty had struck many families. The citizens could not expect anything from their government at all and was forced to suffer themselves due to the inablility of the government to help its citizens. -
1932 Elections
Because the democratic parties lost their majority in the Reichstag, making any parliamentary government impossible. It was then that the Nazi Party started to rise in power and became the largest aniti-democratic party. During the March elections, Hindenburg had won but then soon later the Reichstag was dissolved and so new elections had to be made. It was then in the July elections that the Nazi party ended up getting the most votes and resulting with Nazi Party becoming the new president. -
Hatred in Politics Part 2
If different parties feel hatred towards each other, then political movements may occur and may become dangerous. The nazi party disliked the communist party and so they used the Reichstag Fire to blame the communist party and arrest 4 communist leaders. If the citizens feel hatred towards the government then it could also cause riots like the Munich Putsch. Hatred plays a big part in politics and can support political movements occurring. -
Hatred in Politics
Hatred plays a big role in politics because a hint of hatred can cause massive disputes within the government. Hatred would affect the way a person would view things, and so dangerous things can happen. If a strong politician feels hatred for another, violent acts may occur and perhaps a life could be lost because of hatred. It may cause members of different parties to swap or betray their party because they feel hatred towards an own teammate. -
Hitler named the last Weimar Chancellor
One week after Hitler was made Chancellor, he started to target the oppsition parties already. Meetings of the left-wing parties were banned and even some of the minor parties found their members threatened and assaulted. -
The Reichstag Fire
The Reichstag Fire was an attack on the Reichstag bulding where it was set on fire and by the time the policemen and firemen had arrived, it was already engulfed in flames. The police found a young, mentally handicapped Dutch council communist and an unemployed bricklayer who had recently arrived in Germany, inside the building who was believed to be causing the fire. Hitler used this chance to put the blame on communists saying that they were planning to plot against the German government. -
Weimar Republic Destroyed
The last election was held in March. The Nazis had intimidated and used violence on their opponents so that they could keep in power. The Nazi Party then won with 44% of the votes, and soon later, both the Social Democrats and the Communists Party were both arrested. This meant that there was no one left to oppose the Nazi Party and so the Weimar Republic had came to an end.
