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Kaiser Wilhelm abdicated
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Freidrich Ebert made Chancellor
Leader of the SPD -
Period: to
The German Revolution
The German Revolution protested against the resented and flawed constitution in the country -
Impacts of the abdication
Friedrich Ebert made an agreement with the General Government to work with the army against a communist government coming into power
He then suspended the old Reichstag and formed the Council of People’s Representatives from six politicians to govern temporarily -
WWI ends
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Period: to
Spartacist demonstrations
The Spartacists were left-leaning (communists)
Against the government
Met resistance from the government
16 Spartacists killed
Put down by the Freikorps -
Weimar Constitution created
Representative democracy
Elections for parliament and president took place every four years (20+ Germans could vote)
The Reichstag appointed the government and made all laws
Proportional representation in parliament (lots of small parties -> hard to pass laws)
Article 48 gave the president power to act without parliament’s approval in an emergency (undefined) -
Period: to
More Spartacist uprisings
Two more uprisings
Put down by the Freikorps
At least 1,000 deaths -
Period: to
More violence
376 murders, 354 of which were carried out by right-wing followers
Matthias Erzberger and Walther Rathenau were assasinated -
The Spartacist Revolt
Attempted to overthrow the Weirmar government
Put down in days
Met resistance from the Reichswehr and the Berlin Freikorps -
Friedrich Ebert elected president
Democratically elected
SDP had a majority in the polls
Disliked by some because of Dolchstoßlegende (stab-in-the-back) and nicknamed the November Criminals -
Period: to
More rebellions
Anger over the reduced size of the army
Put down by the Freikorps
Caused 1000+ deaths -
Treaty of Versailles
Surrender of all German colonies as League of Nations mandates
Cession of Alsace-Lorraine to France, Eupen-Malmedy to Belgium, Memel to Lithuania and the Huttschin region to Czechoslovakia
Danzig to become a free city
Plebiscites held to settle the Danish-German frontier
Special status for the Saar under French control
German reparations of £6.6 billion
Germany claims responsibility for the war
German army cut to 100,000 men, navy reduced and no airforce
Germany banned from the League of Nations -
Period: to
Kapp Putsch
The Weimar government announced they were reducing the size of the army and disbanding the Friekorps
The leader of the Friekorps (Ehrhardt) refused and they created their own right-wing government
They staged a coup against the government
The Reichwehr refused to put down the Kapp Putsch
The people of Berlin went on strike and the Putsch collapsed
Few were punished -
Hyperinflation
Germany was in debt due to the high reparations
Money was printed to help with the debts
When Germany failed to pay it’s reparations to France, French and Belgian troops occupied the Ruhr area, which was Germany’s main source of industry
Workers striked in protest of the French occupation
More money was printed to pay these workers, causing worsened hyperinflation
A loaf of bread that cost 160 Marks in January 1923 cost 200,000,000,000 Marks by November 1923 -
Period: to
Occupation of the Ruhr
The Ruhr was occupied by France and Belgium
The area was industrially vital for Germany
Passive resistance strikes
132 killed by the French -
Period: to
The Dawes Plan
Reparations to be paid in 1 billion Mark instalments for the first 5 years, the up to 2.5 billion Marks after that
Germany loaned 800 million Marks from the USA
Proposed in April, agreed in September