NAZI GERMANY Fall of Weimar Republic End of

NAZI GERMANY Fall of Weimar Republic

End of WW 1 Happened from 1914 – 1918 British naval blockade stopped a lot of food supplies from reaching germany By 1918 Germany is close to collapsing, there were; many people were suffering from starvation flu epidemic Demonstrations and strikes Many people and soldiers refused to support the war Naval Mutiny Workers and Soldiers began to take over cities Kaiser lost control 1918 Kaiser got abdicated and fled to Holland Temporary government set up as a republic Friedrich Ebert was now leader 11 November Germany Surrender

Weimar Republic Before the war, the Kaiser ruled the country After it became a Democratic government with a parliament 1919 – politicians met in Weimar to discuss the Weimar Constitution It was secured by; The president – who was elected every seven years, controlled the armed forces, stayed out of day to day ruling of the country but in emergencies could rule on his own using Article 48 The Chancellor (prime minister) – chosen by President, responsible for day to day running of the country and needed majority of votes to pass a law from the Reichstag. The Reichstag (parliament) – members elected very 4 years, voting system used was the PR meaning how many seats each party had meant that’s how many votes it could use. It resulted in a weak and unstable government. The German People – 20+ could vote and elected the president and people of the Reichstag. They were granted free speech etc and it was one of the most democratic governments in the world. Strengths ; All Germans had equal rights e. g. voting PR was very fair Strong president keeps control Weaknesses; 1919 republic had many enemies, the German people had rights now and wanted to destroy it PR encouraged lots of small parties and led to coalition and weak government President had too much power and could if he wanted turn himself into a dictator.

Problems faced by the Weimar Treaty Of Versailles Resentment – German people not ready for defeat November criminals Myth of German soldiers being stabbed in the back German people and soldiers hate Weimar Treaty of Versailles made this worse Internal Opposition – Not everyone believed in a democratic government Four main parties opposed this; the nationalists, communists, independent socialists and nazis. They didn’t have the support of the Nazis German people were not used to democracy Many people saw the WR as weak and unstable

The Spartacist Rebellion Jan 1919 the Spartacist party, also known as the communist party, attempted an armed putsch (rebellion) in Berlin. They wanted to take the power from President Ebert. They gained control of newspaper offices and telegraph offices of the governments Ebert responded violently He sent 2000 ex soldiers known as the free corps to attack them After three days of fighting the free corps overpowered the communists. This event symbolised the political instability and protest

The Kapp Putsch Army blamed Weimar politicians for agreeing to Treaty of Versailles. Army had to be reduced but many soldiers just joined the free corps By 1920 the size of the free corps worried the allies They out pressure on Germany to stop them March 1920 the Weimar tried to do this However free corps led by Wolfgang Kapp who was an extreme nationalist with right wing views, marched into Berlin They declared a new national government When President Ebert called on the army to control them, they refused to attack the free corps Realising that the army would not help them, they called on the workers to go on strike Workers supported the government and went on strike which made Berlin ground to a halt Due to no transport or food/water Kapp had to abandon his plans and fled as the leader of Germany for just 100 hours.

The Munich Putsch November 1923, Hitler felt that the Nazis were strong enough to take over Germany. This was because; Germany was in chaos Hyperinflation French had invaded the Ruhr Wanted to replace Weimar republic with Nazi government November 1923, Hitler entered Munich Beer Hall with 600 SA Hitler waved a gun at two barvaria leaders and forced them to agree to the putsch SA took over army headquarters and local newspapers Next day Hitler and Nazis marched into Munich However one of the barvaria leaders called in police and army reinforcements Short fight where 19 Nazis were killed Hitler got away but was arrested two days later Why was it important? ; After the trial Hitler used every opportunity to criticise the government He was only sentenced to 5 years instead of death and then only served nine months He came across as a hero to the people who opposed the treaty of Versailles Raised the profile of the Nazi Party Wrote mien kampf in prison

Hyperinflation The treaty of Versailles said that Germany had to pay 6, 600 million to allies as compensations for the war After one year they couldn’t pay anymore French and Belgium troops were so angry they invaded the Ruhr They seized goods, machinery and factories as compensation German workers were encouraged to go on strike to not help them However the government had to pay workers, so they just printed more money Caused inflation to rise – when the prices for goods go up but the value of money goes down By 1923 – government was spending way more than it way receiving This then caused hyperinflation – when prices are out of control and wages cannot keep up with the insane prices Prices of goods spiralled out of control Hyperinflation was bad for the country; Affected peoples savings Small businesses Pensioners As a result people blamed the Weimar republic for all they had lost

Weimar Republic Recovery The policies of new president Stresemann helped; New currency – solved hyperinflation and was called the retenmark and caused stability in German economy Dawes Plan (1924) – negotiated this with the USA to make it so that even though reparations had to be paid it could only be what they could afford and they took loans from USA to restart its economy. Withdrawal of France and Belgium from Ruhr (1925) – he negotiated the withdrawal and support for extremists fell Young Plan (1929) – it reduced reparation demands significantly and extended the amount of years it needed to paid back by Art and architecture – period had developments in art and Berlin became a centre for the arts Censorship was loosened and people were able to express themselves more freely Many Germans hated this, thinking the German people were losing their values and traditional cultures Problems; Many people thought that germanys economic recovery was too dependant on other countries Germany was way too dependant on USA Germany was spending too much on the unemployed putting the economic situation

Stresemann and Foreign Countries Stresemann wanted to improve Germany's image abroad/ Even though he disliked the treaty he believed there was no point in trying to fight it He believed that once relations had improved the treaty would be dropped The Locarno pact (1925) – Stresemann signed this pact with France, Belgium, Britain and Italy to say that these countries could not attack or change each others borders. League of Nations (1926) – Stresemann led Germany to League of Nations and meant that once again Germany was accepted as a great power. Germany was also given a permanent seat on the council. The Kellogg – Briand pact (1928) – with over 60 countries promising not to go to war with each other The young plan(1929) – extended the time needed to pay of reparations and reduced the amount

Wall Street Crash Happened in 1929 Stresemann died Wall street crash in America Stock market causes masses of money lost in American banks recall German loans Germany cant pay back because they cant cope with the fall in demand for their goods USA loan money was used to make factories and therefore jobs but these were closed down when the USA recalled loans Millions lost their jobs 1933 – unemployment reached over 6 million Weimar republic could not do anything Series of coalition governments but could not agree on any policies Only parties who gained were the Communists and the Nazis because people were desperate for new ideas

Why Did People Vote for the Nazis? Nazi ideas; Promised to help unemployed Farmers promised higher prices Small shopkeepers liked that large Jewish shops would be closed down Rich business men liked the idea of stopping communism Factory owners were promised that Nazis would get rid of powerful trade unions Business men gave money because they thought they would profit Women liked the traditional German values Rich business men would gain if Germany rearmed as their factories would gain money Ex-soldiers looked up to Hitler as he fought in the first world war. Hitler promised to get rid of the treaty of Versailles Nazis made Jews scapegoats Hitler; Was a charismatic and influential speaker His ideas were put into simple propaganda posters He had experienced the first world war He made his views clear in his book He reorganised the Nazi party after jail to recruit more members He was a strong leader the German people were looking for

Why Did People Vote for the Nazis? Symbols; Swastika easy to recognise SA wore brown shirts and was easy to recognise Nazi part had songs which made people feel like they were a part of the movement The SA; Made up of unemployed men Made people feel safe on the streets of Germany SA beat up political opponents, handed out leaflets and put up propaganda posters The situation in Germany; Country was in chaos People were scared and desperate No confidence in the Weimar anymore