The Weimar RepublicThe democratic experiment 1919 - 1933

A chaotic start• Mutinies in the Kaisers navy (Kriegsmarine) broke out in Kiel in

October 1918, unrest quickly spread to other cities.• Soldiers and workers committees, or Soviets, were formed in almost

all major cities. Wide spread support from a population under pressure by blockade and war weariness made the situation explosive.

• On November 9th mass demonstrations occurred in Berlin, Philipp Scheidemann (SPD) announced the birth of the republic. Kaiser Wilhelm signed his abdication a few days later. The same day, a Socialist Republic was proclaimed by the communist Karl Liebknecht.

• Leading forces in the army declared their loyalty to the new SPD-government.

First elections

• Constitutional elections took part in Jan. 1919.• Winning parties were the democratic forces of

the “Weimar Coalition”.

• The situation grew even more tense during the last weeks of 1918, communists occupied several cities. This came to be known as the Spartacisk Rising. The government brought situation under control with the assistance of the army and private armies, Freikorps. A soviet regime existed several weeks in Munich.

• The Spartacist leaders, Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, were murdered. A lasting effect was a deep running split between the different parties and organisations of the working class.

Liebknecht

Luxemburg

The constitution• Universal suffrage• Strict proportional representation• A president was elected directly by the people for a

period of 7 years. The president appointed the chancellor who headed the government. Friedrich Ebert (SPD) first president 1919 – 25.

• Article 48 gave the president the power to dissolve the Reichstag and rule by decrees until the next elections.

• Partly a federal structure with regional parliaments, Landers. These together constructed the Council, which had influence on the adoption of new laws.

Urgent problems

• Peace negotiations and foreign relations• Economic reconstruction; modernisation of

industries; production of civilian goods; find new markets

• Social unrest and unemployment; law and order; demobilisation; providing of job opportunities.

• Economic effects of the war• Implement a trust in the new democracy

Versailles Treaty• Signed in June 1919 after intensive discussions in the Reichstag, no

party wanted to sign.• War Guilt clause put all responsibility for the outbreak of war on

Germany and her allies.• Reparations; actual amount not decided, fixed in 1921.• Territorial losses, plebiscites in several areas. Especially the border

to Poland caused concern. • Army reduced to 100 000 men (Reichswehr); no tanks, no air force,

no submarines.• German colonies lost, these became LoN mandates, administrated

by Britain and France.• The signing of the armistice and the peace gave birth to the Stab in

the Back myth (Dolchstoβ Legende).

Violence• Violence and attempts to overthrow the government was

ever present the first years.• Kapp Putsch 1920; attempt to seize power by the general

Wolfgang Kapp, Freikorps occupied Berlin, government fled to Dresden. The army remained passive. A general strike led to the failure of the coup.

• Prominent politicians assassinated; Walther Rathenau (foreign minister), Gustav Erzberger (leader of the armistice delegation)

• Beer Hall putsch 1923.

Rathenau

Ruhr crisis and Hyperinflation• Inability of the government to follow a deflationist policy and

deadlock in diplomacy from both sides led to the Ruhr crisis in 1923.

• Germany had requested permission to suspend reparation payments until her economy had recovered, the French refused.

• Late 1922 Germany announced that she couldn´t pay the annual reparations.

• French and Belgian troops occupied the important industrial Ruhr area in Jan. 1923 in order to seize goods.

• The German government ordered passive resistance and strikes, industry was paralyzed and a hyperinflation developed as the value of the German currency, the mark, collapsed.

Reichsmark for 1 USD

Nov/Dec 1918 20

Jan. 1923 18 000

July 1923 353 000

Nov. 1923 4 200 000 000

Consider: Who were the losers and who were the winners?

Recovery 1924 – 1929; Golden twenties• Dawes plan 1924 (next page)• Gustav Stresemann (DVP); first chancellor, then foreign

minister played a major role in the recovery and the improvement of the relations to the west.

• Extremist activities decreased, more people found employment.

• Hitler reached out to a wider audience as he skilfully used the trial against him after the failed coup. Imprisoned at Landsberg prison.

Stresemann

• The Dawes Plan led to an agreement about the reparations, foreign investments and gave Germany access to foreign loans.

• Electrification of industry and cities rapidly expanded and traditional companies like AEG and Siemens won back their old positions on the world market.

• Vehicle industry was another growing sector in the German economy, the number of cars and trucks increased from 125 000 in 1922 to 470 000 in 1928.*

• Unemployment remained relatively high however and there was only a marginal increase in wages.

* Source: www.dhm.de

Culture• The Weimar Republic and especially Berlin in the 20´s has come to

be seen as an exciting and very productive period in European and German culture.

• The collapse of the Kaiserreich led to an atmosphere where suddenly everything was possible and could be tested.

• Art and literature flourished, the typical German cabaret was also born. Criticism of war was often present as well as modernist illustrations of the modern urban life.

• Modern architecture was to a large extent connected to Germany; a functional design developed, known as the Bauhaus style.

• German film production was together with Hollywood the largest in the world.

Alfred DöblinThomas MannBertold BrechtGottfrid BennErich Maria RemarqueErnst Jünger