Weimar Germany 1919- 1933

Weimar Germany 1919- 1933

By Keila Munz and Alex Salvatore

Versailles TreatyDrafted by Britain (George), France (Clemenceau), Italy (Orlando), and the US (Wilson)

Germany lost land

creation of “mandates”

was forced to pay for war reparations, “war guilt”

tan- annexed by neighboring countries after WWIGreen- taken by the League of Nations

red- Weimar Republic 1919-1933

Weimar ConstitutionDrafted by the National Assembly of Germany

Turned Germany into a parliamentary [Reichstag] Democracy whose members were elected by the people

President Freidrich Ebert monitered the Reichstag

Berlin CultureDevelopment of German Expressionism

Developed architecture, literature, film, painting, music, philosophy, psychology and fashion

The humboldt university of Berlin was the center of intellectual activity in Germany, Europe and the World

Albert Einstein worked for the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Physics

art movement reflected in many different types of media

demonstrates a distorted reality as well as a depiction the artists mental state of being

three subdivisions of the movement were the “die Brucke”, the “blaue reiter”, and the Rhenish Expressionists

Die Brucke- influenced by Freudian theories, create art to challenge the accepted taste

Blaue Reiter- disdained every principle of the die brucke, portrayed the world as it existed

The Rhenish Expressionists- thoughts and ideas best portayed through form, people had become a collective group of individuals who fell to the mercy of their society and its politics

German expressionism

Bauhaus Architecture The Bauhaus school of architecture was founded in weimar in 1919

Founded by walter Gropius

one of the main goals was to renew architecture and develop creative minds for architecture and industry

means “the building of the future”

motto: “art and technology-a new unity”

LiteratureBertolt Brecht (1898-1956)- poet, playwright, and theatrical performer

developed epic theater form of drama

attended Ludwig maximilian University of Munich

studies Karl Marx’s, later adapted Communist beliefs

his books and plays were banned from germany in the 1930’s

went into exile and didn’t return to germany until after WWII

literature continuedThomas Mann

german essayist, cultural critic and novelist

won nobel prize for literature in 1929

Buddenbrooks-1901- most famous work

Der Kleine Herr Friedmann- 1898

influenced by Schopenhauer and Nietzsche

called German intellectuals to support the new weimar state

“all Quiet on the Western Front” by Erich Maria remarque-1924

Like in Art, Berlin became the world leader in cinema. It made more films in the 1920s than all of Europe put together

Fritz Lang- “Master of Darkness” his most famous films are metropolis and M

Joseph von Sternberg- had influence on the film noir period and is known for his mastery of the mise-en-scene, lighting and the soft lens

collaborated with Marlene Dietrich

film

Dadaismanti-art movement

rejected the way art was appreciated and defined in contemporary art scenes

started in switzerland

George Grosz- savage caricature drawings of 1920s berlin- beginning of political cartoons- associated with the left wing

MusicLiszt School of music- first orchestral school in Germany founded in 1872

Kurt Weill- prominent Jewish composer- collaborated with Bertolt Brecht on the Beggar’s Opera and The Seven Deadly Sins ballet

Otto Klemperer- Jewish composer and conductor- fled Germany in 1933 and became music director of the LA Philharmonic

Wall Street Crash-1929help trigger the collapse of the world economy

world trade and industrial production dropped dramatically

under the Dawes plan, the US provided loans to germany, when the US economy crashed, so did the German economy

Weimar government increased taxes and lowered wages of government officials which only made things worse

The Depression

Unemployment shot up. By

1932 unemployment figures stood at a missive 6

million

German businesses

closed down as loans were

repaid and trade dramatically

slumped

Millions of Germans became homeless, and set up camps on the outskirts of towns. They

became reliant on charity food and soup kitchens

Inflationhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfSDPY5rYZE

the Rise of the Nazisonce the stock market crashed, people began to blame the weimar government

they began to look at the Nazi party who promised hope

earlier attempted to overthrow the government in the Beer Hall Putsch of 1923

in 1933 the Nazis were the biggest Political party in Germany later that year, hitler was elected Chancellor of Germamy

By the end of 1933, hitler had seized power and proclaimed the third reich