Transcript File

WEIMAR GERMANY
1919-1933
Frederic EBERT
Was the first
president of
Germany
WOMEN VOTING FOR THE FIRST
TIME IN GERMANY 1919
FAILURE OF DEMOCRACY IN GERMANY
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Bloodless
Revolution 1918
Kaiser fled to Holland
and a republic was
proclaimed
A new constitution
was written in the
small town of
Weimar.
GERMAN PARLIAMENT
REICHSTAG
PRESIDENT
CHANCELLOR
REICHSRAT
CIVIL UNREST IN GERMANY
Democracy was new and untested
 The German Civilian Population was
Unhappy Because:
 Post War recession
 Germany had lost the war (people blamed
the Gov’t)
 Treaty of Versailles
 War Guilt Clause
 Lack of food and supplies

Three Attempted Revolutions in Germany
On January 1, 1919 the communists Party
(Spartacists) attempted to executed a
short-lived communist revolution in Berlin
 Ebert ordered the army and the Frei
Korps to crush the revolution.
 Luxemburg and Liebknecht, were killed
and their bodies dumped in a river.
Hundreds of Spartacists were executed in
the weeks following the uprising.

FREI KORP FIGHTING SPARTACISTS
COMMUNISTS (SPARTACISTS)
Liebknecht
ROSA LUXEMBRUG
2. KAPP PUTSCH
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Parts of the military
seized Berlin and
appointed Kapp as
Chancellor
This coup was
stopped when the
public staged a
general strike of
protest.
Wolfgang KAPP
3. BEER HALL PUTSCH OR
MUNICH PUTSCH 1923

National Socialist German
Workers Party
1923 During the
YOUNG
Ruhr Occupation,
HITLER
Hitler Led his march
on Munich
 Hitler and Ludendorff
were arrested
 Hitler was sentenced
to 5 years in prison
(served 9 months)
 He wrote “MEIN
KAMPF”
NAZIS MARCHING TO TOWN

HALL
FRENCH OCCUPATION OF THE RUHR
In 1923 Germany
stopped paying
reparations
 France and
Belgium sent
troops to the Ruhr
(coal, steel,
industry) To collect
reparations and
cripple the German
economy
 German workers
went on strike in
the Ruhr

RESULTS OF THE OCCUPATION:
Strikes in Germany
 Beer Hall Putsch
 Sympathy for Germany
 DAWES PLAN – Reparations were
renegotiated (1923) USA loans available
to Germany
 YOUNG PLAN 1929 – Payment plan for
decreased reparations
 Gustav Stressman (German foreign
Minister and Chancellor) ended the strikes
(French Troops left in 1925)

GERMAN HYPER INFLATION
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German currency “devalued” dramatically
Inflation increased in
the “thousands of %
German money
became worthless
Eventually the
currency was replaced
with a new currency
(Rentenmark)
MILLION MARK NOTE
USING MONEY FOR FIRE WOOD
GOLDEN YEARS FOR GERMANY 1923-28
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Stresemann became
Chancellor of Germany
1. He stabilized the
German currency
2. Ordered the workers
back in the Ruhr
3. Germany continued to
pay reparations
4. Negotiated the Young
and Dawes Plans
5. Joined the league of
Nations
6. Signed the Lacarno
Treaties
Stresemann
Stresemann at the League of Nations
LOCARNO PACT 1925
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Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Czechoslovakia,
Belgium and Poland signed treaties in Locarno
Switzerland.
settled security issues from World War I.
(Germany promised not to attack anyone)
confirmed Germany’s borders with France and
Belgium. (from the Treaty of Versailles)
Germany also signed agreements on borders with
her eastern neighbors, Poland and
Czechoslovakia.
The Lacarno Pact made it possible for Germany to
enter the League of Nations.
This commenced an era of international harmony