2 million troops died and 4 million wounded Germany’s debts trebled from 50 billion to 150 billion 750,000 Germans starved as British blockaded ports

Kaiser abdicates The declaration of a republic The armistice

Kept the employment of civil servants to keep the public sector working e.g., schools Got the support of the trade unions Got the support of the army

40% - SDP 20% - Centre Party

Article 1 stated that Germany was to be a democracy Worked under a system of proportional representation Not one person had all the power e.g., president, chancellor, cabinet of ministers and the Reichstag Lander governments for local regions

No majority - often had to resort to a coalition government due to proportional representation Weak in a crisis - President had to often use Article 48 to pass law by decree without a vote It was based on division and violence, not a choice of the people

Erzberger signed the armistice. Even though there was little alternative, many were angry

Diktat - imposed on Germany by the allies, all concessions were refused Reparations - 6.6 billion pounds to the allies War guilt - Article 231 stated that Germany was to blame for the war Land - lost all overseas territory and 13% of European land e.g., Alsace and Lorraine to France Population - 10% of Germany’s people were lost with these land losses Demilitarisation - all troops had to leave the Rhineland, army limited to 100,000, navy also limited, air force banned Rich Saar coalfields to be given to France Coal (15%) and Iron (50%) reserves given to France

The Sparticist Revolt - Luxemburg and Liebknecht Ebert sacked the chief of police who was popular with the workers, as a result 100,000 took to the streets to rebel against the Weimar government. They attacked the government’s printing offices, Ebert was losing control of the capital. Ebert enlisted the help of the Freikorps ( unemployed soldiers who were keen to dismiss any form of left wing extremism), they soon put down the revolt as the 250,000 men outnumbered the KPD.

They had support from the Soviet Union and soon had 33 daily newspapers and 400,000 members.

The Kapp Putch Ebert was due to disband the mainly nationalist Freikorps. When they heard of this, they chose to immediately revolt. Ebert did not have the support of the army, they put forward Wolfgang Kapp as the figurehead of the nationalist revolution. They urged people not to co-operate and to go on strike instead. Many people obliged as they did not want to see the Kaiser return. Kapp realised he could not govern and the Weimar ministers returned.

French occupation of the Ruhr Hyperinflation - 1 mark in 1919 to 200,000 billion marks in 1923

Got rid of the mark and introduced the rentenmark in the new rentenbank which later became the reichsmark and the reichbank. It was much more reliable as it was tied to the value of gold

Charles G. Dawes was an American banker who helped propose the following plan: Reparations were reduced to 50 million pounds per year US banks agreed to loan 25 billion pounds in total.

it meant Germany was dependent on the USA the extremists were furious that Germany had once again agreed to pay reparations

Reparations were now reduced to 2 billion pounds They were now given 59 years to pay

The annual payments were still 50 million a year it now stretched until 1988

It allowed the government to lower taxes on German people Meaning they will have more disposable income Meaning more jobs will be created

The French agreed to leave the Rhineland

The Locarno Pact

It was the first time it was agreed by Germany on equal terms with the other main powers, it was not a diktat

Germany and France agreed on a new border and France promised peace with Germany The Rhineland would be permennantly demilitarised The powers agreed to open talks about German membership of the League of Nations

War in Europe was much less likely Germany was now being trusted as an equal

International board of countries that aimed to discuss without resorting to war Germany were initially excluded but later accepted to the board in 1926

signed by Germany and another 61 countries and agreed to not use war to achieve foreign policy aims

Germany was now an equal power Weimar Republic more respected

It still didnt take away the hated terms of the Treaty of Versailles

The support for the extreme parties fell and the votes for the moderate parties increased from 50% to 58%

died in 1925 and was replaced by Hindenburg

Stresseman

1926 - 2 million 1928 - 1.3 million

charged workers 3% of their wages and in return gave workers 60 marks a week in case they fell out of work

the working week became shortened but real wages increased by 25%

15% rent tax was introduced to fund building associations over 110,000 new homes although there was still a housing shortage, it had eased

war veterans were offered help - pensions were paid to ex-soldiers, widows and parents

after the war, they were given the right to vote They could also be elected into the reichstag, in 1932 almost 10% of members were female article 109 stated the equality of women and men

work changed to pre-war ways for women, only 36% were in work they were paid less than men expected to give up work once married very few in high-status proffesions however, lots of retail and part time jobs now available

they now had their own money bought more clothes and went out more short hair, more make-up, jewellery and revealing clothes had more liberal sexual attitudes

the birth rate fell the divorce rate was rising

scenes from German life that were critical of Germany society

DAP lead by Anton Drexler

the Weimar politicians who deposed the kaiser and signed the armistice democracy - they saw it was weak the Jews

he rehearsed his speeches carefully, began quietly and became tense and passionate he made expressive gestures he had photos and paintings of him as an orator

They set up an office in Munich: meetings better organised Hitler suggested to rename the party the NSDAP party Logo of the swastika newspaper - the peoples observer

Rudolf Hess, Hermannn Goering, Ernst Rohm

they gave a sense of power and organisation they controlled the crowds at NSDAP meetings they were sent to disrupt opposition meetings

by January 1922

50,000

To overthrow the Weimar government

Deep resentment - armistice, dolschtoss, Germany lost all of their colonies The Nazi party had grown rapidly and were also supported by the Bavarian leader Von Kahr, he turned a blind eye to the SA’s violence

From 1921-22, Hitler and the Nazi party were strongly influenced by Mussolini and his right wing party the Fascists. Mussolini had led a ‘march on Rome’ and overthrew the democratic government, forcing them to accept him as their new leader. Hitler also based his salute and flags of off Mussolini’s actions.

1923 - hyperinflation in Germany had reached its peak The French occupation of the Ruhr The Weimar Republic had failed to solve people’s problems. Hitler could now exploit peoples grievances

8 November 1923

Von Kahr Von Seisser Von Lossow

Hitler bursts into the beer hall, supported by 600 SA members He shoots into the ceiling, declaring himself as the leader of Bavaria and that he will march on to Berlin He declares Ludendorff as the leader of the German Army At gunpoint, Hitler demanded that Kahr, Seisser and Lossow support him, overpowered, they reluctantly agreed

Rohm and the SA took over the local police and army headquarters However, crucially, the main army barracks remained loyal to the government Moreover, when Hitler was gone, Ludendorff released Kahr, Seisser and Lossow

The next morning Hitler and his supporters gathered to launch their attacks on the streets of Munich It was clear that the Bavarian leaders had withdrawn their support and decided to put down any uprising Hitler continued with the revolt with his 1000 SA troops

The Bavarian leaders The German Army the indifference of the people

Hitler’s army was outgunned, he only had 2,000 rifles

The rebels pressed pistols into the policemen’s chests one side opened fire, it is not clear who Hitler was protected by his bodyguard while Goering was shot in the thigh 14 of Hitler’s supporters and 4 policemen were shot dead

He hid at a friend’s house but was later arrested on the 11 of November

the Nazi Party was banned Hitler was found guilty of treason and sentenced to 5 years in prison (released after 9 months) Ludendorff was found not guilty

He realised he could not use brute force to become leader, he needed to build a party with nationwide support and use democracy to win power He used his trial to get publicity for his views He used his time in prison to write his book, Mein Kampf The ban on the Nazi Party was lifted in 1925 and they won 32 seats in the election

He believed the Aryan race was the superior race and they were destined to rule the world He believed there was a Jewish conspiracy against the Aryan race He believed the Jews planned to weaken the Aryan race by intermarriage and taking over German industry. He also believed in the main pillars of his 25-point program, Nationalism and Socialism. He believed in Totalitarianism and Traditional German values of family and Christian morality

Bouler and Schwartz were appointed secretary and treasurer to ensure the party was well funded and organised The party was organised like a mini state, with different departments The Hitler Youth, German Women’s Order was created

The 35 regions of Germany had a Gauleiter e.g., Joseph Goebbels in the Rhineland They were rarely appointed and relied on who could push their way to the top

He received support from wealthy industrialists such as Bosch who shared his nationalist views

violent thugs and were loyal to Rohm

400,000

fired Rohm, set up the SS

3000

there was a split of gaulieters between nationalism and socialism, in the north people like Goebbels emphasised socialism whereas in the south leaders like Hitler emphasised Nationalism.

1926

he held it in the south, therefore less socialists he made the socialist views seem like communism he spoke for 5 hours

Socialist viewpoints were weakened, Goebbels was rewarded as Gauleiter of Berlin due to him siding with Hitler.

the country was better off economically, therefore there was less support for extremist parties. the country was better off politically, the pacts and membership of the League of Nations meant that Germany had a higher status in the world. Von Hindenburg becoming president in 1925 meant that people had more support for the Weimar Republic as he was a war hero.

Nazi party - only 1% of votes in Berlin SDP - 30% of the vote

Stresseman died World Economic Crisis, the Great Depression

1. share prices began to fall 2. people were panic selling, causing share values to plummet further

German banks were prominent investors in America, they lost a lot of money. As a result, people rushed to withdraw money from their accounts. Fearing they would run out of this cash that people demanded, they made businesses in industry and agriculture to pay back their loans. deprived of this money, German businesses had to close or they went bust, the economy collapsed

as companies that had to repay their loans were not penniless they sacked workers. companies that shipped worldwide now had less sales, they sacked workers these workers became poorer and were no longer able to buy as much .

6.1 million

the unemployment - benefits could no longer be paid savers - people lost their life savings homeless workers