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The Weimar Republic

The Weimar Republic. War and Revolution in Germany. German Generals knew they were losing Asked Kaiser for peace Was all done in secret Soldiers stationed in Kiel mutinied Suicidal attack . Formed a democracy Thought Allies more sympathetic Asked Social Democrats to form a republic

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The Weimar Republic

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  1. The Weimar Republic

  2. War and Revolution in Germany • German Generals knew they were losing • Asked Kaiser for peace • Was all done in secret • Soldiers stationed in Kiel mutinied • Suicidal attack

  3. Formed a democracy Thought Allies more sympathetic Asked Social Democrats to form a republic Friedrich Ebert was the party leader All done in secret War and Revolution in Germany

  4. War and Revolution in Germany • Kaiser fled to Netherlands- Nov. 9th • Paul Von Hindenburg, commander of German forces, and others who signed treaty called the “November Criminals” • Generals didn’t set record straight • New government called Weimar Republic • Imposition of the enemy

  5. Spartacus Uprising • 1919- Spartacus Uprising • By communists • General strike and occupy public buildings • Led by Karl Libeknecht and Rosa Luxemburg • Ebert uses the Free Corps to put it down • Ex-army soldiers who hated communists and loved violence

  6. Setting Up Weimar GovernmentAugust 1914 • Reichstag- German parliament • President- chose among candidates • Members of Reichstag- choose a party and party chooses members • Called proportional voting • Majority Party in Reichstag chooses Chancellor, or Prime Minister

  7. Setting Up Weimar Government • Whenever there was controversy, could call for new election • 14 years- 20 different elections

  8. Germany’s Constitution Kaiser Wilhelm II (hereditary monarch) appoints Calls/dismisses controls Reichstag (elected) which can stop laws proposed by the government, but can’t make laws Government Chancellor Ministers The Army Electors Men over 25 can vote

  9. The Weimar Constitution of 1919 Electors All men and women over the age of 20 can vote Bill of Rights promises all Germans equality before the law and political and religious freedom elect safeguards Reichstag (elected) Freidrich Ebert (elected President) from which is selected Government Chancellors and Ministers must have a majority in the Reichstag and do as the Reichstag says The Army

  10. Weimar Constitution • 56 articles that spelled out rights • Freedom press, speech, religion • Gave women right to vote and hold office • Many laws discriminated against gays and Gypsies (Roma and Sinti) • Article 48- allowed the President to suspend the Reichstag in times of national emergency

  11. Weimar Constitution • 109- All Germans equal in front of the law • 111- All Germans enjoy the freedom to move and settle anywhere • 118- Every German can express opinion freely in word, writing, print or image

  12. The Weimar Government • Jan. 1919- almost every eligible voter voted for parties that supported the republic. • They won less than half in every other election

  13. 1920 Berlin Kapp Putsch • First major attempt to overthrow Weimar Republic • Putsch- uprising • Led by Wolfgang Kapp and General Walther Luttwitz • President Ebert- fled the town and called on supporters to strike and bring transportation and commerce to a standstill. • Military refuses to fight

  14. 1920 Berlin Kapp Putsch • Kapp and Luttwitz flee realizing they can’t overthrow government • Ebert returns • Judges did not impose harsh punishments on plotters • Lack of military support • Showed that the new government was weak

  15. 1920: Founding of the Nazi Party • National Socialist German Workers Party

  16. 1920: Jazz in Germany • Jazz is symbol of American culture • Paul Whiteman “The King of Jazz” • Rhapsody in Blue • Nazi’s viewed it as a symbol of moral degeneration which embodied the Negro who created it and the Jew who promoted it.

  17. Jungenbund der NSDAPMarch 1922 • Was the first Nazi Youth organization • Disbanded when Hitler was in jail in 1923 • 1926 younger members were officially named the Hitler Youth (Jugend)

  18. 1922: Walter Rathenau Assassinated • Allocated resources in WWI • Negotiated armistice • Was the foreign minister • Was also a Jew Reich Foreign Minister Walther Rathenau in his car, in which he was fatally wounded by a gunman on June 24, 1922.

  19. 1923 France Invades the Ruhr • Germany is not paying reparations so France and Belgium invades the Ruhr • Workers told workers to carry out passive resistance and refuse to work • In 8 months shot 132 Germans, including a 7 yr. old boy • Expelled 150,000 from region

  20. 1923 France Invades the Ruhr • To meet economic crisis, Germany prints unbacked currency • World leaders lose confidence and pull money out of Germany • Leads to massive hyperinflation • Streseman, the new Chancellor, orders Rohr workers back to work and calls off strike

  21. German Inflation • Huge inflation after the war • Hyperinflation • Runaway prices • Brought an urgency to shopping • Workers demanded paid twice a day and given one hour off • Germans blamed Jews for hyperinflation • Believed they controlled the economy • Really hurt people on fixed incomes

  22. Berlin Riots on HyperinflationNov. 5 & 6 1923 • Mob of 30,000 people rioted in Berlin to protest misery brought on by hyperinflation • Blamed their plight on Jews who mistakenly controlled the German economy and involved in international conspiracy to dominate the world economy

  23. American Reaction • American leaders played down the seriousness of the situation. • Did not want to call attention to themselves by making it appeals on behalf of their German Jewish brethren

  24. Munich Beer Hall PutschNov. 8, 1923 • Hitler leads a group of soldiers in a beer hall and tries to overthrow government • Sentenced to 5 years, serves 9 months in Landsberg prison • Could have been tried for treason • Austrian citizen, not deported • Trial gives him a forum to speak

  25. Hitler’s Trial • “In the case of a man whose thoughts and feelings are as German as Hitler’s, the court is of the opinion that the intent and purpose of the law have no application.”3 • What if the judges had followed the law and deported Hitler? • Would people have protested the decision? • was Hitler so unknown and unimportant at the time that his case was likely to be overlooked?

  26. Mein Kampf • Writes Mein Kampf (My Struggle) • Goals of Mein Kampf • Loyalty to Germany • Racism, all other races inferior to Aryans • Lebensraum- living space in Poland and Russia • Obedience to the Fuhrer

  27. Quotes from Mein Kampf • “The Jew has always been a people with definite racialcharacteristics and never a religion.” • “[T]he personification of the devil as the symbol of all evil assumes the living shape of the Jew.”

  28. Quotes from Mein Kampf • “What we must fight for is to safeguard the existenceand reproduction of our race and our people, the sustenance of our children and the purity of our blood, the freedom and independence of the fatherland, so that our people may mature for the fulfillment of the mission allotted it by the creator of the universe.”

  29. 1924: Dawes Plan • Allies negotiated loans to Germany and brought an end to hyperinflation • Introduced a period of stability

  30. Gustav Stresemann becomes the foreign minister Had been the Chancellor in 1923 Currency became stable 1924-1929 The Golden Age

  31. Politics in Weimar Germany • 1925 Stresemann restores relations with France • Sign Locarno Pact- agree to never change the border between them • 1925- Ebert dies • Paul Von Hindenburg becomes 2nd President • Could set record straight, but doesn’t

  32. 1926 - "Black Reichswehr" Investigation • Critics of the military accuse them of funding and arming paramilitary groups, the so called “Black Reichswehr” • This trial made it clear that funds and arms had gone to Anti-Republican groups • Even some generals were involved

  33. Weimar Republic • 1926- Germany joins League of Nations • 1927- Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Anthropology, Human Genetics, and Eugenics opens • Paved way for Eugenics movement

  34. Politics in Weimar Germany • 1928- Kellogg-Briand-Stresemann Pact • All nations signing it agree to settle disagreements peacefully • 1928 Young Plan • Lowered reparations and U.S. would continue loans

  35. Election 1928

  36. Politics in Weimar Germany • 1929- Opening of All Quiet on the Western Front • Why do Communists help Hitler destroy the Weimar Republic?

  37. Politics in Weimar Germany • 1929- Nazi’s Protest Opening of All Quiet on the Western Front

  38. 1929 US Stock Market Crash • World Depression hits • U.S. has to call back loans • Unemployment increases • 978,000 in 1924 • 5,109,000 in Oct. 31, 1932 • Many Germans feel a renewed sense of despair.

  39. Election 1930

  40. Politics in Weimar Germany • 1930- Max Schmelling defeats Joe Lewis • 1932- Unemployment reaches 5 million

  41. 1932 Elections • Nazi Party receives 38% of the votes • Over 30 parties represented

  42. 1933 • Jan. 30, 1933- Hitler named last Weimar Chancellor • 1933 elections- Nazi’s receive 44% of the vote, the highest percentage ever won by their Party • Even though they have destroyed much of the opposition • Social Democrats only ones to resist .

  43. 1933 • Hitler passes the Enabling Act • Permits government to decree laws without parliament.

  44. Culture in Weimar Metropolis by Otto Dix 1928

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