Germany 1919-1945

The Treaty of Versailles - This is a 'peace treaty' that Germany signs in 1919 forcing them to accept the responsibility for the war with punishments.

• Germany LOST 13% OF THEIR LAND and 12% OF THEIR POPULATION
• Germany's ARMY WAS REDUCED TO ONLY 100,000 with no airforces, submarines or battleships for the navy!
• Germany had to pay REPARATIONS to allies for damage and destruction (£6.6 billion agreed in 1921)
• FRENCH TROOPS INVADED THE RUHR (1923), this led to HYPERINFLATION.

The Treaty resulted in the WEIMAR REPUBLIC'S UNPOPULARITY and consequently the uprise of The Kapp Putsch and The Munich Putsch (though there were other factor also).

The Weimar Republic - This was the democratic system of government. The Weimar Republic were very unpopular after the war.

WHY?

• WEIMAR POLITICIANS were BLAMED for GERMANY'S DEFEAT in the war. These politicians (AKA 'November Criminals') were claimed to have agreed to the Treaty in 1918 when the army had been capable of fighting on.
• Germany became a DEMOCRACY; this was new.
• Article 48, this stated that the president could rule by decree in emergency; this could be MISUSED TO FORM A DICTATORSHIP.
• PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION: Small parties could be formed easier, this made it DIFFICULT TO WIN A MAJORITY to form a government and resulted in COALITION GOVERNMENTS
• POVERTY and STARVATION as a result of the war's outcomes.

The Kapp Putsch - The first right-wing attempt to overthrow the Weimar Republic by force in 1920. This was TRIGGERED BY THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES; in particular its LIMIT ON THE SIZE OF THE GERMAN ARMY to 100,000 from half a million!

WOLFGANG KAPP was a right-wing who opposed what The Weimar represented. Kapp was assisted by General LUTWITZ who led a group of Freikorps men. Freikorps men made up 250,000 of the army, and had been disbanded after the Treaty, though promised joinery with the army. The Kapp Putsch failure came from THE GENERAL STRIKE called by Ebert (President).The five days of the Kapp Putsch are important though as it made evident that:

• THE GOVERNMENT COULD NOT ENFORCE ITS AUTHORITY even in its own capital
  
• The government could not put down a challenge to its authority, only the power of a general strike could re-establish Ebert’s authority.

HOWEVER:

• The people of Berlin were willing to support Ebert’s rather than a right-wing government.
  

What cause Hyperinflation?

The 1923 crisis began when Germany missed a reparations payment and the occupation of the Ruhr took place as a consequence. This made The Weimar Republic nearly collapse.

To Be Completed...