IB History Weimar Germany Notes

The Birth of the Weimar Republic (1918-1919)

1. On 9 November 1918, Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated after military defeat and a wave of revolutionary unrest across Germany.
2. Social Democrat Friedrich Ebert became the first President. The republic was proclaimed from a window of the Reichstag by Philipp Scheidemann.
3. The new government signed the armistice on 11 November 1918, ending World War I. Many Germans blamed the republic for this surrender.
4. The myth of the "stab in the back" (Dolchstosslegende) spread rapidly, claiming politicians had betrayed the undefeated German army.
5. A National Assembly met in the city of Weimar in January 1919 to draft a new constitution, choosing Weimar because Berlin was too unstable.

The Weimar Constitution

1. The constitution established a federal republic with 17 regional states (Lander), each retaining some powers over education, police, and local government.
2. The Reichstag (parliament) was elected by all men and women over 20 using proportional representation.
3. Proportional representation meant that small parties could win seats easily, leading to coalition governments that were often fragile and short-lived.
4. The President was directly elected every 7 years and held significant powers, including appointing the Chancellor and dissolving the Reichstag.
5. Crucially, Article 48 allowed the President to rule by emergency decree, bypassing parliament. This would later be exploited to undermine democracy.
6. The Bill of Rights guaranteed freedoms of speech, assembly, and religion, but these could be suspended under Article 48.

Early Crises (1919-1923)

The Treaty of Versailles (June 1919)

1. Germany was forced to accept the "war guilt clause" (Article 231), accepting sole responsibility for World War I.
2. Reparations were set at 132 billion gold marks (approximately $33 billion) in 1921, an enormous burden on the already weakened economy.
3. Germany lost 13% of its territory and 10% of its population, including Alsace-Lorraine (to France), Eupen-Malmedy (to Belgium), and the Polish Corridor.
4. The army was limited to 100,000 soldiers with no air force, no tanks, and a navy of only 6 battleships. The Rhineland was demilitarised.
5. Germans across the political spectrum viewed the treaty as a "Diktat" (dictated peace). Resentment toward the Weimar politicians who signed it fuelled the stab-in-the-back myth.

Political Violence and Uprisings (1919-1923)

1. The Spartacist Uprising (January 1919) was a communist revolution in Berlin led by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht.
2. Ebert used the Freikorps (right-wing paramilitary veterans) to crush the uprising. Both Luxemburg and Liebknecht were murdered.
3. The Kapp Putsch (March 1920) was a right-wing coup attempt. Wolfgang Kapp and 12,000 Freikorps soldiers seized Berlin.
4. The army refused to fire on the Freikorps. The putsch was defeated only after trade unions called a general strike that paralysed the country.
5. The Munich Beer Hall Putsch (November 1923) was led by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. It failed, and Hitler was sentenced to 5 years in prison (serving only 9 months).
6. Between 1919 and 1922, there were 376 political murders in Germany, the vast majority committed by right-wing extremists.

Hyperinflation (1923)

1. When Germany defaulted on reparation payments in late 1922, France and Belgium occupied the industrial Ruhr Valley in January 1923 to seize goods and raw materials.
2. The German government encouraged "passive resistance" (workers' strikes), but paid strikers by printing more money, accelerating inflation catastrophically.
3. By November 1923, one US dollar was worth 4.2 trillion marks. A loaf of bread cost 200 billion marks.
4. Savings became worthless overnight. The middle class was devastated, losing lifetime savings, pensions, and fixed incomes. Many blamed the republic.
5. Those with debts or physical assets (property, goods) actually benefited, as debts could be repaid in worthless currency.

The "Golden Age" of Stresemann (1924-1929)

Economic Recovery

1. Chancellor (and later Foreign Minister) Gustav Stresemann ended passive resistance in the Ruhr and introduced the Rentenmark in November 1923, ending hyperinflation.
2. The Dawes Plan (1924) restructured reparation payments and provided 800 million gold marks in US loans to stimulate the German economy.
3. The Young Plan (1929) reduced total reparations from 132 billion to 112 billion marks and extended the payment period to 1988.
4. Industrial output recovered, reaching pre-war levels by 1928. Exports rose and wages improved for many workers.
5. However, recovery was built on short-term US loans. If American lending stopped, the economy would collapse. Unemployment also remained above 1.3 million throughout.

Foreign Policy Achievements

1. The Locarno Treaties (1925) saw Germany voluntarily accept its western borders with France and Belgium, easing international tensions.
2. Germany was admitted to the League of Nations in September 1926 with a permanent Council seat, symbolising its return to great-power status.
3. The Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928) was signed by Germany and 61 other nations, renouncing war as an instrument of policy.
4. Stresemann won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1926, but nationalists attacked him for accepting Versailles borders rather than demanding revision.

Cultural Flourishing

1. The Bauhaus school (founded by Walter Gropius in 1919) revolutionised architecture and design, emphasising functionalism and modernity.
2. German Expressionist cinema produced landmark films like Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927) and F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu (1922).
3. Berlin's nightlife and cabaret culture thrived, with over 900 dance halls and a reputation as the most liberal city in Europe.
4. Conservative and rural Germans viewed this cultural shift as moral decay, deepening the cultural divide between urban progressives and traditional nationalists.

The Collapse of Weimar Democracy (1929-1933)

The Wall Street Crash and the Great Depression

1. The Wall Street Crash (October 1929) caused American banks to recall their short-term loans to Germany, triggering economic collapse.
2. Unemployment soared from 1.3 million in 1929 to over 6 million by early 1932 (roughly 30% of the workforce).
3. Industrial production fell by 40% between 1929 and 1932. Banks collapsed, businesses closed, and poverty spread rapidly.
4. The welfare system was overwhelmed. Millions of families relied on soup kitchens. Young men with no work were recruited by extremist paramilitaries (the SA and communist Red Front).

The Rise of Extremism

1. The Nazi Party surged from 12 seats in 1928 to 107 seats in September 1930 and 230 seats in July 1932, becoming the largest party.
2. Hitler's appeal crossed class lines: the middle class feared communism, farmers blamed the republic for falling prices, and young unemployed men were drawn to the SA.
3. The Communist Party (KPD) also grew, winning 100 seats by November 1932. Fear of a communist revolution pushed conservatives toward Hitler.
4. Nazi propaganda, led by Joseph Goebbels, used rallies, radio, film, and posters to present Hitler as Germany's saviour. The message was simple: blame Versailles, the Jews, and the communists.

Presidential Rule and Political Manoeuvring (1930-1933)

1. From March 1930, President Hindenburg ruled through Article 48 emergency decrees, bypassing the Reichstag. Democracy was effectively suspended.
2. Chancellor Heinrich Bruning (1930-1932) imposed harsh austerity measures (cutting wages and welfare), which deepened the depression and public anger.
3. Bruning was replaced by Franz von Papen (June 1932), who had almost no Reichstag support and relied entirely on Hindenburg's decrees.
4. General Kurt von Schleicher briefly became Chancellor in December 1932 but failed to build a coalition and resigned after just 57 days.
5. Papen persuaded Hindenburg that Hitler could be "controlled" as Chancellor in a coalition. On 30 January 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor with only 3 Nazis in a cabinet of 12.

The Destruction of Democracy (1933)

1. The Reichstag Fire (27 February 1933) was blamed on a Dutch communist, Marinus van der Lubbe. The Nazis used it to claim a communist conspiracy.
2. The next day, Hindenburg signed the Reichstag Fire Decree, suspending civil liberties and allowing the arrest of political opponents without trial.
3. In the March 1933 election, the Nazis won 43.9% of the vote (288 seats), still short of a majority, but with nationalist allies they had enough.
4. The Enabling Act (23 March 1933) passed with 444 votes to 94 (only the SPD voted against; KPD members were already arrested). It gave Hitler power to make laws without parliament.
5. By July 1933, all political parties except the Nazis were banned. Trade unions were dissolved and replaced with the German Labour Front (DAF). The Weimar Republic was dead.

Historiographical Debate

Key Dates Timeline