The impact of the First World War:

In 1914 the Germans were proud people. Their Kaiser (dictator) was celebrated for his
achievements. Their army was the finest in the world. Germany had prosperous businesses
with a well educated and fed workforce. There was great optimism about the power and
strength of Germany. But after the war, everything changed. Although little fighting had taken
place in Germany itself, the war had still destroyed much of the old Germany. The proud
German army was defeated. The German people were surviving on turnips and bread. A flu
epidemic was sweeping the country, killing thousands of people already weakened by lack of
food.

Impact of the war by 1918:

Economic:
● Germany bunkrapted
● Industrial production was ⅔ than what it was in 1913
● War left 600.000 six hundred thousen widows and 2 million children without fathers.
Germany spend ⅓ of its budget in pensions
● National income was ⅓ of what it was in 1913
● Shortage of food. Shortage of fuel that made people cold. Nearly 300.000 people
died from starvation or hypothermia in 1918

Political:
● Germany had a revolution in november 1918 between right-wing and left-wing.
● Germany was and unstable democratic republic
● Group with extremist political views tried to gain power
● Ex-soldiers and civilians believed that the heroic leader Hindenburg was betrayed by
weak politicians.

Social:
● Huge gap between poor and rich
● 1 and a half million demobilized soldiers returned to society, many disillusioned
● Workers were bitter at restrictions to their wages in the war. Meanwhile factory
owners made fortunes because of this.
● Many germans were angry that the war was lost. There were a lot of unrests
(disturbios) in cities, especially in Berlin. Law and order was breaking down in a
country were people were used to it.

The birth of the Weimar Republic:

In autumn 1918 the Allies had clearly won the war. Germany was in chaos. The Allies
offered Germany peace, but under strict conditions. One condition was that Germany
should become more democratic and that the Kaiser should abdicate. When the Kaiser
refused, sailors in northern Germany took over the town of Kiel. This triggered other revolts.
The Kaiser’s old enemies (the Socialists) led uprisings of workers and soldiers in other
German ports. Soon, other German cities followed. In Bavaria an independent Socialist
Republic was declared. On 9 November 1918 the Kaiser abdicated his throne and left
Germany for the Netherlands.
The following day, the Socialist leader Friedrich Ebert became the new leader of the
Republic of Germany. He immediately signed an armistice with the Allies. The war was over.
He also announced to the German people that the new Republic was giving them freedom of
speech, freedom of worship and better working conditions. A new constitution was drawn up:

The success of the new government depended on the German people accepting an instant
change from autocratic to democratic. But this did not look good. The reaction of politicians
in Germany was unenthusiastic. Ebert had opposition from both right and left:

● On the right wing, nearly all the Kaiser’s former advisers remained in their positions
in the army, judiciary, civil service and industry. They restricted what the new
government could do. Many hoped for a return of the Kaiser. A myth developed that
men such as Ebert had stabbed Germany in the back and caused the defeat in the
war.
● On the left wing there were many Communists who believed that at this stage what
Germany needed was a Communist revolution just like Russia’s in 1917.

Despite this opposition, in January 1919 free elections took place for the first time in
Germany’s history. Ebert’s party won a majority and he became the President of the Weimar
Republic. It was called this because the new government met in the small town of Weimar
rather than in the German capital, Berlin (because there was a lot of chaos there) Even in
February 1919, Berlin was thought to be too violent and unstable.

The Republic in danger, 1919–24:

From the start, Ebert’s government faced violent opposition from both left-wing and right-
wing opponents.
The threat from the left:

One left-wing group was known as the Spartacists. They were Communists led by Karl
Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg. They argued strongly against Ebert’s plans for a
democratic Germany. They wanted a Germany ruled by workers’ councils or soviets.

Early in 1919 the Spartacists launched their offer for power. Joined by rebel soldiers and
sailors, they set up soviets in many towns. Not all soldiers were on their side. Some anti-
Communist ex-soldiers had formed into vigilante groups called Freikorps. Ebert made an
agreement with the Freikorps to put down the rebellion. Street fighting followed. Both
sides were heavily armed. Fatalities were high. The Freikorps won. Liebknecht and
Luxemburg were murdered and this Communist revolution had failed. However,
another one was soon to follow.

It emerged in Bavaria in the south of Germany. Bavaria was still an independent Socialist
state led by Kurt Eisner, who was Ebert’s ally. In February 1919 he was murdered by
political opponents. The Communists in Bavaria seized the opportunity to declare a
soviet republic. Ebert used the same tactics as he had against the Spartacists. The
Freikorps moved in to crush the revolt in May 1919. Around 600 Communists were
killed.

In 1920 there was more Communist agitation in the Ruhr industrial area. Again police,
army and Freikorps clashed with Communists. There were 2,000 casualties.

Ebert’s ruthless measures against the Communists created lasting bitterness between them
and his Socialist Party. However, it gained approval from many in Germany. Ebert was
terrified that Germany might go the same way as Russia (at that time rocked by bloody civil
war). Many Germans shared his fears. Even so, despite these defeats, the Communists
remained a powerful anti-government force in Germany throughout the 1920s.

Summary de esto: The spartacists, a comunist group that didnt like elberts ideas, offered to
power. They Set up soviets in many cities. Elbert did an agreement with the Fikrops (anti
communist ex-soldiers) to stop de rebellion. There was a lot of street fighting and casualities
between both groups. Feikrops won. Another rebellion happened in Bavaria because their
leader died. Ebert sent the freikorps and stopped that revellion also. There was another one
in the Ruhr which was also stop by the freikorps. Although of this defeats the communist
remained an anti-government powerful force.

The threat from the right:

Eberts right-wing opponents were largely people who had grown up in the successful days of
the Kaiser’s Germany. They had liked the Kaiser’s dictatorial style of government. They liked
Germany having a strong army. They wanted Germany to expand its territory, and to have
an empire. They had been proud of Germany’s powerful industry. They deeply resented the
treaty of Versailles.

In March 1920 Dr Wolfgang Kapp led 5,000 Freikorps into Berlin in a rebellion known as the
Kapp Putsch (Putsch means rebellion). The army refused to fire on the Freikorps and it
looked as if Ebert’s government was doomed. However, it was saved by the German
people, especially the industrial workers of Berlin. They declared a general strike
which brought the capital to a halt with no transport, power or water. After a few days Kapp
realised he could not succeed and left the country. He was hunted down and died while
awaiting trial. It seemed that Weimar had support and power after all. Even so, the rest of
the rebels went unpunished by the courts and judges.

Ebert’s government struggled to deal with the political violence in Germany. Political
assassinations were frequent. In the summer of 1922 Ebert’s foreign minister Walther
Rathenau was murdered by extremists. Then in November 1923 Adolf Hitler led an
attempted rebellion in Munich, known as the Munich Putsch. Both Hitler and the murderers
of Rathenau received short prison sentences. Strangely, Hitler’s judge at the trial was the
same judge who had tried him two years earlier for disorder. Both times he got off very
lightly. It seemed that Weimar’s right-wing opponents had friends in high places.

The treaty of versailles:

The biggest crisis for the new republic came in May 1919 when the terms of the Treaty of
Versailles were announced. Most people in Germany were horrified, but the right-wing
opponents of Ebert’s government were particularly angry. They blamed Ebert’s government
for betraying Germany. Germany lost:
● 10 per cent of its land
● all of its overseas colonies
● 12.5 per cent of its population
● 16 per cent of its coal and 48 per cent of its iron industry
● its army was reduced to 100,000; it was not allowed to have an air force; its navy was
reduced
● Germany had to accept blame for starting the war and was forced to pay reparations.
Most Germans were horrifed. Supporters of the Weimar government felt betrayed by
the Allies. The Kaiser was gone – why should they be punished for his war and
aggression? Opponents of the regime turned their fury on Ebert.

Ebert was very reluctant to sign the Treaty, but he had no choice. Germany could not go
back to war. However, in the minds of many Germans, Ebert and his Weimar Republic were
forever to blame for the Treaty. The injustice of the Treaty became a reassemble point for all
Ebert’s opponents. They believed that the German army had been ‘stabbed in the back’ by
the Socialist and Liberal politicians who agreed an armistice (tregua) in November 1918.
They believed that Germany had not been beaten on the battlefield, but that it had been
betrayed by its civilian politicians who didn’t dare continue the war. The Treaty was still a
source of hate in Germany when Hitler came to power in 1933.