m Born in Defeat

m 1st act was to sign the Versailles Treaty

m Named for the city in which the
constitution was developed
m A Parliamentary system.
m A Republic, so no king.
m !n Germany, a
constitutional
convention meeting in
the town of Weimar
drafts the first
democratic constitution
of a united Germany, in
1919
mThe Constitution provides for:
1. Universal suffrage
2. Democratically elected President
with 7 year term
3. Democratically elected
parliament (R
¦, with prime
minister (chancellor¦ selected by
President and cabinet (from list
submitted by chancellor and
cabinet had to reflect the party
composition of parliament¦
. Proportional Representation
System
a President had
following powers:
a dismiss the cabinet
a dissolve the Reichstag
a veto legislation
a use plebiscite (public
vote¦ to bypass
Reichstag
a emergency powers to
allow cabinet to rule
without consent of
Reichstag if public order
required it
a The Weimar government gets off to a shaky start, facing
opposition from a strong Marxist left (Marxist rebellions
in 1919 and 1922¦ and a potent, but less organized,
nationalist right (coup attempt 1920, assassination
attempts in 1922; early Nazi coup attempt in 1923¦
a
n the left, bitter about ´betrayalµ of socialist revolution
and accuse the ruling Social Democratic Party of selling
out the working class, the class that brought about the
German republic
a
n the right, deep resentment about Versailles.
Simmering and not so simmering resentment over the
terms of the treaty and the ´internationalistµ sentiment
that seemed to have led Ebert (and the Social Democratic
Party¦ to accept the terms of the treaty
 Weimar government is also saddled with the
requirements, in particular the reparations payments
of the Versailles treaty
 Crippling economic problems following on the war
and the extensive blockade exacerbate the crisis
 Prior to World War, the German unit of currency, the
 , was one of the strongest in Europe, trading on
about equal value with the British pound, the French

, and the !talian 
 (about or 5 for each to the
dollar
a Following World War !, the German financial world
collapsed and inflation was rampant
a !ndeed, from 1920 to 1923 Germany entered a period of
hyperinflation such that at its worst, in 1923, the Mark
traded at a 

 to one dollar
aRather than cut spending or raise taxes to pay for the
war, the government continued to borrow and to print
more money
aAs the war dragged, shortages and inflation became a
problem so that the price of domestic goods doubled
between 191 and 1919
a !nflation then continues to be an early problem for the
new government
a !n January 1923, the government misses a reparation
payment
a !n response, France and Belgium move to take the Ruhr
valley -- the German industrial heartland
a Given the DMZ and the troop reductions, Germany
unable to do anything
a !nstead, the SPD covertly supports workers· strikes in the
occupied areas, and opts to pay the workers (some 2
million people¦ to stay out
a To do this, the government just prints more money and
circulates the bills
 That decision leads to period of  


, wiping out
the financial resources of most German families
 !n 192 there were ,000,000,000,000,00 marks per
dollar
÷
 








 



 


  

÷


! 





!

"#
a !n early November, the SPD
leader, Gustav Stresemann,
stops the general strike in the
Ruhr
a The coup attempt is put
down, 16 Nazis are killed, and
Hitler is arrested.
a He·s tried and convicted of ÷








treason and sentenced to 5 

 
 



years in prison 
 

a Pardoned and released in 




 
192 as part of general 





amnesty for political
prisoners
 Gustav Stresemann
served as the prime
minister and stabilized
the mark by following
the advice of Hjalmar
Schacht
 Germany stabilizes and
begins to grow again
without inflation
 Finally, Stresemann
settles the western
border with France with
the Locarno Treaty.
 Perhaps the high point of the Weimar Republic
 Germany agrees to respect its western border with
France and Belgium.
 This allows Germany to enter the League of Nations and
removes Germany from diplomatic isolation
 Economy grows quite well
 Culture become famous for its plays, art, etc., though
decadent.
 ´Americanizationµ as some parts of culture look to
America for guidance.
 Movie industry become world famous, esp., the
´Mountain filmsµ like a US Western.
a Great Depression hits as unemployment goes to record
levels.
a Governments fall as no one can solve the problem of the
Depression
a Private armies of political parties battle in the streets as
public loses faith in the Republic to solve problems.
a With their promises of solving the economic crisis the
National Socialists and Communists begin to grow rapidly.
Many SDP go to the Communists, but most SDP and Centre
party members gravitate toward the National Socialists
a The National Socialists benefit the most and by 1931 are the
largest party in Germany, surpassing the fading Social
Democrats.
a Eventually the Nazi party is able to form a coalition with other
nationalist and conservative parties to form a majority in the
Reichstag
a !n 1932, the National Socialists are clearly the biggest party but
Hindenburg will not give them the chance.
a Hindenburg then picks right-wing nationalists Franz von Papen and
then Kurt von Schleicher. However, both fail by early 1933.
a Hindenburg finally gives the National Socialists and Hitler a chance
to run the government in January of 1933.
a
n 30 January 1933, Hitler was named Chancellor of the
Reichstag
a A month later, on 27 February, the Reichstag is burned by
communist radicals (allegedly¦
a Hitler uses that as a pretext to invoke Article  of the
Constitution allowing for emergency powers
 Elections in March of that year do not give the Nazis the
clear majority they need, but still have enough support
from minor parties to form majority coalition

n 23 March, Hitler orchestrates passage of the
Enabling Act, a law which gave Hitler and his cabinet the
ability to pass legislation without going through the
legislature
 Effectively ends the Weimar Republic