Edexcel GCSE History – Weimar and Nazi Germany 1918-1939: Topic 1 – The Weimar Republic 1918-1929
Hello there and welcome to this revision video for EDXL GCSE history vamar and Nazi Germany. This is going to focus on topic one, the Var Republic 1918 to 1929. So in this video we’re going to look at key topic one. We’re going to talk about the origins of the Vmar Republic 1918 to 1919. We’re going to talk about the early challenges to the Vimar Republic from 1919 to 1923 including things like the hyperinflation crisis. We’re going to look at the golden years, the recovery of the republic from 1924 to 1929. And then finally, we’re going to look at changes in society from 1924 to 1929. So let’s find out more. So in terms of the origins of the republic, we’re going to be looking at the situation in Germany at the end of the war, political unrest, the application of the Kaiser, the armistice, and the new republic. We’re also going to look at the strengths and weaknesses of the new Vimar constitution. So this was the situation in Germany at the end of the first world war. Now the first world war had been a new type of warfare and the German military plan the schlie plan had failed to bring about a quick victory meaning that the war quickly descended into trench warfare and stalemate and this new type of warfare known as total war meant that all aspects of civilian life were affected. It led to food and fuel shortages as well as political and social turbulence in all countries that fought in the war especially in Germany. The war ended with the armistice on the 11th of November 1918. Now in terms of the situation in Germany at the end of the war, there was the impact of the British blockade. So the British blockaded the ports of northern Germany during the war and this blockade stopped Germany importing supplies from overseas causing food and fuel shortages. Many German people only had food such as turnips and bread to eat. The food shortages also led to unrest. Some supporters of the Social Democrats turned against the war and formed a political party known as the USPD. There were economic problems as well. Many factories turned to producing weapons and war supplies during the First World War. It led to a shortage of things like consumer goods. By 1918, German industry was producing only twothirds of what it had been producing in 1913. The German government began to quickly run out of money and supplies, and it struggled to support families. There were also low wages and strikes. Wages were low during the First World War, but some factory owners profited, causing resentment. And in 1918, there was an increase in strikes from workers demanding peace and a democratic government. And there’s just a a nice map there actually of the British blockade. Um, so the naval blockade of Germany which took place and you can see how this was really really uh detrimental to uh Germany during the first world war and really caused a problem of supplies of food and fuel of course as well. Now in terms of the situation at Germany at the end of the war, there was the mutiny at a place called Keel. So on the 29th of October 1918, there was a mutiny at Keel with sailors refusing to obey military orders. A mutiny is when somebody refuses to obey orders. They took over the naval base and joined with local dock workers to demand democracy and peace. And this so-called revolution quickly spread across Germany. Now by the 9th of November 1918 the Kaiser that’s the German kind of king or emperor Kaiser Helm II he abdicated and left for Holland and Germany became a republic which means a country with no monarch and it became and a democratic government was set up with Friedick E who was a leader of the social democratic party the SPD he became the new leader of Germany. Now this government would become known as the Vhimar Republic and the events of you know the mutiny at Keel the end of the first world war the Kaiser abdicating this would become known as the German revolution. Now the stab in the back myth Germany’s defeat was so quick that it shocked many in Germany. There was actually no fighting in Germany during the first world war. All the fighting took place um in terms of the western front in uh France and Belgium. So newspapers had focused on stories of German success. Obviously, the Germans had defeated Russia in the war in 1917 and Russia had left the war. So, it actually came as a great surprise to the German people that they were losing the war and it led to the idea that the German army had been quote stabbed in the back by weak politicians known as November criminals. Um, and this is something that would be really important actually um within the history of the VHimar Republic. Okay. So, Germany had a lot of problems at the end of the first world war that it needed to kind of contend with and deal with. Now, Germany had a new chancellor which is um a leader called Friedrich Eet. Now, Friedick Ebert would gone to become the first president of uh Germany, Var Republic from 1919 to 1925. Now, Germany’s new chancellor, Friedick Iet, had to accept an armistice with the Allies, and the new government was known as the VHimar Republic. And that’s because the early government was based in a German town called VHimar in a town um in sort of central Germany. And these were some of the issues that Germany had. Inflation was high, meaning the prices of goods was increasing quickly. There was a huge increase in the number of strikes. So, in 1919, 34 million working days were lost. Um, there were 1.5 million soldiers had to leave the military and return home and many were injured and wounded. There were also shortages of food and fuel across Germany. German communists had been inspired by the Russian Revolution and sought an armed revolution. The allies continued the blockade of Germany’s coastline which did not end until June 1919. The situation in Berlin was very tense and violent. Fighting on the streets meant the new government had to move to the town of Bimar and there was a flu epidemic, the Spanish flu which killed 260,000 people in Germany. So we’re now going to talk about the strengths and weaknesses of the Vmar constitution. Now a constitution is a set of rules which decides how a country should be run. And these were the key terms of the VMAR constitution. All Germans had equal right to free speech and freedom of religion. Article 48 could be used by the president to rule alone in an emergency. The voting system of proportional representation meant it was hard to make decisions. Different political parties had to work together in coalitions and each German state had its own parliament. And that diagram just gives you a little bit of a sense for how Germany was being run. It had a president for example. Um it had a chancellor who was the leader that was a member of the rice stag that was appointed by the president. Um the rice stag is the name of the German parliament now. Um and they were obviously elected by the German people as well. So it just gives you a really clear sense of how the Vmar constitution worked. Okay. The next thing we’re going to look at is the early challenges to the VMar Republic between 1919 and 1923. We’re going to talk about the reasons for the unpopularity of the republic including the stab in the back theory and the key terms of the treaty of air as well. We’re going to look at the challenges to the republic from left and right from the Spartacus, the fry corpse and the cat push. And then finally, we’re going to talk about the challenges of 1923 hyperinflation, the reasons for and the effects of the French occupation of the rur. So in terms of the stab in the back myth, the Var republic was really unpopular among many groups and this was because of Germany’s largely unexpected defeat in the first world war. Uh the stab in the back myth and the hated treaty of Versailles. Now the stab in the back myth was a key reason for the unpopularity of the VHMAR Republic. Propaganda and censorship during the first world war convinced most ordinary Germans that they were actually winning the war. Therefore, when defeat came, it was unexpected and it led to the myth that Germany had not been properly defeated in the first world war but in fact betrayed by the politicians of the Vimar Republic. These politicians came to be known as the November criminals. Now in terms of the Treaty of Versailles, these were the main terms of the Treaty of Versailles. So Germany lost 10% of its land and 13% of its population, included all of its overseas colonies and land containing import and raw materials, including 26% of its coal. Germany was not allowed tanks, submarines, or an air force, and could only build six battleships. The German army was reduced to 100,000 men. Conscription was banned. Article 231 of the Treaty of SI said that Germany had to accept the blame for starting the First World War. Germany also had to pay reparations which was a fine for damage done in the first world war and the amount was fixed at a huge level that was broken into annual payments. Germany as an example lost also to France as well as lots of other uh bits of land uh as well. Now Germany was made to sign treaty of air at the hall of mirrors at the palace of Versailles in France which just outside Paris. This was known as a dicttat which means dictated peace. If Germany had refused to sign the treaty then the war would have restarted and Germany was not in position for that to happen and Germany very much felt that they hadn’t had any say of the treaty of SI. In fact before the treaty of SI the president of America had proposed these 14 points that would have been a lot more lenient on Germany and uh and this added to the sense the treaty of SI was way too harsh on Germany. So why did Germany dislike the treat of Versail? Well, as I just mentioned, the Germans thought the treaty would be based upon Wilson’s 14 points, which were a lot more lenient to Germany. The treaty meant that Germany could hardly defend itself. Um, the reparations themselves were far too much. Germany could never afford to pay it. And the peace was dictated to Germany. It was a dictat. They did not even have a say at the peace conference. The big three, David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of Britain, George Clemenso, leader of France, and President Woodro Wilson of America, they largely came up with a treaty. They were known as the big three. And you know, Germany didn’t have a say at the peace conference. They were presented with a plan and told you got to sign it. And this very much led to this idea of the November criminals and the stabbing of back myth. Flags actually flew at half mass across the country and there were huge demonstrations in the street. And this German cartoon published in 1919 with the German mother saying to her starving child when we have paid 100 billion marks and I can give you something to eat really sums up how people in Germany reacted to the treaty. Okay, so here’s some challenges to the Bama Republic from the left and the right. So in terms of the extreme left-wing party, that was the Communist Party, and they wanted Germany run on behalf of the workers. There had been, of course, a communist revolution in Russia in 1917. They wanted the government to run all farms and businesses for the benefit of all the people as well. Now, parties that supported the VHR Republic were the Social Democrats, the S the SPD. uh they were highly involved in the balmor republic and they wanted reforms to help the workers. The center party um sought to um protect the Catholic Church and the Democratic party was a middle-ass party. The people’s party was supported by the middle class and the industrialist. So there were quite a few different political parties that supported the work of the Vamar uh Republic and then there was the extreme right-wing party. So obviously we’ve got the Nazi party and we got the German National Party. They wanted Germany to be strong and powerful again. The German National Party favored a return actually of the Kaiser, the army generals and the fry corpors. The fry corpse were ex soldiers uh working in sort of military band groups. They did not like the VMAR Republic and they wanted Germany to to be militarily strong and they very much regarded the Vanar Republic as having stabbed Germany in the back. So in terms of looking in detail at challenges to the republic from left and right, the Spartacist uprising of January 1919 saw left-wing German communists trying to take power led by Carl Lee and Rosa Luxembourg who you can see pictured down there. Workers were protesting throughout Germany at the start of 1919 and the Spartacus tried to turn this into a revolution. Now President Iber as he was then used the fry cops to crush the uprising with over 100 workers killed. Luxembourg and Libet were both killed themselves. The Cap push of 1920. So Wolf Gang Cap was a nationalist, a right-wing nationalist who wanted to bring back the monarchy. In March 1920, there was a right-wing uprising led by Cap sparked by the VMAR Republic, reducing the size of the army and getting rid of the Fry Corpse. Now the Fry Corps, who were sort of exoldiers, 12,000 Fry Corps marched to Berlin, and the army refused to stop them. The government fled to Stockgart, but the rising was put down by a general strike organized by the workers. And again, against all odds, the Vanar Republic survived. Now, the Vimar Republic was very politically unstable. The new government was based in VHimar for its first few months because Berlin was far too unstable. There was lots of violence and fighting in the streets in Berlin. There were actually 376 political murders between 1919 and 1922. This included Matias Zberger, a politician who signed the armistice in November 1918. He was shot dead in August 1921 and Vimar foreign minister Walter Ratanau was killed in June 1922. So in 1923 saw the challenges of hyperinflation. Now the treaty of Versail meant that Germany had to pay reparations. In 1921 it was announced that Germany would have to pay a massive sum 6.6 billion pounds. Now in 1922 Germany announced it could no longer afford the reparations but France was determined to make Germany pay. In 1923, 60,000 French and Belgian soldiers occupied an industrial area of Germany called the Rur. They seized control of mines, factories, and railways, and the workers protested through passive resistance such as refusing to work, flooding mines, and setting fire to factories. 140 German workers were killed in clashes with French and Belgian soldiers. The occupation of the RA worsened Germany’s economic problems and led to hyperinflation. And you can see there a picture of a French soldier guarding coal during the 1923 occupation of the rear. And there’s a map of the rear just to show you where it is. It was occupied in 1923 by French and Belgian soldiers to try and take the money themselves um from the treaty of Versail. So there were both winners and losers in hyperinflation. So hyperinflation meant the prices rose hugely. By November 1923, one US dollar was worth 200 billion marks which meant it was basically worthless. There’s a great story of somebody going through the streets um with a wheelbarrow full of banknotes and so the story goes um the wheelbarrow got stolen and the bank notes got left behind. And whether that story is true or not, it kind of tells you about how worthless these banknotes have become. People were burning them. People were using them instead of coal and their fires. And in 1913, 1 kilogram of bread cost 0.29 marks. Whereas in November 1923, it was 428 billion marks. Now losers were people with lots of cash savings. They lost a lot of money. People on fixed income such as people with pensions or people who were paid monthly whose wages did not keep pace with the price rises, they lost out massively as well. Now, Freda Bundeler, a German politician, recalled hyperinflation in Germany during a 1960 interview and she said, “As soon as I received my salary, I pushed out to buy the daily necessities. My daily salary as editor of the periodical league practice was just enough to buy one loaf of bread and a small piece of cheese or some oatmeal. An acquaintance of mine, a clergyman, came to Berlin from the suburb with his monthly salary to buy a pair of shoes for his baby, but he could only buy a cup of coffee. So that kind of very much shows you how these extreme price rises led to lots of people losing out. Now, where there are losers, there are winners, right? So, um, people with debts could repay them with worthless money. People with goods such as land uh kept uh their value. They they were winners as well. Some workers kind of kept pace with hyperinflation because they were paid daily. Some people made profits through bartering and big businesses gained as prices rose faster than wages. Um quite often big businesses could buy up small businesses that had gone bankrupt. For example, a really good example of somebody that gained a lot from hyperinflation is this man here pictured in Time magazine. And this is because many big businesses profited from the economic situation by borrowing cheaply and investing in new industrial enterprises. So the man you can see in Time magazine there is Hugo Stein. Uh he controlled 20% of Germany’s industry by the end of 1923. He basically bought up lots of businesses that were unable to cope with hyperinflation and he became known as the inflation king. Okay, we’re now going to look at the golden years, the recovery of the republic 1924 to 1929. We’re going to talk about the reasons for economic recovery including the work of Gustaf Stressman pictured there, the Renon Mark, the doors and young plans and American loans and investment. We’re also going to talk about Stressman’s achievements in gaining international acceptance of Germany abroad through the Lano Pact and joining the League of Nations. Okay, so we’re now going to talk about economic recovery. So 1924 to 1929 was known as the golden age of the VMmer Republic. Now Gus have stressman who’s pictured there was the politician who dominated this era. Now he was chancellor for 100 days in 1923 and he was then foreign minister from 1924 to 1929 and he managed to help solve many of Germany’s problems or so it seems. His policy was known as fulfillment. He meant he promised to work with other countries and fulfill the terms of the treaty of SI. Now one thing he did to solve the problem of hyperinflation was to introduce a new currency. Stressman replaced the old money with a brand new currency. One Renson mark replaced 1,00 billion marks. The quick recovery led to it being referred to as the quote miracle of the Renson mark. This brought inflation under control, although the German people would not forget it. Germans received some compensation for their losses. Stressman also reduced government spending and sacked 700,000 public employees. Stressman also ended the French occupation of the river. He ended passive resistance as it was the root cause of the economic problems. He brought in a new policy called fulfillment where he promised to pay reparations and follow the treaty of Versailles. But it was a very unpopular policy among right-wing nationalists. Now one of the things that Stressman was really important for was economic recovery and international acceptance. So Germany continued to pay the reparations and the doors plan of 1924 was negotiated to give Germany longer to pay. US banks agreed to loan money to German industry and around 25 billion pounds was loaned by US banks between 1924 and 1929. The Young Plan of 1929 lowered the amount Germany had to pay from 6.6 billion to 2 billion. Many Germans hated the plans with protest from right-wing politicians like Alfred Hugenberg. 85% though did vote in favor in a referendum on the Young Plan. Now, all of these US loans led to an improving economy. It led to investment in houses, hospitals, schools, and roads. Loans were made to German firms. Exports increased. By 1928, Germany was the world’s second strongest industrial power behind the United States. But the economy was too dependent on US loans. Farmers became poor due to low food prices and unemployment remained high. Germany also gained international acceptance. So in 1925, Germany signed the Lano treaties with Britain, France, Belgium, and Italy. They promised not to invade each other, and Germany was being treated as a partner being brought back in from the international cold. In 1926, Germany was allowed entry into the League of Nations and immediately became a permanent member of the Council, making it one of the most important countries. In 1928, Germany and 64 other countries signed the Kellogg Bond Pact of 1928, saying that international disputes must be settled peacefully. So although it seemed like Germany had recovered in the golden era, the main problems were not solved. Germany was dependent on US loans and there was still anger and resent at the treat of Versail. Germany became more peaceful politically between 1924 and 1928. There were no attempts to overthrow the VMAR Republic. After the death of Friedick Eber, President Hindenburg became a force of stability. He was elected as president in 1925. The Nazi threat also reduced after the Munich beh. But Germany remained fairly unstable. No single party could ever rule on its own. There were seven coalition governments between November 1923 and November and 1929. Now Gustav Streman himself recognized that the German economy was too dependent on American loans. He very famously said Germany is dancing on a volcano. If the short-term credits, the loans are called in by the USA. A large section of our economy would collapse. And sure enough, the Wall Street crash happened. The American stock market crashed in October 1929. And it led to a worldwide economic depression. As the saying goes, if America sneezes, the world catches a cold. Okay, we’re now going to look at changes in society 1924 to 1929. We’re going to look at changes in standard of living, changes in the position of women in work, politics, and leisure, cultural changes such as developments in architecture, art, and the cinema. So, the economic recovery led to huge changes in the stand of living during this time period. In terms of work and wages, unemployment reduced from between 1924 and 1929. Wages and working conditions improved. The working week shortened from 50 hours to 46 hours. By the late 1920s, German workers were some of the best paid in Europe, but unemployment was high among the middle class and for those with jobs. Their pay did not improve as much. In terms of housing, the Vmar Republic encouraged the building of lots of new houses. Between 1924 and 1931, there were 2 million new homes built and around 200,000 homes were extended or renovated. In terms of social reforms, the VHimar Republic, like things like unemployment insurance, the Vimar Republic raised the highest level of income tax from 4 to 60%. This led to lots of new social reforms like the unemployment insurance act of 1927, which covered 17 million workers for unemployment or sickness benefits. There were benefits and pensions for widows and those who were injured in the first world wars first world war but these changes brought benefits but were incredibly expensive. There were also new opportunities for women during the Vimar Republic. During the first world war many uh women worked in jobs that had been done by men. By the mid1 1920s the number of women in work was at pre-war levels. Although the Vimar Republic had promised to give women equality, this did not happen in reality. Many professional women gave up work if they got married. There were fewer women in professional jobs like there were only 33 female judges in Germany in 1933. Now in terms of politics, women gained equal voting rights in 1918. In the 1919 election, 37 women were elected to rice stag. Clara Zetkin was an example of an elected rice stag deputy between 1920 and 1933 for the communist party. But this did not always translate into policies to improve the lives of women. However, in terms of leisure, for some women, the 1920s brought new leisure opportunities and greater independence. These so-called new women had more social freedom, such as being able to drink more, smoke in public, and paying more attention to fashion. A booby was a short bobcat, which became popular with women. There was also a rise in sexual freedom. Some of these changes were challenged by the church, who believed the growing independence of women threatened the traditional German family unit. Many were concerned at the falling birth rate in Germany. In terms of cultural changes during the golden age of the VMAR Republic, the new freedoms of the VMAR Republic led to an explosion in culture, literature, music, art, architecture, theater, and cinema all thrived. However, much of this was really restricted to Berlin. Many novels in terms of literature focused on anti-war feelings. Eric Remark wrote All Quiet on the Western Front, which focused on the horrors of the First World War. Some writers still glorified the First World War. However, in terms of architecture, German architects Volto Gropius and Miles Vandereo produced a new style of architecture which was known as the bow house style. They used modern materials to create exciting new buildings. But some people did not like the ultramodern design, favoring a more classical style. In terms of music and cabaret, there were cabaret music clubs which became very popular. Cabaret artists produced songs which criticized the government and Berlin became famous for its nightclubs. But some Germans, including eventually Hitler, found the nightlife shocking. In terms of cinema, Germany became a center of the film industry. German directors such as Fritz Lang made films advanced for their time such as Metropolis. Marlene Dietrich was a famous German actress who starred in the film The Blue Angel. But some people found these German films immoral. In terms of theater, some directors such as Berto Bre produced plays about ordinary people. One of his musicals was called the three penny opera. Some Germans thought this was wrong that the theater should focus on heroes and gods and they felt it was a sign of the moral decline of the VHimar Republic. In terms of art, Otto Dixs was an artist who produced paintings which highlighted the inequality between the rich and the poor in Germany at the time, but some disapproved of this art. Hitler was highly critical of this and preferred paintings which glorified Germany’s history. So there you have it. We looked at the Bama Republic from 1918 to 1929. We’ve looked at the early problems and how the Var Republic survived until 1929. And we kind of left it on a cliffhanger with the Wall Street crash happening in October 1929 and the words of warning from Gustaf Stressman who said that Germany was dancing on the volcano. And sure enough, in topic two, we’re going to find out about the rise of the Nazis and about how that Wall Street crash led to a great depression, which is a key reason for the Nazis coming to power. So, I hope you enjoyed that revision video on topic one, the Valar Republic, 1918 to 1929. Thanks for listening. Good luck in your exams. Bye-bye.