Mike - Weimar Republic

From KstructIB

Contents 1 Inherent Problems 2 Attempted Overthrows 3 Good Weimar 4 Rise of Hitler

[edit] Inherent Problems

1. Sign Treaty Of Versailles::: Automatically takes war guilt to Germany
2. Stab in the back::: Blamed for the loss of Germany, not the army
3. Government must be started from new
   1. No Representative government ever
   2. Coalition Governments
   3. No multi party support, except Ardenauer
4. East vs. West ideology battle in Germany
5. Reparations- Lots of money to repay, Germany resents this
   1. Dawes Plan : 1924, a system to repay the reparations, very high
   2. Young Plan : 1929, system to reduce the payments, place on hold in 1930 because of the Depression

[edit] Attempted Overthrows

1. Spartacus Rebellion (1919)
   1. Communist attempt by Rosa Luxembourg to overthrow Weimar
   2. Weimar asks the Freikorps for help, they brutally put down the opposition, but show that Gov is depended on the weak
2. Confidence of the Right (from above) causes Wolfgang Kapp to mutiny
   1. Has support of Army, but not of Right officials and
   2. Kapp Putsch (1920) fails after 4 days
3. Red Army raised by the left Weimar, 50,000 men...largest Marxist force ever
   1. Germany.
   2. Alarms the Right wings
   3. Army sees it as an opportunity to “become the law Enforcement”
4. General Von Seeckt
   1. Purges all Left and central elements of the army, including those who didn’t join the Kappe putsch
   2. Was determined to destroy Versailles
   3. Built arms factories in Russia, Rapallo Treaty (1922) sped this process
   4. Military has become a right-wing threat rather than a neutral political tool

[edit] Good Weimar

1. Stresemann—Foreign Policy
   1. Fulfillment- accept the treaty of Versailles and gain honor for Germany again
   2. Accepted Dawes and Young Plans for Reparations
   3. Evacuation of the Ruhr in 1924
   4. Locarno Pact (1925) to ensure the German/Franco/Belgium borders
   5. HATED by Nationalist germany
   6. Gains a seat on the LON (Good image) 1926
2. Most un-strict censorship, still bad, but not AS bad
3. Brought Liberal arts to Berlin, Unrivaled anywhere (detested by Conservatives)

[edit] Rise of Hitler

1. Prison Time (released 1924)
   1. Realizes he can’t use brute force to take power, must use the system
   2. Must make alliances
2. Strasser and Goebbles
   1. Change their idea to Anti-Jewish from anti-capitalism, Broader Middle class
   2. Hitler asserts power, Goebbles follows
3. War with the Marxists in the streets
   1. Nazi’s become defenders of the “Aryan race,” Weimar is big loser
4. Hitler’s SA troops are banned, but Papen hopes to get Hitler’s support, and Lifts the ban
5. Communist gain over half the seats in the Reichstagg, to appease they give Hitler the Chancerlorship, and he controls most of the German state
6. Gave people dream of the Reich, a unified State
7. Opresses people:: Takes civil rights, bans party organizations and altogether abolish Constitution
8. Night of Long Knives- Röhm, leader of the Brown shirts was now unuseful, and threatening.
   1. Goring, Himmler and Heydrich all plot against Röhm, hoping to gain from his loss
   2. SS kill lots of people, 110 or so, Rewarded with Nazi Daggers