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| GCSE History: Germany |
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| Gustav Stresemann |
This is an essay written by a year ten GCSE History student. The essay is about the problems in Germany in the first five years after World War One.
Question: ‘What problems did the new government of Germany experience from November 1918 to the end of 1923, and why was it able to survive these problems?’
Answer: Between November 1918 and 1923 Germany underwent a period of transformation that changed her from an Imperial Reich to a debt riddled catastrophe. There were numerous problems that made such an undergoing possible these can be separated into political and economic groups. Yet despite the terrible suffering and hardship endured by the German people during this period, her government managed to maintain power and keep Germany free from French occupation and absolute economic calamity. The question is what were the problems that created such a mess and how did the Weimar republic survive?
To understand what happened in Germany between November 1918 and 1923 we must first look at the situation in Germany in November1918. The war has just ended due to epidemics and revolution at home and mutiny in the armed forces. Germany is under the illusion that the Wilson administration will provide good peace terms for them at Versailles. Kaiser Wilhelm II has abdicated and fled to Holland, leaving the Reichstag with all political power. The Social Democrats the largest party in the Reichstag has assumed government with Friedrich Ebert as president. Meanwhile on the streets the power lies with the Spartacists and the Freikorps. In November 1918 revolution was more appealing to the German people than democracy.
From November 1918 to 1923 the second Reich was removed and a series of political events paved the way for Adolf Hitler and the third Reich. In this Germany of instability the political spectrum consisted of five main parties. The socialist parties were the extreme Spartacists and the moderate Social Democrats and the nationalist parties were the Catholic Center Party, the Conservatives and the extreme ex-soldier Freikorps. Out of this spectrum Ebert and the Social Democrats filled the political vacuum left by the Kaiser. However in the winter of 1919 (Christmas – 6 January) a communist revolution took place (led by Rosa Luxembourg and Karl Liebknecht) this however was defeated by Ebert with the help of the Freikorps. Following this, elections were held and due to violence in Berlin Ebert proclaimed the new republic on 11 February from Weimar. In March 1919 the Weimar republic faced a serious attempt for a seize of power from the communists who organised strikes and riots. However the Freikorps again prevented such an attempt from progressing to anything bigger. The next serious problem came from communists in the south who following the assassination of Kurt Eisner turned the Socialist republic of Bavaria into a Soviet republic on Russian lines. Yet again Ebert and the Freikorps defeated the communists by laying siege to Munich and defeating the Red army. The next major political problem came from the other end of the spectrum. On 13 March 1920 Wolfgang Kapp led a putsch at Ebert in Berlin with the support of the Freikorps, he took power however the communists organised strikes and brought the German industry to a halt – the Kapp Putsch failed. The last major political problem that faced Ebert came just days after the Kapp Putsch, 21 March 1920 from the communists in Ruhr (Germany’s industrial heartland). Workers formed a 50 000 strong ‘red’ army however yet again the Freikorps restored order at Eberts will. So most of the main political problems Ebert faced came from the political extremes and were usually violent attempts at seizing power.
Germany also faced political problems of a different nature on an international level. In June 1919 Germany had to sign a treaty that robbed her of West Prussia, Posen, Alsace and Lorraine, North Schleswig, Eupen, Malmedy, Upper Silesia, Danzig and Memel, blamed her for the causes of the war forced her to pay huge sums of reparations, robbed her of her colonies, victimised the German people and had her armed forces severely reduced in size. Due to allied military pressure Ebert had no choice but to sign. The consequence was widespread discontent at home and general criticism of the government, they were labelled the ‘November Criminals’ even Hindenberg one of the great war heroes used the term ‘stabbed in the back’. The problems the Treaty of Versailles caused came to a head on 24 June 1922 when Walther Rathenau Germany’s foreign minister was murdered by an extremist group ‘Organisation Consul’. To see the widespread sympathy for such groups you need look no further than the length of the prison sentences (on average 4 years). So not only did Germany’s government face domestic political problems she also faced international ones.
As well as the numerous political problems the Weimar republic faced she also suffered economically. With the treaty of Versailles came the strain of reparations, this created political problems but it also created economic ones. The German people claimed that reparations were an intolerable strain on the economy. When the second instalment was due in 1922 Ebert couldn’t pay, this led to French occupation of the Ruhr. The French set about taking goods to the value of the debt. The government ordered passive resistance, this led to mass strikes in Germany’s industrial heartland which caused the collapse of the German Currency. Historians can see with hindsight the consequence of passive resistance, ultimately the major problem was hyper-inflation. Hyper-inflation was the death knell for Ebert, and many see it as the major economic problem that affected Germany during the Weimar era. So we can conclude that Germany apart from suffering political problems also witnessed taxing economic strains during the period November 1918 to 1923.
Having examined and analysed the problems Germany faced from November 1918 to 1923 it is now necessary to answer how Germany managed to survive. Perhaps the principal reason Germany remained a democracy that valued free will and freedom of speech at a time when there was so much political extremism in Europe was because both the Freikorps and the Spartacists would rather have a moderate democracy than what their enemy wanted. The Freikorps were willing to fight for a moderate socialist democratic government even when those are the ideals they are supposed to oppose. The communists also preferred Ebert to a possible nationalist government. Neither side liked democracy and Ebert was not terribly popular amongst the German people however they saw the Social Democrats as a necessary evil to avoid a totalitarian state and the extremes of both ends of the spectrum preferred a republic to the complete opposite of what they wanted in society. This is probably why the Social Democrats managed to survive the turbulent political problems of the early twenties and maintain the role model democracy that many historians still value today.
The Weimar republic survived due to their opponents trust however international support for the Weimar government also played a part. At Versailles Wilson stated that he wanted a democracy in Germany, Clemenceau and Lloyd George also agreed democracy might reduce the chances of a future war. The allies openly supported the Weimar republic due to its moderate stance. Germany also became a part of the modern world and due to trade opening up negotiations was able to win back old enemies as friends (Britain) this ultimately culminated in Germany’s membership of the league of nations in 1926.So during the early twenties we see support for the Weimar republic growing and this was a contributing factor in its survival.
Aswell as political reasons for Germany’s survival there were economic ones. Amidst the terrible situation hyperinflation brought unto Germany a new leader emerged to replace Ebert, Gustav Streseman. In August 1923 Gustav Streseman took control of the Reichstag. He realised the problems passive resistance was causing Germany and decided to call it off, this was met with mixed reactions some were pleased that this ridiculous situation had been brought to an end and some were angry because it made Germany look weak. What Streseman did was to end passive resistance, call in worthless marks and burn them and introduce a new currency, the Rentenmark. He basically destroyed the German economy and rebuilt it from the ground up. Some might argue this caused more political problems then economic benefits however without the action taken by Streseman Germany’s economy would just continue to plummet.
Having examined and analysed the problems Germany faced, it is possible to suggest the principal reasons why Germany survived such pressures. The main problems she suffered were either political or economic. The political ones were usually associated with political extremism at home and violent attempts to seize power because of the weak tendencies of the Weimar government. Germany also suffered from the pressures of the Treaty of Versailles and international demands. Aswell as political problems Germany also suffered from economic turmoil. Due to huge debt and French pressure the government was forced to pursue a policy that led to hyper-inflation. Despite these problems, Germany still managed to survive the period 1918 to 1923, due to a variety of factors. Firstly: extremes in Germany preferred democracy to their direct opponent, secondly : international support helped the Weimar Republic and thirdly Gustav Streseman managed to save Germany’s economy at the last minute. To conclude all three reasons why Germany survived were to do with the notion of a necessary evil. The communists and fascists saw democracy as a necessary evil to avoid each other; the international community saw the Weimar republic as a necessary evil to avoid political extremism and finally Streseman saw destroying and rebuilding the German economy as being a necessary evil to avoid long term disaster.
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