Although Germany appeared to make a rather smooth transition from an autonomous state to a socialist republic we cannot ignore the fact that the country was very clearly divided between the liberal left wing and the traditionalist right wing.
The government set up by Ebert in November 1918 was mainly socialist, but not extreme, wishing to follow a more moderate policy which would maintain a socialist basis but not too extreme to anger the right wing. However a series of decisions, which Ebert made, aroused opposition from both sides.His main problem seemed to be the fact that he had the true, loyal support of neither and rather than deciding to side completely with one of the groups he kept the socialist ideas shared by the communist left wingers but reinforced them with the protecting forces of the right wing; the army. When the new government formed, the communist party, the K. P. D, were a clear threat to it as their policy was revolutionary, meaning the overthrow of government.
Ebert knew he had to do something about this threat and so on November 9th 1918 he signed the Ebert-Groner agreement with the army.This agreement said that the army would suppress revolutionary activities in order to maintain law and order. In return, General Groner was promised that the status of the army would be maintained and that supplies would be guaranteed. This would mean that a socialist government would be suppressing what was effectively their own side, with forces of the enemy. Ebert was supposed to get rid of the old regime, instead, he ensured it its new place in the new republic.
The army was used, therefore, at the Spartacist outbursts on December 6th 1918 and later on January 6th 1919, where Liebnecht and Luxemburg, the leading communist politicians, were murdered. In 1919 the treaty of Versailles was finally signed. The Germans had expected to be treated leniently as they had changed their constitution to a similar one of the allies, in hope that they would feel as though they were dealing with a country similar to their own. Instead, they were treated very harshly and were humiliated.Not only did they lose 13% of their land and 12 % of their population, but they were also, by article 231, made to accept all responsibility for the war and had to make reparations for the cost of it. The people of Germany began to lose faith in the new government, which could cause problems of great seriousness in the future.
The government accepted the treaty and it was therefore their fault that they had to go through such humiliation, hence, the stab-in-the-back theory was widely believed.A series of revolutionary upheavals followed in the aftermath of the treaty beginning with a communist uprising in Bavaria. Kurt Eisner had set up a local S. P. D government, which was revolted against.
Eisner was assassinated and a soviet was set up in the governments place. Noske, the Minister of Defense, ordered the army to put down the rebellion. Again the forces of the right were used against the left. However a much bigger revolutionary upheaval was to follow, this time from the right.The Kapp Putsch was a result of the discontent of the conservatives in Germany who felt that the new republic did not represent them, as well as the embarrassment of the Treaty of Versailles.
Noske this time had ordered the disbandment of 2 Freikorps as they were no longer needed and the Treaty's clauses of reduction of the army had to be fulfilled. Von Luttwitz and Von Kapp, two military leaders, refused and, in reaction, decided to march to Berlin. Luddendorf's approval was implied and although Von Seekt (leader of the army) did not agree to support it, he did not however speak out against it.On March 12/13th 1920 Kapp marched with followers to Berlin. Noske ordered the army to crush the uprising but Groner commented: 'Reichswehr does not open fire on Reichswehr', saying that maybe he would not support the uprising of the right but he would not go against his own side. This way the right remains stronger as it is united and we see Ebert and his government weaken as he is dependant on the army.
The government left Berlin and Kapp set up his own government. Ebert appealed to his people to organize a general strike. This would paralyze Berlin and leave the Kapp government with many problems.And so it was this general strike along with the lack of support for the Kapp government, which brought it to an end in just four days.
The government did not take action against the army, showing that they knew they would need them in the future and therefore did not want to create problems. The growing dependency on them and the lenient way in which they were treated only angered the left wing even more. On March 15th a communist uprising began in Ruhr where a new government was set up by Essen to establish an independent socialist republic. This was again, brutally crushed by the army under Noske's order.Another great problem, which occurred in Germany as of 1919, was what is known as 'The White Terror'.
This terror was caused by right wing extremist in who believed that they were in such a bad position that the only way in which they would be heard would be to murder. Over three hundred assassinations of Weimar politicians occurred between 1919 and 1923. These included Erzberger in August 1921 but most importantly Rathenau, the Jewish Foreign Minister in February 1922. Up until the point of Rathenau's death the assassins were judged and punished very leniently as they were still being tried by judges of the old order.However Rathenau's death was a huge blow.
Rather than get the Right wing heard, it caused a great upheaval and 700 000 people demonstrated in Berlin against such acts of assassinations. Due to this, the 'Organization Consul', the freikorp unit responsible for the death of Rathenau, was forced to disband. The fact that so many politicians were assassinated made a lot of people think that the government could not cope with the opposition of the extreme right or left, and therefore were these really the right people to be in control of their country?These new viewpoints were demonstrated in the 1919-20 elections where the main parties, the D. D. P, S. D.
P and Z all lost seats while anti-Weimar parties gained seats. The loss of seats would prove to be a problem as it would be even harder for the government to pass laws and new coalitions would have to be made. New coalitions would mean, for the main socialist party, the S. P. D, that they would again have to compromise their views; in future, this could anger the communists and cause problems. While the right showed its feelings through the White Terror, the left showed its feelings in a wave of strikes in the Summer of 1919.
These took place in the central industrial areas of Germany, eg.The Ruhr area. The workers wanted shorter hours, socialization of industry and a government based on councils. This appears to be quite a strong opposition yet it failed.
The K. P. D in charge of organizing these strikes proved to have no clear strategy or organization and lacked support. Many were killed when the government crushed this attempt using Freikorps. Also, in the Spring of 1919, March, a soviet republic was set up in Bavaria.
This too was suppressed by the Freikorps with 700 people dying and a right wing government was established in its place.By the time these two events were over it was clear that a communist government could never exist in Germany as they had no clear leadership from the K. P. D nor a large number of loyal supporters. The strikes continued up to 1923 but they did not threaten the government.
The next problem faced by the republic was to be one of the most famous economic collapses; the German hyperinflation of 1923. The seeds of this problem had been sewn during WW1 where the German government funded the war by borrowing and printing more money.By the time the war had finished they had a large budget deficit which was only worsened by the reparations. The government was faced with a dilemma.
They could cut expenditure and raise taxation which would lead to the lowering of a deficit. This would mean there would be less money in the economy and inflation would decrease with confidence in the German currency increasing. However this would also lead to unemployment and a decrease in people's wages. The government would become unpopular and the allies would be led to believe that the reparations could be made when they couldn't.The second option available to them would be to continue borrowing and printing more money. The more money in the economy would mean a revival of industry that would lead to the decrease of inflation and the budget deficit.
The government decided to go with the latter option. From 1919 to 1923 inflation rose steadily and Germany was still unable to pay the reparations. Germany had hoped that the allies would decrease the amount while she also hoped the people of Germany would link their economic problems with the allies, in which case the blame would be directed away from Ebert's government.Neither of their hopes were fulfilled and instead by 1921, the allies were demanding Germany pay 1000 million, part of the sum of money which she owed. When Germany did not pay, the allies responded by occupying areas east of the Rhine including Dusseldorf, Druisburg and Ruhrort. They continued to demand the paying of the reparation and finally agreed that the total cost would be 6600 million which would be paid in gold.
Again Germany was unable to pay, but this time she requested a moratorium, a temporary suspension of payments. The allies were divided on the topic with Britain acceptin the request but France disagreeing.Due to France's vote Germany had to pay some of the reparations. By 1923 she was still in debt and not in a position to repay the allies.
France decided that it was time to take some serious action, so accompanied by Belgium, French troops occupied the Ruhr mines of Germany so they could oversee the payments. The Ruhr mines were a place of great significance in Germany as not only did they make 80% of her steel and 71% of her coal, but they supplied resources for industrial production everywhere in the country. Germany was enraged by this and rather than just cooperate, the government decided to follow a policy of 'Passive Resistance'.This basically meant that the workers would go on strike, supported in pay by the government.
This stubborn response was virtually catastrophic for a country that was already on the verge of economic collapse due to inflation. The economic deadlock killed the Deutsch Mark and by August 23rd it had completely collapsed, going from before the war being 20 Deutsch marks to one pound sterling, to 20 million Deutsch marks for one pound sterling. The result was loss of confidence in the German currency and therefore loss of confidence in the government, since it was this government which decided on the economic policy and the passive resistance.Prices went up daily and many Germans resorted to barter.
However national morale was at a high as the workers and government were united against the foreign powers of France and Belgium, forming a more united and hence stronger front. With the employment of Stresemann as Chancellor, Germany was saved as he resumed in September 1923 the reparations and ended the strike. He was determined to remove this problem from the republic once and for all. A new currency was formed known as the Rentenmark, controlled by the Reichsbank which would be looked after by a finance expert, in this case Schacht.In addition the government cut down expenditure by cutting social benefits and dismissing unneeded civil servants.
The allies, witnessing these steps to recovery, decided that they would offer help. The USA, urged by Britain, set up a committee with Charles Dawes in charge in January of 1924. Germany was, with the committee's help to receive foreign help to pay back the reparations. Production was increased as was the confidence of the German people, allowing the country to survive. In November 1924 the French and Belgian troops removed themselves from the Ruhr. As Chancellor, Stresemann was seen as giving in to the French by the right wing.
This angered them, especially right wing supporters in Bavaria who, under direction of Von Lossow,had decided to march to Berlin. Luckily this attempt was ceased as Stressemann put down a left wing government in Saxony and Thuringia which seemed to be threatening. The Bavarians were pleased but this didn't stop further action being taken. The next episode would prove to be of monumental importance to the future of Germany; the Munich Putsch. This began with military leaders Von Lossow and Von Kahr addressing a meeting of 2 thousand right wing supporters about the government, but no plans for a march were being discussed.
Hitler, leader of the little-known NAZI party, burst in and demanded the 2 men support a march on Berlin by Ludendorff. At the same time Bavarian government leaders were taken captive. Ebert declared a state of emergency and decided to utilize the rights he was given in Article 48, where he could rule by decree without the approval of the Reichstag. Von Lussow and Von Kahr were told by Von Seeckt, leader of the army, to crush the revolt. The two leaders therefore turn against Hitler and denounce the march.
Hitler, however, did not back down and encouraged by Ludendorff decided to continue with the march on November 9th 1923.Two thousand armed soldiers marched to Berlin with Hitler. Upon arrival, a series of shots were fired by the waiting armed police. Fourteen Nazis had been killed, but Ludendorff continued to fight. Meanwhile Hitler escaped.
This Putsch landed both Ludendorff and Hitler, who was found scared and in hiding soon after, under arrest. Along with others, the two were tried for treason on February 24th 1924. It would be expected that for going against the government Hitler would be harshly treated in the court of law, however this was not the case.The judges were still those that were in employment during the old regime, ie. They were still of right wing origins.
Hitler managed to turn the trials to his advantage and made great speeches which were publicized throughout Germany. Therefore, although the Munich Putsch was not successful it did manage to spread the word of the Nazi party. By February 1925 the Nazi party had become the third largest party in Bavaria. Luckily for the republic, the attempt failed due to Hitler's lack of organization and effective leadership.However it allowed a new party to emerge, which would cause problems later on in German history. Reviewing all the problems Germany faced in a period of just four years, it is amazing to think that it survived more years after.
This chaotic period however WAS seen through and therefore, the government and republic must have had its strengths. Although Ebert is widely criticized for signing this, the Ebert-Groner agreement proved to be very beneficial. In the short term, all communist or left wing upheaval was suppressed by the army quite easily, and perhaps without the army they would have been a greater threat.The protection offered kept the government safe for the time being, however in the long term it proved problematic, allowing the right wing such an important position in a socialist republic. The actual uprisings from both sides of the left and right were easy to defeat, sometimes not really even needing help to be suppressed. For example, the Kapp Putsch of 1920 managed to get the government to leave Berlin, however the Kapp government set up lasted a mere four days.
The only thing the government could do to put it down was to have a strike making it harder for them to survive, but even so the Kapp government fell on its own.The lack of support seemed to play a key role in its fall. The army failed to help the government in this particular incident due to the fact that they would be fighting against their own side. The government didn't take action, an important thing because it allowed for army assistance in the future. Lack of support was also key in the fall of the left.
It is said that by the Summer of 1919 there was no possibility of a communist government existing.The K. P. D, organizers of the left wing uprisings, failed to act as a strong leadership and gather loyal support in numbers. The K.
P. D attempts were uncoordinated and unorganized as a results of the bad leadership. None of these things were helped by the fact that the K. P.
D was also internally divided. The economic problem of inflation would have been seen as the final straw in the faith of Germans in the new republic, however the government managed to eventually turn it to their advantage. When the French occupied the Ruhr mines and a policy of passive resistance was followed, a sense of unity passed throughout Germany. This allowed Germany enough time to do something about the problem before the people get angry again.They did this by employing Stesemann, who introduced a new currency and saved Germany by sorting out the problem of reparations once and for all. Also regarding the economic problem, Germany was lucky in that although economic collapse came on 1923, up to that point there had been no mass unemployment.
Production was high, inflation was mild and they were allowed to pay for the reparations in kind. Therefore the economic slump lasted only for a year as opposed to a long term problem. In addition there was the Munich Putsch. Another unorganized attempt with ineffective leadership made it impossible for it to succeed.In reality, the republican government was lucky that these uprisings were so uncoordinated or it would be hard to believe that there would have been such a hard time getting rid of the government otherwise. Finally, the constitution allowed certain things which it is unlikely that, otherwise, the government would have survived.
Article 48, which allowed Ebert to rule by decree when Germany was in a state of emergency meant that legislation moved quicker and more could be done at a time when constitutionalism would have taken too long and possibly be too late.Also the fact that proportional representation existed meant that everyone got heard. If certain groups of people had been suppressed and were not allowed freedom of speech, then possibly a more angry uprising would have taken place and been more effective. In conclusion, it appears as though at this point Germany had gone through its worse as a republican state and so should have been able to handle all the problems to come.
This however was to be challenged in the future, but for the next few years, a peaceful time was in store.
