What difficult situations did Germany face after World War I?

What was the cause of the disorders in Germany from 1918 to 1923?

Germany was now a democracy and a republic. This meant that it was run by democratically elected leaders, rather than a monarch like the Kaiser. There was also a document called a letter that explained how the country would be governed. Many groups, neither the right nor the left, not the new republic.

The years after World War I were a time of turmoil and instability for Germany:

World War I ended on November 11, 1918 at 11 a. m. The Treaty of Versailles, a peace agreement that marked the end of World War I and attempted to punish Germany for its involvement in the war. The treaty was signed on June 28, 1919.

The penalties of the Treaty of Versailles can be remembered with the acronym “BRAT”: Reprimand, Reparations, Armed Forces and Territory.

BlameWar Guilt Clause 231 stated that “Germany accepts the duty of Germany and her allies to cause all losses and (during the war). “

ReparationsThe war guilt clause meant that Germany had to pay for all damage caused by the war. This figure was set at £6. 6 billion in 1921 and was paid in 2010 anyway. These maintenances caused economic difficulties in Germany.

The loss of the armed forces left Germany vulnerable. President Woodrow Wilson had advised that all nations should disarm, but the result of the Treaty of Versailles was that Germany would be largely disarmed, while France and the United Kingdom would keep their armed forces.

TerritoryGermany has lost a number of territory: 13% of its land and 10% of its population, adding commercial areas for the production of coal and iron. This contributed to their post-war economic problems.

The Weimar Republic was the government of Germany from 1919 to 1933, from the end of World War I until the rise of Hitler and Nazi Germany. It was a new, green government that had to deal with many complex economic disorders after World War I.

The Weimar Republic was in fact a democratic government for Germany, with a nearby constitution. All adults over the age of 20 can vote.

The Weimar Republic was created as a constitutional democracy, i. e. a political formula in which parliamentarians are elected to constitute the interests of the public. It sought to empower all German adults by allowing their voices to be heard. However, this caused disorder because German public opinion is very divided.

Historians have argued that the Weimar Republic had two weaknesses.

Each political party received the same percentage of seats in Parliament as the percentage of votes it won in an election. While this allowed for greater representation of minorities, it also meant that there were many smaller parties in Parliament, making it difficult to pass laws. and contributed to weak and short-lived governments. Some argue that this has contributed to political instability in Germany.

Section 48 Powers This gave the president the strength to act without Parliament’s approval in an emergency. However, it did not clearly describe what an “emergency” was, so this force abused, weakening Germans’ confidence in democracy.

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Watch the video to be informed about the weaknesses of the Weimar government

Narrator: At the end of World War I, Germany is defeated. The ruler, Emperor William, abdicated, allowing the replacement of the old royal formula of government by a new democratic formula, the Weimar Republic.

For the first time, all Germans were granted the right to vote. They elected their region’s representative to the Reichstag Parliament. In the elections, what was considered the fairest system was used: proportional representation. They also elected a president for each of them. seven years, and then the president appointed a leading minister of the Reichstag, the chancellor.

It’s like the best system.

The President (spoke in French): Congratulations to everyone, this is perfect.

Narrator: And that would have been the case if the population hadn’t been so divided and angry, because the government had agreed to the harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles. They called their signatories in the government the November Criminals.

Woman in the crowd: Death to the criminals of November!

Narrator: At the Paris conference, where the treaty was signed, Germany hoped to have a say in the drafting of the agreement. But the treaty, drafted only through the Allies, was perceived as a dictation, a dictated document. Article 231 of the treaty stipulated that Germany was entirely guilty of the war. This clause used to justify the Allies not easy reparations by Germany. A huge repayment bill of £6. 6 trillion, to be paid to the Allies via Germany in crippling annual payments.

Germany lost all its colonies abroad and its armed forces were greatly reduced. They were limited to 100,000 soldiers. The resentment of the population was even worse, as many Germans refused to accept that they had lost the war, believing in a developing myth that the brave German army had not lost, but had been stabbed in the back by weak politicians.

The government had to deal with those on the political right, who were looking for them to leave because they were angry with Versailles and the loss of the monarchy. On the left, they had to confront communists who sought a socialist revolution. now, thanks to proportional representation, all those extremists had the right to vote and were therefore represented in the Reichstag. This led to a parliament filled with many small parties, representing all different and extreme opinions, none of which can shape a majority in the Reichstag.

The Weimar government was fraught with challenges. But it is a clause in the republic’s new charter that will pose the greatest challenge to Germany and the rest of the world. Article 48 gave the President special powers to legislate without the recommendation of the Reichstag. in cases of emergency. Hitler would later use Article 48 to turn his democratic election into a ruthless dictatorship.

There have been a number of uprisings, rapprochements, opponents of authority or control, and revolutions of the left and right in Germany in the years following World War I and the Treaty of Versailles.

In 1923, Germany lost a close solution to reparations. Compensation was paid to cover the cost of damage caused during the war. France and Belgium then invaded the Ruhr’s domain to demand what they considered their duty. The Ruhr was a commercial domain that generated gigantic quantities of coal and steel. This Ruhr profession upset Germany’s economic crisis by wasting a lucrative region.

The German government called on the staff in the Ruhr to hold a general strike and encouraged the passive resistance to shut down passive resistance to peacefully oppose something. They posted additional money so that staff could receive their wages while on strike. , since they did so at the behest of their government.

This caused hyperinflation close to hyperinflation. When costs increase slightly, this is called inflation. Hyperinflation occurs when costs rise uncontrollably, so that cash loses all its value. Prices skyrocketed, and the price of silver temporarily declined. The price of citizens’ savings has become negligible and other people in constant To solve the challenge of hyperinflation, a new currency, the Rentenmark, replaced the now-zero Papiermark. The government also ended passive resistance and the economy began to recover.

What’s in this picture?

The kite is made of banknotes. The children in the photo were given wads of cash to play with. Prices had risen so much that money was no longer worth anything. It was more effective for other people to spend cash on heating than to use it to buy firewood.

People who had savings saw the value of their money disappear. Retirees and others with steady incomes have also suffered.

In 1919, Adolf Hitler joined a new political party: the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, or Nazis. It was a far-right organization firmly opposed to the Treaty of Versailles. In 1921, he was the leader. In 1923, Hitler tried to take advantage of the hyperinflation crisis facing the Weimar government by attempting to trigger a revolution. He believed that the Nazis were popular enough for an uprising to succeed.

Starting from a brewery in Munich, he won the support of local leaders and marched to the city center. The police had been warned and blocked his path. Hitler was arrested and sentenced to five years in prison. However, he was granted early release and served only nine months of his sentence.

In prison, Hitler learned that the most productive way to gain strength was to be elected. He wrote an e-book called Mein Kampf, in which he lays out his ideology close to a set of ideals about how a country or system works.

From 1923 onwards, Germany began to show signs of recovery, largely under the leadership of Gustav Stresemann.

Has Stresemann led Germany to recovery?

Some historians claim that Stresemann led Germany to a real recovery. The new currency ended the hyperinflation crisis. Germany had taken a step forward in its foreign relations thanks to the Dawes Plan, its club in the League of Nations and the Young Plan. There have been advances in the fields of art, music and culture. Berlin is considered a complex and fashionable capital. . US. Loans promoted economic growth.

However, some argue that this recovery has solved some disorders by creating new ones. Much of the economic recovery was based on U. S. borrowing. This meant that the United States sought to have those loans repaid after the Wall Street collapse. The German economy has not been able to cope and has suffered a much more severe economic impact than other major European countries, such as France and the United Kingdom.

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