Dulwich Paper 1 Option 5 Germany 1-3 Rise of Hitler up to assignment 47

Occupation of the Ruhr

(January-November 1923) France and Belgium did this because Germany fell behind on the reparations payments. The workers in the factories in the Ruhr went on strike. The government printed extra money in order to pay them their wages so they could live without working. This, combined with economic problems left over from the war caused hyperinflation. In November, Stresemann came to power in Germany. He promised to pay the reparations to France and Belgium in smaller installments with the help of American loans and he managed to bring inflation under control.

Locarno

A group of treaties negotiated between Germany and Britain, France and Italy in 1925. Stresemann was the German foreign minister at the time. These treaties confirmed Germany's boundaries with Belgium and France, guaranteeing that Germany would not try to take back Eupen-Malmedy or Alsace-Lorraine. They did NOT agree an Germany's eastern boundaries with Poland, Lithuania and Czechoslovakia, but Germany affirmed that these would be settled by negotiation, not war. These treaties normalized Germany's foreign relations after World War I.

Social Democrats

A moderate left-wing political party. They were the largest party in the Reichstag in 1918, but this hadn't mattered much because the Kaiser didn't really have to listen to the Reichstag. After the Kiel mutiny, when it looked as though Germany was on the brink of a Russian-style revolution, the Kaiser agreed to abdicate and let this party form a government. Although they worked for better conditions for the workers and for social welfare policies, this party was very moderate. They had no intention of taking property from the rich or making major changes to Germany's government and institutions.

Rhineland

A territory on the border between Germany and France (all territory west of a line 50 km east of the Rhine river) a demilitarized zone (It was still part of Germany, but they couldn't put soldiers there.) Many Germans resented these restrictions.

Stresemann

Chancellor of the Weimar Republic from August-November 1923 and then Foreign Minister from 1923-29. He negotiated the end of the French and Belgian occupation of the Ruhr and the Hyperinflation crisis the Dawes Plan, the Locarno Treaty and the Young Plan. Oddly, his foreign policy was not very different from Hitler's although his methods were very different. He wanted to end reparations, protect German speakers outside Germany's borders and reclaim Posen, West Prussia and Danzig.

Kapp Putsch

March 1920. This was a right wing revolt by Wolfgang Kapp supported by Freikorps. Their aim was to overthrow the Weimar government. The army refused to suppress the uprising, because so many of the rebels were demobilized soldiers. The government had to flee and Kapp took over Berlin. Kapp was eventually overthrown by a general strike led by socialists in Berlin. The government took no action against the army or against most of the 12000 Freikorps who had taken part. Kapp himself died before he could be prosecuted. 412 people were granted amnesty, 294 people were prosecuted. 285 of the prosecutions were dropped. Seven of the convictions were overturned on review and one person was punished.

Danzig

Modern-day Gdansk. In 1918 this was a German port on the border between East and West Prussia. The Treaty of Versailles made this an international city, run by the League of nations, so that both Germany and Poland could use the port. Many Germans resented this, because the inhabitants were German-speaking. At the end of World War II, Stalin would kick out all the Germans and move in Poles. It is now a Polish city.

Munich Putsch (AKA Beer Hall Putsch)

November 1923: The Nazis were angry that the government had given in to the French and Belgians, so they tried to take over the government of Bavaria. 16 Nazis and three policemen were killed. Their attempt was unsuccessful. Hitler was sentenced to five years in prison, but served only nine months. This failed attempt convinced Hitler that he had to take power legally. The fact that his sentence was so lenient demonstrates how little support the Weimar Republic received from the Weimar Republic's conservative judiciary (left over from the Kaiser's time). Finally, Hitler's trial called attention to his cause, and he used it to become nationally known.

Kiel Mutiny

The German navy had spent most of the war in port in Kiel. When the naval officers found out that their government was about to make peace, they made a plan to sail out, attack the British and die fighting. The sailors, less enthusiastic about the suicide mission, mutinied. Many soldiers joined them. This helped to convince the Kaiser to abdicate and helped to bring the Social Democrats to power (as opposed to the right wing civilian government the Kaiser had appointed). This event is also evidence contradicting the "stab in the back myth".

Restrictions to the German Armed Forces

The Treaty of Versailles limited the German army to 100,000 men, forbade Germany to have an air force, tanks or submarines, and limited the navy to six battleships. It also made the Rhineland (all territory west of a line 50 km East of the Rhine river) a demilitarized zone (It was still part of Germany, but they couldn't put soldiers there.) Many Germans resented these restrictions.

Treaty of Versailles

The peace treaty between Germany and the victorious powers, signed on June 28, 1919. Germany lost10% of its land,12.5% of its population,16% of its coal fields, almost half of its iron and steel industry and all of its colonies.

Coalition Governments and 20 governments in 14 years

These facts demonstrate the instability of the Weimar Republic. Because of proportional representation, there were so many parties in the Reichstag that no party ever had a majority, so they had to govern by teaming up with other parties. These alliances were always falling apart, so the government kept changing. Sometimes there would be new elections and sometimes new alliances would be formed without elections. Many Germany came to believe that democracy didn't work very well. This made them more open to Hitler's ideas.

Posen and West Prussia

These two provinces were populated by a mixture of Poles and Germans. In the Treaty of Versailles, they were taken from Germany and made part of Poland. (Poland had been a country in the 18th century, but had been absorbed by Russia, Austria-Hungary and Prussia. It was recreated after World War I.) Making these provinces Polish gave Poland access to the sea (even more important back before aeroplanes). It also separated East Prussia form the rest of Germany. These provinces were sometimes called the "Polish corridor". Germany resented the loss of these provinces.

Spartacists

These were a radical left-wing party in Germany in 1918. They were led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg. In January 1919, this group (with the reluctant support of their leaders) staged a revolt in Berlin. It was crushed by the army and the Freikorps, and Luxemburg and Liebnecht were captured and then killed without trial.

Article 48

This clause of the Weimar constitution gave the president the power to govern by decree in an emergency. In the crisis of 1929-32 this eroded democracy. Effectively, Germany was already being governed dictatorially by the President before Hitler came to power.

Spartacist Rising

This happened in Berlin in January 1919. A radical left-wing party tried to stage a communist revolution. They were crushed by the army and the Freikorps. The leaders were captured and murdered without trial. The significance of this event is that it demonstrates that the new democratic government of Germany was under threat from both sides and also that the government was very dependent on the army and the Freikorps, neither of which was very supportive of the government. It also demonstrates how little control the government had over the army and the Freikorps.

Sparticist Rising

This happened in Berlin in January 1919. A radical left-wing party tried to stage a communist revolution. They were crushed by the army and the Freikorps. The leaders were captured and murdered without trial. The significance of this event is that it demonstrates that the new democratic government of Germany was under threat from both sides and also that the government was very dependent on the army and the Freikorps, neither of which was very supportive of the government. It also demonstrates how little control the government had over the army and the Freikorps.

Agreement between Ebert and Groener

This happened in November 1918. The new Chancellor (soon to be President), Ebert, made an agreement with the commander of the army that he would not attempt to encroach on the army's prestige and independence in return for the army's support. This agreement shows the unrevolutionary nature of the German "revolution", because the German army maintained its power and became an anti-democratic force in the new Germany. It forced Ebert to respond excessively harshly to left wing opposition and gave him little or no support against right-wing opposition.

1928 Election

This marked the first time when the Social Democrats managed to form a coalition with other democratic parties in the Reichstag. The Nazis also lost seats in this election. This was evidence that the Weimar government was becoming more stable and that undemocratic parties were being marginalized before the Great Depression hit in 1929.

Hyperinflation

This refers to the financial crisis during the French and Belgian Occupation of the Ruhr (January-November 1923). The government had already been printing money to pay Germany's war debts. During this period, they started printing much more money to pay striking workers who were refusing to work for the French and Belgians. German money lost so much value that it became worthless. Prices rose so high that people had to spend their lives' savings just to buy food. This made Germans lose confidence in the government. (especially when the government took this opportunity to pay back its debts in worthless money). Stresemann eventually negotiated and end to the crisis and issued a new currency. NOTE; This is NOT to be confused with the Depression of 1929-32.

British Naval Blockade

This term refers to the British Navy's preventing all ships from entering or leaving German ports throughout the war and even after the armistice was signed. In this way, they slowly starved Germany of supplies, eventually forcing them to make peace, even though Britain and France never took any German land in the whole of the war. The British continued this after the armistice was signed, all the way to June 1919 when the Treaty of Versailles was signed. In those months, 300,000 Germans died of malnutrition. Thus, the German government had no choice but to sign the Treaty of Versailles.

Memel

This was a city on the border between East Prussia and Lithuania. It had a mixed German and Lithuanian population. According to the Treaty of Versailles, it was supposed to be an international city administered by the League of Nations, but Lithuania took it over in 1923 and no one stopped them. Many Germans resented this.

Article 231

This was a clause of the Treaty of Versailles that stated that Germany and her allies were to blame for causing World War I. Most Germans resented this, as they thought they had entered the war for defensive reasons.

Ludendorff Offensive

This was a final attempt by the German army to break through on the Western Front before American soldiers began arriving in large numbers. It began in March 1918. It was initially successful, but ground to a halt by July. In August the allies took back all the territory the Germans had gained. After this offensive, the German army had run out of reserves. They had no soldiers to replace those who were wounded of killed. The generals realized they had no chance of winning the war and they suggested that the Kaiser hand over power to a civilian government so it could negotiate peace.

Young Plan

This was a new plan for Germany's payment of reparations. Stresemann negotiated it shortly before his death in 1929. It reduced the total amount of reparations Germany would have to pay by three quarters and spread the payments out over a longer period of time (until 1988). This was resented by many in Germany who believed Germany shouldn't pay reparations at all, but it was quite an achievement to negotiate it. In the end the Wall Street Crash and the Great Depression led to reparations payments being suspended indefinitely, and they were never paid.

Stab in the Back Myth

This was a version of history popular among right wing Germans during this period. It was encouraged by the army officers. According to this version of events, the German army had been winning the war until they were let down by civilian politicians who failed to support the army and signed the armistice behind the army's back. In fact, the army was losing ground fast in November 1918 and the officers knew it. They had deliberately set up the civilian government to make peace with the allies. Unfortunately, many people preferred to believe the myth rather than the facts and this made them less likely to support the Weimar government.

Armistice

This was an agreement to stop the fighting and negotiate a peace treaty to end World War I. It took effect on November 11, 1918. Because the new democratic government of Ebert and the Social Democrats ended up being the ones to sign it, many Germans blamed them for losing the war, even though the war was already lost when they came to power.

League of Nations

This was an attempt to form an international organization to keep world peace. It was founded in 1919 and lasted officially until 1945, but it actually fell apart around 1936. Germany joined this organization as a permanent member of the Security Council in 1926. It is one of Stresemann's achievements as foreign minister. It meant that Germany was being treated with respect on the international stage again rather than being treated as a defeated power. Hitler would withdraw Germany from this body in 1933.

Reparations

This was money Germany had to pay to help repair the damage caused in the war. The amount was eventually set at about half the total cost of the war. £ 6,600 million GBP. Most Germans resented having to pay at all and many considered the amount to be more than Germany could afford. Many historians now think Germany could have paid, but rightly or wrongly many Germans blamed these payments for the problems of the German economy in the 20s and 30s.

Dawes Plan

This was negotiated by Stresemann (First as Chancellor, then as Foreign Minister) in 1924. The USA loaned Germany 800 million marks and the reparations payments were spread out over a longer period of time in smaller installments. This helped the German economy to recover. In fact, Germany received more in US loans than they ever paid out in reparations. However, it also made the German economy very dependent on the US economy, which meant that it was badly hit by the Great Depression of 1929-32.

Ebert

This was the leader of the Social Democratic party in 1918 and the first President of democratic Germany (1919-1923). He was a moderate who was anxious to prevent the German revolution from going too far. One of the first things he did was to make a deal with the commander of the army that he would not attempt to reduce the influence or independence of the army in return for the army's support. He also presided over the crushing of the Spartacist revolt.

Proportional Representation

This was the method used to elect representatives to the Reichstag in the Weimar constitution. Each party fielded a list of candidates, and they were allocated seats based on the proportion of the total votes they received. This system is very fair, as it allows less popular parties to get a few seats in the Reichstag, but it also allowed radical parties like the Nazis to gain representation and it made it very difficult for any party to get a majority.

mandates

This was the term used to describe the former German colonies that were taken from Germany by the Treaty of Versailles. They were given to other countries. In theory, the new colonial masters were supposed to be guiding these territories towards independence. In practice, they treated them like colonies. Many Germans resented this hypocrisy, especially as some of the new colonial overlords had terrible records ruling their own colonies.