The rise and fall of the Weimar Republic

The final year of World War I proved devastating for Germany, with its military offensives collapsing by August 1918.

Generals Hindenburg and Ludendorff recognized the futility of further resistance and handed control of the government to Chancellor Max von Baden.

His role was to negotiate an armistice with the Allies in the hope of salvaging what remained of the nation.

As military defeat became inevitable, political upheaval followed. On November 9, 1918, Kaiser Wilhelm II was forced to abdicate the throne.

That same day, Philipp Scheidemann, a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), declared Germany a republic.

Power swiftly transferred to Friedrich Ebert, the leader of the Social Democratic Party, who became the head of the newly formed Council of People’s Representatives.

This council, composed of members from the SPD as well as other left-wing and liberal parties, was tasked with guiding the nation through its transition from monarchy to republic.

One of its most immediate priorities was bringing World War I to an end. This goal was accomplished on November 11, 1918, when the armistice was signed, officially halting hostilities between Germany and the Allies.

While the armistice ended the fighting, it did not bring peace to Germany itself. Internal unrest gripped the nation, with various political factions vying for influence in the new republic.

Radical groups, including communists and nationalists, challenged the authority of the provisional government.

Street protests, strikes, and violent clashes became frequent, threatening the fragile stability of post-war Germany.

Additionally, the Treaty of Versailles, which ended WWI, placed harsh restrictions on Germany, including limiting the size of its army and forcing it to pay reparations to the Allied Powers.

These terms were incredibly unpopular with the German people, and many felt that their country had been unfairly punished.

Also, during this period, Germany was plagued by strikes, protests, and violent clashes between different political groups.

The most prominent of these were the Spartacists, a radical left-wing faction which sought to establish a communist government in Germany.

In January 1919, the Spartacists attempted to overthrow the Provisional Government in what became known as the Spartacist Uprising.

The Provisional Government, relying on the Freikorps, a paramilitary group of former soldiers, crushed the uprising with brutal force.

The deaths of Spartacist leaders Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht deepened the divisions between the left-wing and moderate factions in the country.

At the same time, the Provisional Government worked to stabilize the country by organizing elections for a National Assembly.

On January 19, 1919, Germans voted for representatives who would draft a new constitution.

The assembly convened in the city of Weimar in Thuringia, where the process of creating what would become known as the Weimar Republic would begin.

Throughout this period, the Provisional Government had to balance its efforts to restore order while dealing with economic crises and widespread discontent.

By August 1919, when the new Weimar Constitution came into effect, the provisional phase ended, but the challenges facing the young republic had only just begun.

One of the most important aspects of the Weimar Republic was its constitution. The constitution was drafted in 1919 and came into force in August of that year.

It granted a number of rights and freedoms to the people of Germany, including freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and equality before the law.

This was a major step forward for German democracy, but it also created some problems.

For example, representation was based on proportional representation, meaning parties got seats in the Reichstag based on the proportion of votes they received.

The problem was that this often led to fragmented parliaments with many parties, making stable coalition governments difficult to maintain.

Friedrich Ebert became the first President of Germany. He was initially the leader of the provisional government before the Weimar Constitution was adopted.

Also, the SPD had the largest number of seats in parliament, but they did not have a majority.

As a result, they formed a coalition government with the more conservative German Democratic Party (DDP). 

This new government faced many challenges. The most pressing issue was the economic devastation that had been caused by the war. Inflation was high, and there were shortages of food and other necessities.

The government also had to deal with political extremism from both the left and the right.

These extremist groups were often involved in violence and street fighting.

The Treaty of Versailles imposed heavy reparations on Germany, which required the country to pay the enormous sum of 132 billion gold marks as a penalty for starting World War I.

This was an impossible financial burden for the already struggling post-war economy, especially since Germany's infrastructure was severely damaged from the war.

In fact, by 1922, industrial production had fallen by over 40% compared to pre-war levels.

As a result, the new German government began printing money to cover both the war debts and to fund post-war recovery.

The printing of excess cash caused inflation to rise sharply, which meant that the costs of everyday food items increased.

However, by 1922, this was not enough, and Germany was unable to balance its budget, since the currency had begun to lose significant value.

Once more, the cost of goods rose again, and the German population struggled to afford basic necessities.

International trade further compounded Germany’s economic woes, as the nation’s export markets had collapsed after the war and limited its ability to earn foreign currency.

As a result, foreign investors had also lost confidence in the German market, which led to a shortage of capital.

With revenues shrinking and inflation accelerating, the German government requested a temporary halt to reparation payments.

However, the Allied powers, particularly France, refused to ease the terms.

Ultimately, the range of economic pressures made it impossible for Germany to pay its reparations in full.

By late 1922 the country missed the payment deadlines to the Allied nations as mandated by the Treaty of Versailles.

In response, and as a way to extract the money they were owed, French and Belgian soldiers occupied the Ruhr region on January 11, 1923.

This area was a vital industrial region for Germany, since it contributed significantly to its coal and steel production.

To many Germans, who already felt like they had been unfairly treated since the end of the war, this looked like an illegal military invasion of their country.

Unfortunately, this occupation and the loss of a key wealth-producing region, sparked an even worse economic problem in Germany, known as the hyperinflation crisis. 

By 1923, inflation meant that prices of goods doubled every four days. The cost of a loaf of bread in Berlin soared to 200 billion marks.

At the height of hyperinflation in November 1923, the exchange rate reached 4.2 trillion German marks to one U.S. dollar.

This caused immense hardship for ordinary Germans, who saw their savings disappear overnight.

When Gustav Stresemann became Chancellor of Germany in 1923, he began to implement a series of reforms to try and stabilise the economy and save the country from collapse.

One of the most important of these reforms a plan to reduce the reparation payments while seeking to increase foreign loans from other countries to Germany.

This way, new money could be brought into the Weimar Republic while also reducing how much it had to pay to the Allied nations each year.

However, Stresemann needed the wealth of an outside institution to make this plan work.

It took time for him to secure the necessary backing from other countries, but the plan was finally introduced in 1924, by which time Stresemann was Foreign Minister and worked under the new chancellor, Wilhelm Marx.

Under this plan, known as the Dawes Plan, American banks agreed to loan money to the German government so that it could make its reparation payments.

This was successful and, finally, starting in 1924, the German economy stabilized.

The influx of foreign loans allowed the republic to invest in new industrial growth, led to a temporary period of relative prosperity known as the 'Golden Years' of the Weimar Republic. 

The increased economic confidence also led to Germany signing the Locarno Treaties with France, Belgium, and other powers in 1925, which guaranteed its western borders and finally returned control of the Ruhr region back to Germany on August 25, 1925.

For the next four years, things seemed to be improving for the country. This period of stability also paved the way for a second economic plan, named the Young Plan in 1929, which further reduced reparation payments and extended the timeline for repayments.

However, everything came crashing down one more in October 1929, when a massive US stock market crash triggered a global economic crisis, named the Great Depression, that spread rapidly across the world.

Germany, which had become heavily reliant on foreign loans, particularly from American banks, felt the impact of this financial collapse almost immediately.

The sudden withdrawal of these loans crippled Germany’s economy, leaving the country unable to sustain its recovery efforts following World War I.

As the global depression took hold in the early 1930s, Germany’s situation became especially dire.

Industrial production plummeted, businesses failed, and unemployment soared to unprecedented levels.

By 1932, nearly six million Germans were out of work, creating widespread poverty and social discontent.

The crisis led to a breakdown of social services and eroded public confidence in the government’s ability to address the growing hardships.

The economic collapse exacerbated the political instability already present in the Weimar Republic.

Extremist political parties, such as the Nazis and Communists, gained support from a population desperate for solutions.

The Weimar Republic, which had been struggling to maintain authority, saw its remaining credibility slip away as more people turned to radical ideologies that promised a way out of the crisis.

These parties offered simple solutions to complex problems and attracted many disillusioned Germans. 

The Nazi Party, led by Adolf Hitler, was the most successful of these extremist parties.

The Nazis promised to restore Germany to its former glory and to rid the country of its enemies. They also blamed the Jews for Germany's problems.

The Communist Party also gained support during this period. The Communists promised to overthrow the capitalist system and create a classless society.

They also advocated for violent revolution as a means of achieving their goals.

In 1933, the Nazi Party came to power when Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany. 

He quickly began to implement his plans for a totalitarian dictatorship.

The Weimar Republic was over, and it marked the beginning of a dark chapter in German and world history.