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Updated as of 2 October 05
Today in History:
On October 2, 1780, Major John
André, a British spy associated with Benedict Arnold, was
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for these guys."
A senior figure at a
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The Weimar Experiment and the Rise of Hitler
Age of Total War
Fall 2003
The German Revolution
The German Revolution was not the result of planning but confusion.
The public was shocked by the news of the armistice.
War weariness, hunger, fear, disillusionment, and increased social
antagonisms spread throughout Germany.
The situation spread from Kiel to Berlin.
A Red Republic was established in Munich.
With the Kaiser’s abdication,
Prince Max of Baden
passed the control of the government to
Ebert.
The Socialist Party is Divided
The majority of Socialist accepted the democratic principle of popular
sovereignty.
The exception were elements of the Spartacists, who supported Lenin and the
Bolsheviks.
The leaders of this faction included Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg.
They were few in number so they could count on the Independent Socialists.
Ebert realized that revolutionary excesses could be counter productive.
The Days of Spartacus
The radical socialists threatened Ebert by challenging public order.
Ebert tried to work with the Independent Socialists, but they threatened
the social establishment by strikes, demonstrations, and putsches.
This forced Ebert to turn to the Army and he reached an agreement with Gen.
Wilhelm Groener.
Ebert then had his Socialist colleague, Gustav Noske, raise a military
force to protect the new government.
This was the Free Corps, which had army support.
Crushing the Spartacists
On Jan. 10, 1919, Ebert and his government was cut off.
For all practical purposes, Berlin had fallen to communism.
Then Noske’s work set in when the Reinhard Brigade moved in an captured the
Spandu munitions plant.
This was followed by the Stephani Brigade which used mortars, flame
throwers, and machine guns to restore order.
By Jan. 15, the Spartacists were defeated including the execution of both
Liebknecht and Luxemburg.
The National Assembly
Ebert called for elections to the National Assembly on Jan. 19, 1919 with
the delegates meeting in Weimar on Feb. 6.
The more conservative elements had regained their former position.
Composition of the National Assembly
187 Socialists – 165 Majority
Socialists/22 Independent Socialists.
Catholic Center – 91 Delegates.
Democratic Party – 75 Delegates.
People’s Party – 19 Delegates.
There was a smattering of other parties.
423 Delegates total.
It was evident that the Socialists had their work cut out for them.
Mission of the National Assembly
Establish a legal government for Germany.
Conclude a peace with the Allies.
Write a constitution for Germany
The National Assembly selected Ebert as president.
The composition of the National Assembly indicated that it would be a
coalition government.
The Allies made it impossible for the Germans ever not accept the results
of Versailles.
Since the Germans had no option it played into the hands of the Right, ie.,
The Dolchstoss.
Key Elements of the Weimar Constitution
Article 48 Allowed the President to rule by decree.
Proportional voting allowed voters to vote for party.
60,000 votes translated to one representative in the Reichstag.
This allowed for minor parties to enter the Reichstag and this would cause
problems in the future.
Allowed for Universal suffrage, including women.
Organization of the Government
Some Additional Thoughts
The drafters would have been pushed centralization further, but for the
feelings of South Germany.
Local governments were left considerable authority.
Coalition governments were the fate of the framers.
Always pushing for popular sovereignty
initiative
and referendum
were often abused.
The president could appoint and dismiss the chancellor, command the army,
and call for a national
plebliscite.
Ideology and Goals of Fascism
Espousal of an idealist, vitalist, and voluntaristic philosophy, normally
involving the attempt to realize a new modern, self-determined, and secular
culture.
Creation of a new nationalist authoritarian state not based on traditional
principles.
Organization of a new highly regulated, multiclass, integrated national
economic structure called either
national corporatist,
national socialist, or national syndicalist.
Positive evaluation and use of, or willingness to use, violence or war.
The goal of empire, expansion, or radical change in the nation’s
relationship with other powers.
Fascist Negations
Antiliberalism.
Anticommunism.
Anticonservativism (with the understanding that fascists were willing to
undertake temporary alliances with other sectors on the right).
Fascist Styles and Organizations
Attempted mass mobilization with militarization of political relationships
and style with goal of a mass party militia.
Emphasis on aesthetic structure of meetings, symbols, and political
liturgy, stressing emotional and mystic aspects.
Extreme stress on the masculine principle and male dominance, while
espousing a strongly organic view of society.
Exaltation of youth above other phases of life, emphasizing the conflict of
generations.
Tendency toward an authoritarian, charismatic leader.
Faces of Fascism
Enemies on the Right
The Weimar government needed friends.
She needed time to iron out the difficulties found in postwar Germany.
Germany needed to be free of crises.
Germany needed dedicated republicans in the Reichstag, loyal civil
servants, and the general public.
1923 was the critical year.
Enemies on the Right and
Left
The Communists believed that the Socialists had betrayed the Revolution.
The right – from monarchists, industrialists, and landowners – believed
that the Socialists were no better than Bolsheviks.
Then there was the far rights – anti-Semitic, anti-democratic, splinter
groups, including the National Socialists.
Some in the Catholic Center and the People’s Party remained neutral to the
Weimar government.
Failure of the Bureaucracy
There were those opposed to the Weimar government working as part of the
establishment.
They included:
The Reichswehr and the Republic
The Army was reduced to 100,000 officers and men.
Officers limited to 4,000 men who served for 25 years.
The officer corps was filled with those who were monarchists with little
love for the new order.
Then there was the Free Corps problem.
The patriotism was never in doubt, only their loyalty to the government.
During the Rapollo agreement, the Reichswehr was allowed to train in Russia
in secret training facilities.
The Kapp Putsch
When the government tried to carry out the terms of Versailles, it
alienated the Right.
It would be those individuals that attempted to topple the government in
March 1920.
The origins were traced to the effort to limit the army to 100,000 men,
including the Free Corps.
The Putsch had it’s origins when the government attempted to comply.
The Free Corps was very resentful, especially after battling the
Spartacists and Poles.
The Start of the Kapp Putsch
When orders came for the Ehrhardt and Baltikum Bdes to demobilize, Gen.
Walther Luttwitz defied the government.
He ordered the Ehrhardt and Baltikum Bdes to move on Berlin.
On March 13, the troops marched into Berlin.
They were meet by Luttwitz, Ludendorff, and a Prussian politician, Dr.
Wolfgang Kapp.
Noske and other Socialist politicians want to resist militarily, but von
Seeckt said, "Reichswehr does not fire on Reichswehr."
The Government Response
The Government and Trade Unions called for a general strike.
The general strike paralyzed the Kapp government.
By March 17, Luttwitz and Kapp fled Berlin.
The Ehrhardt left Berlin too, after firing into the crowd.
The general strike gave new hope to the communists, who started
insurrections in Berlin and Munster.
As well as in the Ruhr with a "Red Army" of 50,000.
The Issue of Inflation
The issue reparations would cause additional problems.
The new German government led by Joseph Wirth announced they they would
follow a policy of "fulfillment" when it came to reparations.
But they lacked the courage to raise the sums necessary.
The government realized that all Germans would have opposed that course of
action.
Since it would led to a reduction of the social services that Germans
expected.
The Start of the Inflation
The government decided to borrow and print more money.
Foreigner investors lost confidence in Germany.
The value of the Mark collapsed from 4.2 to the dollar in 1914, 8.9 to the
dollar in 1919.
The situation was exacerbated when the French occupied the Ruhr in Jan.
1923 because Berlin could not meet their reparation payments.
The Germans responded by Passive Resistance to the French.
Financing Passive Resistance
Passive resistance was expensive.
So Berlin printed more money.
They used 133 printing offices and 1783 printing presses to print the
money.
Now the mark stood at 25 billion to the dollar.
The people who were hurt were those who had money in savings accounts.
Those Who Profited from the Hyper Inflation
Speculators made a fortune.
Some knew how to invest and purchase companies with depreciated currency.
Those who had fortunes in stable currencies and able to establish
subsidiaries abroad could make killings.
Many German industrial magnates were unhappy with the ending of passive
resistance.
Not because they were so patriotic, but because they were making unheard of
fortunes.
Who was Hurt by the Inflation?
The Decline of Political Authority
The decline of the economic situation in Germany threatened the Republic.
The extreme right blamed the government for accepting the Treaty of
Versailles, which they considered the root of the problem.
Fanatics of the Right took considerable pride in belonging to organizations
that murdered enemies on the left.
Killings, political murder were on the upswing as a result.
Political Murders, 1919-23
August 1921, Matthias Erzberger, leader of the Center Party, was murdered
while walking in the Black Forest. His crime, he signed the armistice.
June 1922, a band of young men shot and killed Walther Rathenau, because he
was a Jew and the embodiment of the
Policy of Fulfillment.
His other achievements was to save Germany during the war and breaking her
isolation thereafter.
The Political Chaos of 1923
The French helped separatists to establish a "Republic of the Rhineland."
In Saxony and Thuringia, the Communists started trouble again by aligning
with left Socialists.
They took control the land government in the start of October.
The Communists wanted control of the police, when this failed, they
attempted a coup.
The Reichswehr was sent in and established Martial Law.
Problems in Bavaria
The government was controlled by a reactionary, Gustav von Kahr since 1920.
Kahr received considerable support from anti-Semites, monarchists, and most
anti-Republicans.
Many of his allies wanted von Kahr to do for Germany what Mussolini had
done for Italy.
Von Kahr has some important allies, such as Gen. Ludendorff and Gen. Von
Lossow, commander of the regional Reichswehr units.
On the outside too, was this shadowy figure of Adolf Hitler.
Adolf Hitler: The Early Years
Born in Austria in 1889.
Came to Munich in 1913.
Served during the Great War and reached the rank of CPL.
Was one of the earliest members of Anton Drexler’s German Workers Party.
There he discovered his talents as an orator.
In 1920, the party changed its name to the NSDAP.
In 1921, Hitler became Fuhrer.
The Growth of the NSDAP
By 1921, Hitler created a private Army known as the
Sturmabteilung
(SA) or Sturm troopers, to
protect his meetings and disrupt the meetings of his opponents.
They often wore brown shirts, hence they were called "Brown shirts" by
their enemies.
They often came from stocks used for German troops sent to Africa during
World War I.
Kahr wanted this support.
Kahr was planning on a strike against the Republic.
Seeckt would not use the Army against "national elements" as he called
them.
Matter of fact, Seeckt favored a reconciliation with the Right by President
Ebert!
The Beerhall Putsch
The situation was saved by Hitler.
On the evening of November 8, 1923, when Kahr was holding a meeting of his
supporters in the
Burgerbraufeller, Hitler stormed the
meeting.
Hitler proclaimed the Reich and Bavarian governments were deposed and the
National Revolution had begun.
He forced Kahr and Lossow to pledge to him their support.
During the evening, Kahr and his associates renounced their earlier pledge.
Hitler and the March on Berlin
Hitler decided to rally Munich to his cause.
The next morning, Nov. 9, 1923, the Storm Troopers led by Hitler and
Ludendorff march from the Burgerbraukeller.
The Police and Reichswehr troops and the police fired.
Fourteen Storm troopers were killed & Hitler was captured
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