Weimar Experiment

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