RESUMEN HISTORY

Weimar republic(1919-1929)

1919:

- Ebert became president of the weimar republic

- the spartacist made a rebellion
- Ebert goverment made an agreement to put down the rebellion and kill the leader
of the party, Rosa Luxemburg and karl Liebknecht
- May: Terms of the treaty of versailles were announced and Ebert accepted the
terms. the freikorps get angry and blamed ebert for betraying Germany

1920:

-Freikorps get into a rebellion and put down Eberts goverment but Germany people
didnt accepted that so they declare a general strike, Wolfgang Kapp(leader of
freikorps) die, some of the freikorps get into the SA later with Hitler.

- the treaty of versailles destabilised Germany politically

1921:

-The reparations of the treaty of versailles were announced in April, 6600 Millons
to be paid in annual instalments

- Germany pay the first instalment of 50 million.

- Germany get into a economic and politically crisis

1922:

-Germany didnt pay

- France ran out of patience

1923:

-France and Belgium entered the Ruhr and began to take what was owed to them in
form of raw materials and goods, Germany cant do anything because their army is
limited to only 100.000 men and they have a weak army.

- Germany began to print money to pay and get into a Hyperinflation

- a new goverment under Gustav Stressman the new foreign minister and later
chanceillor, He called off the pasive resistance in the ruhr
- Hitler tried a rebellion called the munich putsch, he failed and went to prision
over 9 months. (The Nazi party was baned untill 1925)

1924:

- Gustav Stressman negociate an american pay each year(Dawes plan) USA accept
becauase they were afraid of Germany get a communist rebellion such as in Russia in
1917

- Stressman replace old currency by another one called Rentenmark to controll the
Hyperinflation

- the economic crisis was solved very quickly and Germany get into the "Golden
Years"

- Stressman began to invest the money that received from USA

1925:

- He made an agreement with France and Belgium called the Locarno Treaty
- Hindenburg became president

1926:

-Germany joined the League of nations

- Gustav Stressman accept the treaty of versailles and negociated the reparations
payments(some people said that he betrayed Germany)

1927:

- German economy and politic was steady

- German industry recovered very well

1928:

-Germany finally achieved the same levels of production as before the war
-Extremist partys such as the communist or the nazis
they lost popularity since the weimar republic is very stable

1929:

- The end of the golden years

- Stresman died
- The great depression apears, this means that no more money coming in every year,
the USA also claimed their money
- Germany get into a enormous crisis again
- the communist and the nazis began to rise again
- The end of the weimar republic

WEIMAR REPUBLIC UNDER STRESEMANN (1923-1929)

Economy: Stresemann rebuilt Germanys prosperity under the dawes plan, reparation
payments of the treaty of versailles were reduced for 6600 milions to 200 millions,
by 1928 German industry recover as before of the war. but the economic in weimar
republic can get down because they depend of USA, like it happen in 1929 if USA
stop giving money would cause ruin in Germany.

Politics: politic became more stable after 1923, there is no more attepmed
revolutions and the extremist partys became less popular in the golden years but
they were bulding up their party organisations, also in 1925 Hindenburg the new
elected president was opposed to democracy.

Culture; The culture with the kaiser was very different than with the Weimar
republic, the kaiser was very strict censorship but the weimar constitution allowed
free expression of ideas, weimar culture was very exciting to many, however for
others living in germanys villages and country town made worse by american
inmigrants and jewish, in general the people that use to support the kaiser dont
like that.

foreing policy: Stresemann greatest triumphs were in foreign policy, in 1925 he

signed the locarno treaties guaranteeing not to try invade the ruhr again, as a
result of this an accept the treaty of versailles again Germany was accepted into
the league of nations and here Stresemann began to work on the young plan, this
plan was the reduce of pay in reparations and led to the removal of british, French
and Belgium troops from the rhineland.

HOW TO ANSWER PAPER 41?

- You need to give both sides. "yes and no"

- question based on importance/significance
- it has to be more detail
- make an scheme or what you are goint to argue

- Introduccion: hacer un texto corto que vaya al grano y explique rapidamente lo

que vas a debatir en el essay

- Main term: utilizar todo el parrafo para explicar el tema principan que hace la
pregunta, en este caso deberias hablar extensamente de como el dawes plan ayudo a
la republica

- Other factors: el dawes plan si fue muy importante en la recuperacion de la

republica pero no fue lo unico, explicar minimo otros 3 factores de como se
recupero la politica, por ejemplo explicar acerca de como mejoro la economia,
relaciones exteriores, politica, etc.

- Conclusion: una conclusion final del texto donde des un repaso rapido de los
temas hablados en el texto, por ejemplo nombrar: por una parte la economia fue muy
importante para la recuperacion de weimar, sin embargo no fue lo unico ya que la
politica, relaciones exteriores, economia(explicas un poco de cada term y como
ayudo a la mejora)
PAPER 41: WEIMAR REPUBLIC

1) How significant were economic problems as a reason for the instability of the
Weimar Republic up to 1923? Explain your answer. [40]

There is no doubt that economic problems were a main reason for instability in the
weimar republic between 1919-1923, however there were more attributes to
instability in the republic such as political, army and cultural problems.

in may 1919 the terms of the treaty of versailles were announced, Germany lost 10%
of its territory, 12.5% of population all the colonies and 48% of the iron
industry, this caused a lot of political and economic problems, the same year there
was a fail attemped of revolution by the communist, also 1 year later when the
goverment accept the treaty of versailles the right wing put against Ebert. But the
biggest economic caos for the new republic came in april 1921 when the reparations
of the treaty of versailles were announced, Germany had to pay 6600 million pounds
in annual instalments. the first payment of 50 million was done in 1921, but in
1922 Germany couldnt pay, the french in particular ran out of patience and with
belgium they enter the Ruhr and began to take what was owed to them in form of raw
material and goods, Germany could not do anything because their army was limited to
only 100.000 men, also this could cause more political and economic problems that
they have, Ebert (president of the weimar republic) tried to solve this problem by
printing money to pay, but this cause an enormous and incontrolable hyperinflation,
by august 1923 a new goverment took over by a men called Gustav Stressman, the
economic began to improve but the political problems still there, by november of
1923 also Hitler tried a revolution called the munich Putsch, Hitler thought that
the time comes because of the enormous economic crisis that Germany was in, the
revolution failed and he went to prision for 9 months.

The economic crisis was one of the main reason because Germany was unstable but
the political problems were important too, like I explain before in 1919 the
Spartacist, a communist group tried to do a rebellion, Ebert(president of the
weimar republic) made an agreement with the freikorps, a right wing group formed by
ex soldiers from the WW1 and the leaders of the spartacist, Rosa Luxemburg and Karl
Liebknetch were murdered.also there was 600 communist killed by the freikorps. by
1920 the goverment accept the treaty of versailles because it was the only option
they had, due to this the freikorps put against the goverment because they think
that they were a traitors accepting the blame for the WW1 so in 1920 the freikorps
made a succesfull rebellion called the Kapp putsch, the goverment was defeat but
the workers were very loyal to the weimar republic so they made a general strike,
after few days Kapp realised that he could not succeed and fled the country, but he
was hunted down and die, due to this de Freikorps disolved and some went to the SA
with Adolf Hitler. the culture cause unstability too, Weimar was colourfoul and
exciting to many, however for others the culture represent moral decline made by
American inmigrants and Jewish, the conservatives did not like this, they want
again the strict censorship that there was with the kaiser. the military aspect was
also important, germany could only have 100,000 soldiers and they couldn't have an
air force and also its navy was reduced, germany used to be the strongest country
militarily and now they couldn't even expel the french from the ruhr.

In conclusion, the economy was one of the most important factors, however, politics
and attempted revolutions also caused instability in the Weimar Republic, as well
as cultural changes and the weak army that Germany had due to the Treaty of
Versailles.

3) How significant was Stresemann in helping the Weimar Republic recover after
1923? Explain your answer. [40]

There is no doubt that Stresemann was very important in the recovery of the Weimar
Republic after the crisis of 1923 due to his great economic and political
performance, however, many people considered him a traitor and the conservatives
did not agree with his ideas.

after the crisis of 1923 stresemann was extremely important for the development of
the weimar republic for his excellent economic maneuvers and foreign relations,
despite the fact that the president elect in 1925, Hindenburg was a conservative
opposed to democracy, the weimar republic began to have a better cultural
development and economic. Stresseman's best achievements during 1923-1929 were
undoubtedly foreign relations, Stresseman in 1924 negotiated with the USA to
receive an annual payment of 800 million marks in loans, this USA strategy was
called the Dawes plan, the main objective of this plan was that the Weimar republic
improves and there is not a communist revolution as there was in Russia in 1917.
Also in 1925 he made an agreement with France and Belgium called "The Locarno
Treaty" this treaty established that its result was that France, Belgium and
Germany renounced to violently change the borders between their countries. This
also meant that Germany recognized its western border as it had been fixed by the
Treaty of Versailles. This whole series of treaties led to Germany's entry into the
League of Nations in 1926, and with this, he negotiated with the Allies to reduce
reparations from 6.6 billion to 2.2 billion. Despite having great success, many
people believed that Stresseman was a traitor to his nation since he accepted that
Germany was guilty of the WW1 and traded with the allies.

Gustav Stresemann had many other achievements besides foreign relations, for
example the economy, like i explain before, the USA agreed to help Germany by
giving an annual contribution called the dawes plan, however this was something
that the USA had already planned and it was not due to Stresemann.Stresemann's
merit was the use of this money, he began to invest in industries and some money
went into German bussines to help them replacing old equipment by a new equipment,
also he replace the old currency by a new one called the Rentenmark, this was to
control the hyperinflation that Ebert left. between 1923-1929, in addition to the
great performance of Stresemann in economics, the culture also changed a lot, the
culture with the kaiser was very different than it is now, there was a very strict
censorship, but the new weimar constitution allowed free expression of ideas and no
as much restriction as there was before. Politics even became more stable, after
1923 there was no more attempted revolutions and the most of people support the
socialist republic, also the parties such as the nazis and the communist were much
less popular than before.

In conclusion, Stresemann greatly improved Germany and was able to solve the crisis
with the help of the USA, however his best achievement was in foreign relations,
achieving the entry of Germany into the League of Nations and the exit of France
and Belgium from the Ruhr, also the reduction of pay in reparations of the Treaty
of Versailles. besides all this politics and culture improve, no more attemped
revolutions and there was more expression of ideas than with the kaiser.

9) How important were the social and economic effects of the First World War in
shaping the lives of the German people, 1919�23? Explain your answer. [40

There is no doubt that the social and economics effects of the WW1 seriously affect
the life of the German people, however it was not the only factor, political
problems and cultural changes also cause an enormous effect in their lifes.

Economically speaking Germany was bankrupt, the industries went broke and the
industrial production was about two-thirds of what it had been before the WWI, the
National income had also decreased about two-thirds of what it was since there was
no exportation due because no country would by products from Germany. There were
shortages of food and fuel for heat because there was no importation, and almost
300,000 people either starved or died from hypothermia. War also made a social
impact on the Germans by deepening the divisions in the society, there was a huge
gap between the rich and the poor and the workers were angry at the restrictions on
their earnings while the factory owners and the big businesses made a lot of money
during the war, this led to a disorder on the law and the order especially in
cities like Berlin.

As I explained earlier, Germany between the years 1919-1923 suffered a lot of

social and economic problems, however the political problems were also important,
here was a lot of discontent by the German people to accept the new democratic
system of the Weimar Republic , plus the president (Ebert) faced the opposition
from both right and left parties. This caused many rebellions from both extremist
wings. in 1919 the spartacist( a communist group) made a rebellion with the aim of
establishing a communist government as happened in Russia in 1917, however the
Ebert government made a deal with the Freikorps, a right-wing group made up of
former soldiers WW1 and mostly support the kaiser, these soldiers attacked the
communists killing 600 of them and the leaders Karl Liebknetch and Rosa Luxemburg.
a year later, in 1920 the government accepts the versailles treaty since it was
their only option, this is why the Freikorps consider the government a traitor for
accepting the blame for WW1, so they made a successful rebellion called "the Kapp
putsch", However, despite being successful, the people did not want a return to a
government like the one with the Kaiser, so they declared a general strike. At
this, Wolfgang Kapp (leader of the freikorps) realized that there is no point in
continuing with this. who withdraws from the country where he is assassinated. the
cultural effects are also very important, before the kaiser the culture was very
different, there was a lot of censorship and free expression was not allowed, in
the weimar republic it was the opposite, there was total free expression and art
and cinema changed a lot during these years and also change the life of the German
people.

ANALYSIS ONLY

2) How significant was the invasion of the Ruhr as a cause of instability in Weimar
Germany to 1923? Explain your answer.[40]

INTRODUCCION:

MAIN TERM: (explicar el contexto de porque los franceses deciden invadir el Ruhr,
despues explicar como la invasion de el ruhr afecto a la economia y politica del
pais, causando crisis y desesperacion en la gente)

ex: in 1921 the terms of the treaty of versailles were announced,..

CAUSES OF THE INVASION OF THE RUHR:

- the reparation terms of the treaty of versailles were announced in 1921, Germany
had to pay 6.600 millions in annual instalments

- Germany could not pay in 1922 and ask the allies to negociate

- Belgium and France ran out of patience and in january 1923 invade the ruhr

- Began to take what was owed to them in raw materials and goods

CONSEQUENCES OF INVASION OF THE RUHR:

-Hyperinflation because the goverment need to print money, collapse of German

currency

-Goverment ordered the workers to go on strike so the french can get nothing

- lead to a killing over 100 workers

- Lead to a change of goverment

- Tried of rebellion, Munich putsch

OTHER FACTORS: Explicar otros 3 factores principales que causaron inestabilidad
ademas del RUHR

ex: The ruhr was one of the main reasons for instability in the weimar republic,
however,...

FACTOR 1: political problems between 1919-1923, munich putsch, spartacist

rebellion, Kapp putsch, ebert faced violent opposition from both wings.

FACTOR 2: economic problems between 1919-1923, Germany was bankrupt, the industries
went broke and the industrial production was about two-thirds of what it had been
before the WWI, the National income had also decreased about two-thirds of what it
was since there was no exportation due because no country would by products from
Germany. There were shortages of food and fuel for heat because there was no
importation, and almost 300,000 people either starved or died from hypothermia

FACTOR 3: weak army of Germany, army limited to only 100.000 men , not allowed air
force, navy was reduced

CONCLUSION: to conclude, the invasion of the ruhr was one of the main reason for
instability, however different factors such as political problems, economic caos
and a weak army also cause instability for Germany during those years.

5)How important were cultural developments in the lives of ordinary Germans in the
Weimar Republic? Explain your answer. [40]

INTRODUCTION: There is no doubt that the culture changes in the new Weimar Republic
made an effect in the most ordinary people in Germany, However also the new changes
in politics, foreign relations and the new German army also made a negative effect
to them.

MAIN TOPIC: explicar el contexto de como las nuevas culturas liberales afectaron a
la gente mas antigua del pais, como para ellos las nuevas culturas mostraban una
declinacion moral parecida a la de los Americanos y los judios, la gente mas
antigua queria que se conserve la cultura Alemana con el kaiser y se sentian
decepcionados debido a esto

ex: most people believe that only de economy and politics affect Germany after the
WW1, but also the German culture began to change with the new Weimar
constitution,...

OTHER FACTORS: explicar otros 3 factores importantes que cambio la vida de las
personas mas ordinarias en Alemania:
ex: there is no doubt that the Germany ordinari people was affected by the new
culture changes, however there are other importants factors that also affect their
lifes

FACTOR 1: politics, most of the old people were more conservative and were very
anti-communist, and they feared that a communist regime would be established as in
Russia 1917, in addition to the fact that the government that was found was more
from the left than from the right.

FACTOR 2: The older people were very upset by the measures that the government took
in terms of foreign relations, having accepted the Versailles treaty and the
signing of the armistice, they considered it a betrayal of the country and called
them the "November criminals" referring to the signing of the armistice in November
1918.

FACTOR 3: the german army, Germany used to be the most powerfull army in the world
after the treaty of versailles Germany could only have 100.000 men, they were not
allowed to have an air force and its navy was reduced to only 6 warships.

CONCLUSION: in conclusion the culture changes such as more free expresion affected
the most ordinary people, however there are another importants factors such as the
reduce of ther German army, the new constitution and the foreing relations, they
were very ubset with the goverment for accepting the treaty of versailles

5) How important was hyperinflation as a cause of instability in Weimar Germany,

1919-29? Explain your answer. [40]

INTRODUCTION: there is no doubt that the hyperinflation was one of the main reason
of instability in the weimar republic, however there are many other factors such as
political problems, invasion of the Ruhr, and also changes in the culture

MAIN TERM: (hyperinflation)

ex: between 1919-1923 Germany was in a terrible economic crisis for many reasons,
one of them is the hyperinflation, this was caused by

CAUSES:

- Germany could not pay the reparations to the allies, so the france and beligum
invade the ruhr

- also the political caos and attempted revolutions

- lost of the WW1 and dissapointed of the German people

- the constant print of money to Germany could survive

- transportation problems

- industries went broke

- The high requierments from the treaty of versailles

CONSEQUENCES:

- the decrease of the German money

- New goverment under Gustav Stresemann

- Munich putsch

- new currency called rentenmark

OTHERS FACTORS:

ex: besides the hyperinflation there are other important factors that derived the
instability in the weimar republic,..

FACTOR 1: political problems, the attempted revolutions such as the spartacist in

1919, the freikorps in 1920, the munich putsch in 1923, the politic was unstable at
the weimar republic and this lead to the hyperinflation and crisis

FACTOR 2: the invasion of the ruhr, this seriously affected the German people
because first their economy was downhill but this also shows the weak army that
Germany had after the treaty of versailles, also this lead to the hyperinflation of
1923 because of the political and economic crisis.

FACTOR 3: the culture development was important too, with the kaiser there was a
lot of censorship and not free expresion, now in the weimar republic is different,
this for some people is good but for other people this is weakness and they thought
that the real German culture was with the kaiser.

CONCLUSION: in conclusion the hyperinflation was one of the main cause for
instability in the weimar republic, however it was not the only important factor,
the political problems and attemped of revolutions, the invasion of the ruhr and
the culture development lead to the crisis, all is connected and helped the
instability of the weimar republic.

How significant was Stresemann in helping the Weimar Republic recover after 1923?
Explain your answer. [40]
It is widely believed that the help of Stressman was very significant to the
recover of the Weimar Republic for a large variety of reasons, but what importance
does it really have?

Gustav stresemann take over of the weimar republic by 1923 because of the enormous
crisis that Germany was in, Germany was into a hyperinflation caused by the treaty
of versailles, due to Germany could not pay the reparations the goverment need to
print money causing a serious hyperinflation, Stresemann to solve this chage the
old currency by a new one called "the Rentenmark", there is no doubt that
Stresemann had a great performance as the foreing policy, in 1923 the french and
the belgium invade the Ruhr to take what was owed to them due to Germany had not
money to pay, in december 1925 stresemann to resolve this made an agreement with
France and Belgium called "the Locarno treaty" also in 1924 Germany receive and
annual instalments from the USA, this strategy was called "the dawes plan" with the
aim of Weimar republic to improve because they were afraid that Germany became a
communist reggimen such as in Russia 1917, Stresemann negociated with USA to win
this, however the real merit of Stresemann was how he used this money to improve
the Weimar economy, he began to invest on industry and also he had support from the
right wing people, as a result of this Germany was accepted into the league of
nations in 1926, however many people disagree with Stresemann because they thought
that he was a traitor accepting the blame for the WW1. Germany in the league of
nations negociated with the allies to the reduce of the payments for 6.600 millions
to only 2.200 millions. Under Stresemann even politics became more stable, there
were no more attempted revolutions after 1923

RESUMEN GENERAL:

The start of the Weimar Republic (1919-1933)

in 1918 the military in germany made a deal with the socialist party, they were
going to have the full support of the army but they had to accept the blame for the
defeat of the war, so in 1919 the already exiled kaiser assumes the new government
under the command of Friedrich Ebert, the socialist government was blamed for
having betrayed its people and were called the november criminals for surrendering
in a war that they had a chance of winning, this was a myth since Germany had no
chance of winning the war and the The same army called for a ceasefire. the
government that ebert received was full of financial crises with a very strong
social, political and economic impact and also awaiting the terms of the versailles
treaty.

The republic in danger CRISIS YEARS(1919-1923)

(politics)

(1919)
he spartacists, a communist group with an interest in establishing a communist
regime, start a rebellion in Germany, the freikorps (former military and government
aides) are responsible for eliminating them since they are anti-communists

(1920)

in 1920 the ebert government accepts the treaty of versailles, this means that the
freikorps will be out of work, so the leader wolfgang kapp organizes a successful
rebellion, however the people who supported the republic of weimar organize a
general strike leaving without supplies So Kapp, realizing that he could not
govern, decides to leave the country and is assassinated.

(1923)

the weimar government is in a very big crisis, there are many economic problems
such as hyperinflation in addition to the fact that the country has a bad
relationship with the allies, so in november 1923 Hitler tries to make a coup
called the munich putsch but it fails and he was put in prison for 9 months

(foreign relations)

(1919)

The treaty of versailles

Germany lost 10 per cent of its territory, all its colonies, 12.5 per cent of the
population, 48% of its iron industry and 16% of its coal, also the army was reduced
to only 100,000 men, no allowed airships and only 6 war boats, but worst of all was
the reparations that Germany had to pay 6,600 million in annual installments

(1923)

Ocupation of the Ruhr

In 1921 Germany made its first payment of 50 million, however in 1922 Germany did
not pay so in January 1923 France and Belgium decided to invade the Ruhr where
Germany keeps 80% of its assets, Germany could not get them out since its army is
very weak so ebert tried to make a general strike that ended with more than 100
workers killed