weimar republic u-decide powerpoint. directions in this game you will play the role of a politician...
TRANSCRIPT
Weimar Republic
U-Decide PowerPoint
Directions
• In this game you will play the role of a politician in the Weimar Government which ran Germany between 1918-1933. You are trying to keep Germany afloat in the tumultuous times after World War I. You will face some tough decisions, but your ultimate goal is to maintain the new German democracy. As you make decisions, keep track of the number of “points” you have acquired.
German “Revolutions” 1918Ger
On November 9, 1918- two days before the ending of the First World War- thousands of Germans swarmed the streets of Berlin in a nearly bloodless overthrow of the imperial government. Berlin was not the only revolutionary uprising, as the map to the left demonstrates. A massive and largely unexpected uprising, the demonstration converged on the Reichstag (German Parliament), where the German Republic was announced. The Kaiser abdicated only hours before, turning the government over to Friedrich Ebert. In addition to wanting to end the war, the people wanted a popularly elected national assembly to draft the constitution of the new republic.
Friedrich Ebert:First President of the Weimar
Republic
Friedrich Ebert:First President of the Weimar
Republic• It is November of 1918. The Allies
are clearly winning the war- since the Americans are bringing in more troops, the Allies have posed a blockade, so people are starving, and the Kaiser has abdicated rather than surrender. Ebert states, “We have little choice but to sign an armistice, whatever the cost.” The armistice is signed, and Germany’s first democratic elections are held. However, the decision to sign the armistice is regarded as a betrayal of the German people. The new leaders of Germany become known as the “November criminals” who “stabbed Germany in the back” by signing the armistice. t
The “Stabbed-in-the-Back” Theory
The “Stabbed-in-the-Back” Theory
Note the Disgruntled German WWI veteran who is circled…who later claimed the Weimar Republic ended the war early!
Note the Disgruntled German WWI veteran who is circled…who later claimed the Weimar Republic ended the war early!
Question 1: How to Deal with the Communist Revolutionaries
• In two months, however, before the elections could be held- a period of crisis occurred that verged on civil war. Despite your efforts, the communists hate the new constitution. They wanted you to replace the Kaiser with a working-class communist government, but instead you have created a “bourgeois democracy.”
• The situation is serious. On your way back to the office after lunch, you pass a large street meeting of the German Spartacist (communist) party. The leaders- Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Lexemburg- are whipping the crowds into a frenzy with their criticisms of the “November Criminals.” They are calling for radical reforms and staging armed uprisings in Berlin.
What Shall We Do With the Rebels?You get back to the Reichstag quickly. Your government is sitting around a big
oak table in the secret room discussing the problem. One advisor says “Violence is the only thing the Sparticists understand. We need to have discipline to make the country safe.”
A second advisor disagrees. “If you use violence, you will simply give them some martyrs and even more supporters. Ignoring them is the best thing to do. Ebert asks your opinion. What do you say?
Sparticist PosterSparticist Poster
• In this pro-communist poster, who is the “Sparticus” fighting?
Option 1: Use violence against the Sparticus League
Option 2: Leave the League Alone
Option 1: Use Violence Against the Sparticust League
• Ebert, upon reflection believes that violence, although regrettable, is the only solution. He takes your idea in a new direction by suggesting to use the Freikorps, a group of right wing soldiers, not the army, to kill off the communists.
• For your brilliance, you earn 10 points.
What Really Happened
Option 2: Leave the League Alone
• Although violence is not the most ethical, Ebert disagrees with you that it is not an option. Keeping Germany safe for democracy is more important than questioning the ethics of using violence against the commies.
• You receive 0 points for this decision.
What Really Happened?
The Spartacist LeagueThe Spartacist League
Rosa Luxemburg[1870-1919]
murdered by the Freikorps
Rosa Luxemburg[1870-1919]
murdered by the Freikorps
• Fearful of the Bolshevik-style revolution, the government turned against its former allies and sent militant bands of workers and volunteers to crush the uprising. During the conflict, the fighters executed Luxemberg and Liebknecht- who instantly became martyrs for the left. Violence continued until 1920, creating bitterness between the government and socialist groups. The Weimar Republic is now seen as brutal and out of touch with the working class.
The Spartacist LeagueThe Spartacist League• More important, the
revolutionary aftermath of the war gave rise to bands of militant counterrevolutionaries. Veterans and other nationalists joined the so-called Freikorps (free corps). Such groups developed throughout the country. The politics of the Friekorps were fiercely right wing. They were anti-Marxist, Anti-Semitic, and anti-liberal, they had little respect for the new German democracy. Many of the early Nazi leaders participated in the Freikorps.
• Despite its lack of support, the new government created a constitution based on universal suffrage and a parliamentary system.
A Betrayal to Soldiers?- the Treaty of Versailles
• The government has barely had time to recover from the communist threat when Ebert tells you to pack your bags and head to Paris-the Allies have finished drawing up the Versailles Peace Treaty and they want the German government to sign it! You are met by a French police squad and escorted to the Palace of Versailles. There, French President Clemenceau says to you “What do you believe historians a hundred years from now will think of this treaty? They will certainly not think that Belgium invaded Germany, Monsieur!” After reading the provisions, dread fills your belly. While you hesitate the Big Three quickly remind you that if you refuse to sign, the war will continue.
Option 1: Sign the Treaty Option 2: Refuse to Sign
the Treaty
Option 1: Sign the Treaty
• After pausing for a few seconds, you calmly put pen to paper and sign your name. Your heart sinks as you realize how unpopular your government will be for giving in to this no-win situation.
• Your unpopular status will cause you to receive 0 points for your decision.
What Really Happened?
Option 2: Refuse to Sign the Treaty
• After pausing for a few seconds, you throw the pen violently at Clemenceau screaming that this treaty is shameful and will not keep peace for 20 years. You throw the desk over and launch yourself at Lloyd George like a wild animal. Fortunately you are restrained by other members of your delegation. They tell you that there is absolutely no choice, you must sign the treaty.
• You receive 0 points for this option.
What Really Happened
Many of the Weimar Republic’s problems were born out of Germany’s defeat in World War I. The loss shocked many Germans, who soon latched onto rumors that the army hadn’t actually been worsted in battle, but instead had been “stabbed in the back” by socialists and Jewish leaders in the German government. Army officers cultivated this story even before the war was over, and though untrue, it helped save wounded German pride. In the next decade, those in search of a scapegoat also blamed the democratic government and argued for a strong authoritarian government.
Europe in 1919
From the German Point of View
From the German Point of View Lost—but not forgotten country.
Into the heart You are to dig yourself these words as into stone: Which we have lost may not be truly lost!
Maimed German WW I VeteranMaimed German WW I Veteran
• The Treaty magnified Germany’s sense of dishonor- ceding 1/10 its land, slashing the size of its army. Most important, the treaty saddled Germany with crippling reparations. Negotiating the $33 billion debt created problems for the government and provoked anger from the public who saw continued doom in Germany’s future. Indeed, by one estimate the debt would not be paid off until 1987.
International Crisis: France invades the Ruhr
• In January 1923, French and Belgium troops invade the Ruhr (the industrial heartland of Germany). They accused the Germans of falling behind in the reparations payments. They are trying to force German miners to produce for France. The German people are outraged, and workers in the Ruhr adopt a policy of passive resistance saying they would rather go on strike than produce goods for the French army. Socially, the invasion creates terrible tension in the area: over the next 8 months of the occupation, 132 people are killed and over 150,000 Ruhr Germans are evicted from their homes.
French in the Ruhr
Option 1 Option 2
What do you propose the government should do since production is shut down in the Ruhr and you still need to pay back the French?
Option 1: Inflationary policies- print more paper money to inflate the economy and pay back the French.
Option 2: Do nothing.
Option 1: Inflationary Policies
• The German government officials agree with you that producing more money will solve the problem. So, in order to plug the gap in the economy created by the sudden lack of production in the Ruhr, the German government simply prints off more money.
• You receive 10 points for this option.
What Really Happened?
Option 2: Do Nothing
• The German people, already uneasy with the government, do not see the lack of action as an option. With their faith in you hanging on the edge of a knife, your pals in the German government do not see this as a possibility.
• You receive 0 points for this option.
What Really Happened?
The GermanMark
The GermanMark
The German government responded to paying for reparations payments, social welfare programs, and other government services by printing more money. As a result the value of the German mark (currency) fell drastically since it was not backed up by genuine wealth. As the government prints off more and more money, inflation becomes nearly unstoppable, called hyperinflation. For example, a pound of potatoes cost 9 marks in October and 40 million marks in October. Millions of Germans watched their savings vanish since the money they saved or would receive in their retirement pension was now worthless. In the eyes of the German people, the Weimar Republic was now their enemy. Many turn to more radical political parties.
The Beer Hall Putsch: 1923The Beer Hall Putsch: 1923
Adolf Hitler, leader of the Nazi Party sees the hyperinflation as an opportunity. He hijacks a government meeting in a Bavarian Beer Hall and declares that “The National Revolution has broken out!” Ebert orders the army to crush the rebels. So, when Hitler and his 3,000 followers march on Munich, they are fired upon by police and soldiers. Sixteen Nazis and three policemen are killed. Hitler is then arrested. The “Beer Hall Putsch” is a failure.
The Beer Hall Putsch Idealized
The Beer Hall Putsch Idealized
Hitler in Landesberg PrisonHitler in Landesberg Prison
The defeat of the Beer Hall Putsh is a victory for the Republic. Nevertheless, Hitler successfully turns his trial into a gigantic advertisement for the Nazi Party and is given a light sentence. He uses the time to write his book “Mein Kampf”. The failed rebellion was an eye opening experience for Hitler who realized that the Nazis would have to play politics if they wanted to gain power.
Mein Kampf [My Struggle]Mein Kampf [My Struggle]Hitler’s book, Mein Kampf, was an autobiography and
political manifesto that describes the philosophy of the Nazi Party. He describes the popular theory that Germany has been betrayed by its enemies and the country needed strong leadership to regain its international prominence.
Mein Kampf’s basic themes:
1) lebensraum (meaning living space): Germans should expand east, liquidate the Jews, and turn the Slavs into slave labor
2) anti-Semitism & anti-Marxism : Hitler blamed the Jews and communists for Germany's political and economic problems (Remember, Marx was a Jew)
3) Leader-dictator, Fuhrer, would have unlimited arbitrary power- democracy is wrong.
4) Extreme Nationalism- he wanted to unite all German, Aryan people.
Economic Stability?• It is now April 1924. In a packed Reichstag (Parliament)
meeting, the new German chancellor announced “Passive resistance in the Ruhr has been called off and industrial production in the area has started again.” He announces that the hyperinflation may come to an end if the German government accepts the Dawes Plan. Under this plan, proposed by an American banker Charles Dawes, German reparations payments could be spread out over a longer period of time and the US would lend Germany 800 million marks to rebuild its economy. Should you accept the Dawes Plan and a large loan to the German government?
Option 1: Accept the Dawes Plan Option 2: Reject the Dawes Plan
Option 1: Accept the Dawes Plan
• You make a statement in the Reichstag stating that the Dawes plan will “tie us a bit too close to the American government, but it is the only thing to do under these circumstances. Other members of the Reichstag agree and the Dawes plan is passed. You receive 10 points for your decision.
What Really Happened?
Option 2: Reject the Dawes Plan
• Many German voters are questioning your decision to not accept the Dawes plan and end the hyperinflation that has destroyed their savings. You receive 0 points for your decision.
What Really Happened?
The Dawes Plan (1924)The Dawes Plan (1924)Beginning in 1925, Germany’s economy and government seemed to be recovering. By borrowing money, the country was able to make its scaled down reparations payments and earn money selling cheap exports. But such economic and political stability were misleading. The economy remained dependent on large infusions of capital from the US set up by the Dawes plan. This dependence made the German economy vulnerable to American economic developments. When the US stock market crashed in 1929, beginning the Great Depression, the capital flow to Germany stopped.
German Unemployment: 1929-1938
German Unemployment: 1929-1938The Great Depression
pushed the Weimar’s political system to the breaking point. In 1929 there were 2 million unemployed, in 1932 six million. In those three years production dropped 44 %. Artisans and shop keepers lost both status and income. Farmers, fared even worse, since they did not recover in the 1920s.
The crisis created an opportunity for Weimar’s political opponents. Many leading industrialists supported the return to an authoritarian government…people turned to the Nazi Party to solve their economic crisis.
The Great Depression [1929-1941]
The Great Depression [1929-1941]
German Election Results in 1933
German Election Results in 1933
The NSDAP (Nazi Party) had a huge success in the 1933 elections. The reasons for their popular appeal are listed below:
1) Economic distress (the unemployment rate was 25%)
2) Fear of Communism
3) Appeal of Nationalism
4) Weak Weimar Government
5) Leadership of Hitler- he was a strong, charismatic orator (speaker) who promised to restore Germany’s greatness
Should Hitler Become Chancellor?
• After 1925 General Hindenburg has been acting as chancellor for Germany. He has made it clear his contempt for democracy. Now, in the critical year of 1933, he must choose a new chancellor for Germany. Hindenburg hopes to create a conservative coalition government that will bring the Nazi’s into line with less radical parties. Many believe, however, that in order for this to happen, Hitler must be included in the political process. Many politicians believe that once given the job of chancellor they will gain the support of Nazi people AND be able to control Hitler in the process.
Option 1: Appoint HitlerOption 2: Do Not Appoint
Hitler
Option 1: Appoint Hitler
• Hindenburg agrees that Hitler’s talent of public speaking and the support of the Nazi party members are critical in building an alliance of conservatives. This move, however, will not help you achieve your objective of maintaining a German democracy. Therefore, you receive 0 points.
What Really Happened?
Option 2: Do Not Appoint Hitler
You are wise to believe that Hitler cannot be trusted. His goal is to destroy democracy, not maintain it- which is your goal. You receive 10 points for your decision.
What Really Happened?
The Weimar Republic Becomes a Totalitarian Dictatorship
Hindenburg and others in the government underestimated the Nazis’ power and popularity. Legally installed in office, Hitler made the most of it. When a Dutch anarchist with links to the communist party set fire to the Reichstag on February 27, 1933 Hitler seized the opportunity to suspend civil rights as “a defensive measure against Communist acts of violence.” He convinced Hindenburg to dissolve the Reichstag and order a new election in March, 1933. Under Hitler’s sway, the new parliament legally granted him unlimited powers for the next four years. Hitler proclaimed the new government the Third Reich, the Third Empire. (The first Reich was the German empire of the Middle Ages, the second was the Kaiser’s after Germany united).
Nazi Germany• By the fall of 1933, Germany was a one-party
state. The socialist and communist left was crushed by the new regime. Almost all non-Nazi organizations were either abolished or forced to become part of the Nazi system. Nazi party leaders took over various government departments.
• Ironically, the end of the party’s first year of power the most serious challenge to Hitler came from within the party. The SA (Hitler’s paramilitary group) had grown in power. If he were to remain chancellor, he needed to get them under control. On June 30. 1934 more than 1,000 SA officers were executed in a bloody purge known as the Night of Long Knives. The purge allowed for the SS (a second paramilitary group) and the Gestapo, the state secret police, to gain power- under the direction of Hitler. The SS was responsible for building the concentration camp system and the Gestapo for arresting and murdering German citizens who resisted the Nazi rule.
Economic Life in Nazi Germany• The Nazis took command of the
economy and created an “economic miracle.” New laws banned strikes, dissolved labor unions, and gave the government authority over business. Hitler put millions of Germans to work. They constructed factories, built highways, and manufactured weapons. As a result, Germany got out of the depression by 1935.
Hitler breaking ground for the Audubon German Highway
Nazi Germany’s Control over Society
• To shape public opinion, the Nazis became masters of propaganda. Hitler used film and media to promote Nazi ideology. Publishers, universities, and writers brought into line. Democratic, socialist, and Jewish literature put on blacklists. Students and professors burned forbidden books in public squares. Modern art and architecture was prohibited ("degenerate art"). School children had to join the Hitler Youth, organizations who indoctrinated children into the Nazi Ideology. The Catholic church was restricted and all Protestant churches were united into one Christian religion controlled by the state.
• Lastly, women were greatly impacted by the Nazi attitude who portrayed women as critical in creating the Nazi racial state. To the Nazis, women’s primary role was to be a wife and mother and for men to be warriors and political leaders. Women were given awards for having many German children. Furthermore, at the beginning of the Nazi rule, women were driven from heavy industry and other jobs more “fit” for men.
Your Fate
• Cleary, since you are a proponent of democracy you are an enemy of Hitler, who sees you as a political opponent. Your destiny is fulfilled after the development of the Gestapo. Your neighbors called the secret police because they heard you commenting on the newly placed restriction on your political rights. You were arrested at night and never heard from again.