What challenges did Germany face after World War One? - Inter-war Germany - KS3 History - homework help for year 7, 8 and 9. - BBC Bitesize (2024)

• After World War One, Germany was severely punished by the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.
• The newly formed Weimar Republic faced much opposition from both right- and left-wing groups.
• From 1918 to 1933, reparations payments, hyperinflation and the caused much economic hardship for the German people.

World War One ended at 11am on 11 November 1918. The Treaty of Versailles was a peace agreement that marked the end of World War One and set out to punish Germany for their involvement in the war. The treaty was signed on 28 June 1919.

The punishments from the Treaty of Versailles can be remembered with the acronym ‘BRAT’: Blame, Reparations, Armed forces and Territory.

Blame
War Guilt Clause 231 stated that ‘Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage (in the War).’ This caused anger in Germany as they felt it was unfair to hold them solely responsible for causing the war.

Reparations
The War Guilt Clause meant Germany had to pay for all of the damage caused in the war. This figure was decided to be £6.6 billion in 1921, and was finally paid off in 2010. These reparations caused economic hardship in Germany.

Armed forces
The loss of armed forces left Germany feeling vulnerable. American president Woodrow Wilson, had suggested all nations should disarm, but the result of the Treaty of Versailles was that Germany would be largely disarmed whilst France and the UK maintained their armed forces.

• it was allowed a maximum of 100,000 troops in the army
• conscription was banned
• no tanks were allowed
• its navy was reduced to 15,000
• it was allowed only 6 battleships, and no submarines

Territory
Germany lost a significant amount of territory: 13% if its land and 10% of their population, including industrial coal and iron producing areas. This contributed to their post-war economic problems.

The Weimar Republic was Germany's government from 1919 to 1933, from the end of World War One to the rise of Hitler and Nazi Germany. They were a new and inexperienced government who had to deal with a lot of complicated economic problems after World War One.

The Weimar Republic was a truly democratic government for Germany, with a that set out how the country should be run. The republic held elections every four years and all adults over the age of 20 were able to vote.

The Weimar Republic was set up as a representative democracy, which is a political system in which members of parliament are elected to represent the interests of the public. It tried to give genuine power to all German adults by allowing their voices to be heard. However, this caused problems because the German public were so divided.

Historians have argued that there were two main weaknesses of the Weimar Republic.

1. Proportional Representation
   Each political party got the same percentage of seats in parliament as the percentage of votes it received in an election. While it allowed for better representation of minorities, it also meant there were lots of small parties in parliament, making it difficult to pass laws, and contributed to weak and often short-lived governments. Some people argue that this contributed to political instability in Germany.

2. Article 48 powers
   This gave the president the power to act without parliament’s approval in an emergency. However, it did not clearly define what an 'emergency' was, so the power was overused, which weakened Germans’ confidence in democracy.

• In January 1919, left-wing led by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht took over newspaper offices and police headquarters, and forced the new Weimar Government to flee Berlin.
• The were called in by the government. They successfully stopped the uprising and Luxemburg and Liebknecht were both murdered.
• This showed the weakness of the new government because they couldn’t deal with the uprising without relying on the Freikorps.

• The Freikorps tried an uprising of their own in 1920, led by Wolfgang Kapp. The terms of the Treaty of Versailles meant the German army had to be reduced and the Freikorps had to be disbanded.
• In reaction to this, Wolfgang Kapp, a right-wing nationalist, led a Freikorps takeover in Berlin. He wanted to overthrow the new Weimar Government and start his own.
• The Weimar Government fled and called for a , which was widely supported. Within days there were power shortages and shelves in shops were emptying. This meant it was very difficult for the new government to do anything and Kapp realised he did not have enough popular support.
• The Kapp Putsch lasted only a few days and the Weimar Government was restored.

In 1923, Germany missed a payment. France and Belgium then invaded the Ruhr region to claim what they felt they were owed. The Ruhr was an industrial area, producing large amounts of coal and steel. This occupation of the Ruhr worsened Germany’s economic crisis as they lost a lucrative region.

The German government told the workers in the Ruhr to go on general strike and encouraged . They printed extra money so the workers could be paid while they were striking, since they were doing so at request of their government.

This caused . Prices skyrocketed and money rapidly decreased in value. The value of people’s savings became worthless and people on fixed incomes were put in a difficult position, as their wages were not increased in line with hyperinflation. To solve the problem of hyperinflation, a new currency, the Rentenmark, was introduced to replace the now worthless Papiermark. The government also called off passive resistance and the economy started to recover.

In 1919, Adolf Hitler joined a new political party: the National Socialist German Workers Party, or the Nazis. They were a far-right group who strongly opposed the Treaty of Versailles. By 1921, he was the leader. In 1923, Hitler attempted to take advantage of the hyperinflation crisis facing the Weimar Government by trying to launch a revolution. He believed the Nazis had enough popular support for an uprising to succeed.

Starting in a beer hall in Munich, he gained the support of local leaders and marched towards the centre of the city. The police had been notified and they blocked their route. Hitler was arrested and sentenced to five years in prison. He was granted early release, however, and only served nine months of the sentence.

Whilst in prison, Hitler realised the best way to win power would be through being elected. He wrote a book called Mein Kampf, in which he set out his .

From 1923, Germany started to show signs of recovery. This was largely under the leadership of Gustav Stresemann.

• In 1923, Stresemann introduced a new currency, the Rentenmark, to stabilise the value of German money.
• In 1924, the Dawes Plan was agreed. This was an agreement that Germany would pay their reparations over a longer period of time and would receive some loans from America.
• In 1926, Germany joined the League of Nations, showing they were being accepted by other countries again and that they were committed to the league’s aim of collective security.
• In 1930, the Young Plan was agreed. Germany continued to receive loans from America and reparations payments were reduced by 20%. Germany seemed to be on the brink of economic recovery.

• The German recovery was thwarted following the in October 1929. This led to a global economic depression.
• Germany had borrowed large amounts of money from America through the Dawes Plan and the Young Plan. This meant the German economy took a huge hit when America needed their loans repaid.
• 6 million German people were out of work by 1933 and the recovery that appeared to be taking place was destroyed.