Germany after WWI

The Fall of the Keiser (monarchy)

The Treaty of Versailles
The Rise and Fall of the Weimar Republic
The Rise of Hitler
http://www.tatsachen-ueber-deutschland.de/en/hist
ory/main-content-03/1919-1933-the-weimar-republic
.html

http://awkwardrevision.weebly.com/rise-and-fall-of-
weimar-republic.html
 The Fall of the Kaiser
• During the war Germany was a monarchy –
like England is – and the Kaiser was like a king.
• In fact he was first cousin to the King of
England.
• His leadership was seen as ineffective when
Germany was losing the war.
 The Fall of the Keiser
• Before the Weimar Republic, Germany was under the
control of Kaiser Wilhelm II (German royalty).
• During the First World War the people of Germany were
facing starvation.
• Life for Germans was hard and faith was lost in the
leadership of the Kaiser.
• There were many protests against his leadership.
• He abdicated and fled.
• This led to Germany surrendering and the armistice was
reached ending the Great War at the 11th hour of the
11th day of the 11th month (11/11/1918)
•
 Post-war Germany
• Once the war had been concluded, the Allies
(Britain, France and USA) offered peace to the
new Weimar Republic of Germany only if they
were able to become a more democratic society.
• What followed in June 1919 was a treaty
between Germany and the victorious allies.
• This was known as the Treaty of Versailles
• Germany held an election and a new
constitution was set up.
The picture at right is
an election poster
from a German
National Party from
1924. The caption
states 'Who stabbed
German armies in the
back in the World
War? Whose fault
was it that our
People and
Fatherland must sink
so deep into
misfortune?'
 The Treaty of Versailles
• Almost all Germans saw the treaty as a terrible
injustice.
• Germany was forced to give up its colonies, give
land to Poland, make payments to its old enemies
(called reparations) and have severe military
restrictions.
• Germany was also forbidden from uniting with
Austria.
• This meant that the treaty and the republic were
deeply unpopular and change was inevitable.
 The Terms of the Treaty
Part 1: Land
- 13% of Germany's land was lost. This was the home of 6 million
Germans.
- The land that was lost included raw materials for example, coal which
would have brought income to Germany
- Troops were inhibited from entering the Rhineland. This was to
ensure that the French felt safe from a possible German attack.
- Germany's overseas colonies were confiscated.
Part 2: Army
- The German army was subtracted to only 100,00 soldiers
(During the war Germany had over 4.5 million soldiers)
- The German navy was reduced to six battleships and 15,000 sailors.
- The Germans were not allowed to have tanks, submarines or an air
force
http://spartacus-educational.com/FWWgermanA.htm
Part 3: Blame
- In the 'war guilt' clause, Germany had to agree that
the war was their fault
- This enabled Allies to get compensation from all the
damage that had been caused
Part 4: Money
- Germany was forced to pay reparations. The highest
amount of money would be separated between
Belgium and France.
- In the signing of the treaty, no sum was concluded.
However, in 1921 the Allies had fixed the amount of
£6600 million.
(It took Germany until 2010 to pay it all off)
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-11442892
This cartoon appeared
in a German
newspaper in July
1919. It shows
'Clemenceau, the
Vampire' Clemenceau
was the French leader
that had pushed for a
treaty that would ruin
and weaken Germany.
The woman on the
bed represents
Germany, looking sick
and lifeless.
 German People Devastated
• Germans had felt stabbed in the back by the Weimar
Republic.
• By signing the armistice in November 1918, many thought
Germany had given in to the other countries.
• The people thought that Germany had a great fighting
force and could have won the war.
• The signing of the armistice was believed to have
destroyed the morale of German soldiers and was seen as
a disgrace by many.
• Citizens felt that Germany's reputation as a strong and
defensive state was finished.
The Rise and Fall of the Weimar Republic

• This loss of face was too much for the proud

German people who thought they were
winning the war and were shocked and
devastated at their defeat.
• The treaty not only stripped them of their
territories and military strength but also their
dignity.
• This led to the fall of the Weimar republic
after just 11 years – 1930.
 The Rise of Hitler
• Hitler very successfully tapped into the great
resentment Germans felt after the war – both
about the failure of their leadership to win the
war AND about the harsh terms of the Treaty
of Versailles.
• He went to jail because he had tried to
overthrow the government in the beer hall
putsch.
• He gave political speeches against the ideas of
the government.
• He joined the National Socialist German
Workers' Party.
 Background of Nazi Party
• The National Socialist German Workers' Party
had two separate elements
1. Nationalists – appealed to those who thought
Germany was the best and strongest nation on
earth – the sentiment that contributed to
WWI. Were ‘right wing’.
2. ‘Left wing’ socialists – appealed to workers. It
was thought this element could take them
away from the communist movement.
• This party was a forerunner to the Nazi Party.
 Hitler goes to jail
• For organising meetings without the permission of
the German government.
• He took some Weimar republic officials hostage, and
in the end got into a gun fight which ended in the
deaths of 4 police officers and 16 Nazis.
• He wrote Mein Kampf in Landsberg am Lech prison
during his nine month stay, he was released on
December 20, 1924.
• His autobiography created a great impact which
indirectly led to his release.
 Mein Kampf (My Struggle)
• Aside from the Bible, few books over time have stirred
up such controversy as one composed from the cell of a
German prison.
• Book contained his contempt for all things non-German.
• Hitler's original title for his work was "Four Years of
Struggle Against Lies, Stupidity and Cowardice," then
changed to the more marketable "My Struggle."
• Hitler did not, in fact, write the book himself, but
dictated to his friend Rudolf Hess, who was imprisoned
alongside him.
 Hitler released from prison
• By the time of the book was printed in 1925 Hitler was
already released from prison
• Despite its poor literacy quality the book became widely
read in Germany.
• The book delved into his youth and early days in the
National Socialist (Nazi) Party but it was his vision for the
future of Germany that resonated most with the German
people.
• Chief among his ideas was the absolute superiority of the
Germanic race, which Hitler called Aryan, over every
group of people.
 Role of Banks in German’s Economic
Demise after WWI
• Hitler despised Jews for several reasons
• Chief among them was his belief that they
controlled the banks of America and Europe
• This control led directly to German suffering
• There is no doubt that Germans paid a heavy
price for the terms of the Treaty
• “The ‘Weimar Republic’ years were for the
German people distinguished by
unemployment and hunger, a lack of warm
housing in winter and a hopeless future.”
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vfdZtpx
_ug
8:34/24:30
 Unemployment during the Great
Depression in Germany
• From 1928-1933:
• September 1928 – 650,000 unemployed
• January 1933 – 6,100,000 unemployed
 Treaty Reparations
• Economically, it forced Germany to borrow money from
the United States in order to pay.
• The debt was to cripple the German economy when the
Great Depression hit.
• The treaty also hurt Germany psychologically.
• Its terms, such as the war guilt clause and the terms that
robbed Germany of territory and the right to have a true
military, angered Germans.
• Their anger, when combined with the economic impact of
the reparations, was to help allow Hitler to come to power
in 1933.
• The Treaty of Versailles had negative effects
not only on Germany, but the entire world as
well.
• To begin with, the treaty significantly deviated
from the “Fourteen Points” proposed by US
President Woodrow Wilson causing Germany
to develop a negative attitude towards it from
the very onset.
• The terms of the treaty were very punitive and
adversely impacted Germany socially,
economically and politically.
 Fourteen Point Plan
1) Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no
private international understandings of any kind but diplomacy shall proceed
always frankly and in the public view.
• This didn't happen. It went against about 10,000 year of diplomatic history.
The British and French went right along making private understandings even as
the conference was going on.

2) Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas, outside territorial waters, alike
in peace and in war, except as the seas may be closed in whole or in part by
international action for the enforcement of international covenants.
• This didn't go over big either. Naval power was the Britain's thing. Their ability
to cut an enemy off from the sea was key to their military strategy.

3) The removal, so far as possible, of all economic barriers and the establishment
of equality of trade conditions among all the nations consenting to the plan and
associating themselves for its maintenance.
• Basically free trade. America was the biggest and most powerful export
economy in the world. In any free trade situation of the time, specially after
the hit European economies took during the war, America would dominate.
Britain, France and others saw this as a plot to turn them into economic
4) Countries to reduce their weapons.
• Basically, nations would reduce their armies to bare minimum. This went
against British and French interests. They had empires to maintain. It was all
well and good for America which has two giant oceans on either side. Canada
hasn't been a threat since 1815. Mexico hasn't been a threat since 1848.
5) A free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims,
based upon a strict observance of the principle that in determining all such
questions of sovereignty the interests of the populations concerned must have
equal weight with the equitable claims of the government whose title is to be
determined.
• Decolonization. The British Empire covered 1/4 of the world. No British
politician in his right mind would just give it up. The French Empire was big but
mostly for show but they wanted to keep all they had.

6) The evacuation of all Russian territory and such a settlement of all questions
affecting Russia as will secure the best and freest cooperation of the other nations
of the world in obtaining for her an unhampered and unembarrassed opportunity
for the independent determination of her own political development and national
policy The communist takeover in Russia killed this idea.
British
colonies in Africa
(years they
achieved
independence –
or sovereignty)
Flags that feature the Union Jack – indicating a colonial past

• Anguilla
• Ashmore and Cartier Islands
• Australia
• Bermuda
• British Indian Ocean Territory
• British Virgin Islands
• Cayman Islands
• Coral Sea Islands
• Falkland Islands
• Fiji
• Heard Island and McDonald Islands
• Montserrat
• New Zealand
• Niue (with embellishments)
• Pitcairn Islands
• Tuvalu
• United Kingdom
The Victoria Memorial Hall, is a memorial building dedicated to Victoria, Queen of the
United Kingdom and Empress of India, which is located in Calcutta (now Kolkata), India - the
capital of West Bengal and a former capital of British India.
British colonies at the height of the British
Empire included:
Australia
• the colonization of Australia had began to compensate the loss of American colonies
• convict colony
New Zealand
• there were cruel conflicts between Europeans and Maories
India
• India was at the heart of the British Empire

China
• Britain gained Hong Kong as a result of the Opium Wars 1839-42.
West Indies
• The West Indies was a very attractive target for colonization due to the huge commercial possibilities of the region,
mainly the rum and sugar produced there. Included St Kitts, Barbados, Nevis, Antigua and Montserrat.
Burma
• (now Myanmar) became a province of British India 1886 after a series of Anglo-Burmese Wars from 1824.
Egypt
•
Southern Africa
• Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company, chartered 1889, extended British influence over Southern Rhodesia (a colony
1923) and Northern Rhodesia (a protectorate 1924)
West Africa
• Gold and ivory kept their importance after the slave trade was ended by Britain in 1807. Included Sierra Leone , Nigeria,
Tanganyika.
• Cameroons and Togoland, in West Africa, were divided between Britain and France.
 Sovereignty
• Is the power of a state to do everything
necessary to govern itself, such as making,
executing, and applying laws; imposing and
collecting taxes; making war and peace; and
forming treaties or engaging in commerce
with foreign nations.
 The Caribbean
• Included the region we call the West Indies
• Provided Britain with sugar, tobacco, cotton
and human beings to feed the growing
consumer demand for imports in Britain.
7) Belgium, the whole world will agree, must be evacuated and restored,
without any attempt to limit the sovereignty which she enjoys in common
with all other free nations.
• This one he got mostly because that was Britain's stated aim in coming
into the war.

8) France should be fully liberated and allowed to recover Alsace-Lorraine

• This one he got because that was a main French war aim.

9) All Italians are to be allowed to live in Italy

• Did not happen. The ethnic Italian territories Italy wanted went to
Yugoslavia. This bitterness was one of the forces that brought the Fascists
to power a few years latter.

10) Self-determination should be allowed for all those living in Austria-

Hungary.
• Didn't happen either. The British and French drew the lines on the map to
create Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and others as would best help Anglo-
11) Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro should be evacuated; occupied
territories restored; Serbia accorded free and secure access to the sea; and
the relations of the several Balkan states to one another determined by
friendly counsel along historically established lines of allegiance and
nationality; and international guarantees of the political and economic
independence and territorial integrity of the several Balkan states should be
entered into.
• Except for the fact that occupied territories were restored, same problem
as number 10.
• 12) The Turkish portion of the present Ottoman Empire should be assured
a secure sovereignty, but the other nationalities which are now under
Turkish rule should be assured an undoubted security of life and an
absolutely unmolested opportunity of autonomous development, and the
Dardanelles should be permanently opened as a free passage to the ships
and commerce of all nations under international guarantees.

• British and French squashed most of this. They divided Arabic parts of
Ottoman territory between themselves. France got Syria and Lebanon.
Britain got everything else. The Dardanelles part was agreed to.
• 13) An independent Polish state should be erected which should include
the territories inhabited by indisputably Polish populations, which
should be assured a free and secure access to the sea, and whose
political and economic independence and territorial integrity should be
guaranteed by international covenant.
• This point was successful. The problem is that the borders were so badly
drawn that it guaranteed friction between Poland and her neighbours.
There was a Polish-Soviet war in the 1920's and World War II in Europe
started in Poland.

• 14) A general association of nations must be formed under specific

covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political
independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike.

• This the League of Nations. It was the predecessor to the United

Nations. He got this and it was formed. However, it made Americans
freak. The idea of being permanently linked and subordinate to a
intentional organization went against 150 years of American tradition.
 An opinion on the value of President
Wilson’s 14 Point Plan
• “Wilson's points may not have gained much
traction during the Paris peace treaties, but
the warm rhetoric of Wilson's 14 points was a
big part of why the Germans decided to
initiate the armistice negotiations, so I would
be hesitant to call them a failure. Many, many
more lives could have been lost without
Wilson's points.”
•
 Superiority of the Aryan Race
• “Mein Kampf” singled out Jews as the source of many of
Germany's ills and a threat to Aryan dominance.
• The Aryans had a duty to restore Germany's former glory
and enlarge its territory by winning back the land it had
during World War I and gaining new area by expanding
into Russia.
• "Mein Kampf" gained enormous readership in the early
1930s and once Hitler gained power as Chancellor of
Germany in 1933, became the de facto Nazi bible.
• Every newly married couple received a free copy on their
wedding day, and every soldier had one included as part
of his gear.