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Consequences of the First World War for Germany

Germany 1918-1933

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Goal of Today

• Today we will be looking at the conditions in Germany after WWI. We will see how the conditions allowed for someone like Hitler to seize power.

• Terms

• Stabbed in the Back Theory

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The Situation• The Kaiser has abdicated and left Germany• A power vacuum has been created as there is no established

form of government• Millions of German workers have been killed or seriously

injured during the war• Germany has become an international pariah (outcast)• Germany is subject to an imposed peace settlement

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The Treaty of Versailles

• Terms of the Peace treaty

• Massively reduced military capability

• ‘War guilt’ clause imposed

• Reparations fixed at a very high level

• Which leads to…

Weimar before 1924• The Weimar

Republic was born out of the German defeat in World War One. Many Germans associated the Weimar Republic with the defeat and with the hated Treaty of Versailles.

• Germany struggled to accept democracy and both left-wing and right-wing extremists attempted to undermine Weimar democracy.

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Problems 1919-1924• Anger directed at the government for signing the Treaty of

Versailles• Economic problems as all profit is sent directly to the Allies

as reparations pay-outs• Valueless currency as economic crisis leads to hyper-

inflation • Rise of extremist groups attempting to wrestle power from

the de-stabilised government (Freikorps, Spartacists etc.)

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Maimed German WW I VeteranMaimed German WW I Veteran

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What does this mean in reality?• Political instability. There are uprisings against the fledging

republic even before it is properly formed.• Economic ruin. The war has devastated the economy and

further problems occur as a result of the Peace settlement.• Unemployment. Millions of soldiers have returned home to

find no jobs available.

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The “Stabbed-in-the-Back” TheoryThe “Stabbed-in-the-Back” Theory

Disgruntled German WWI veteransDisgruntled German WWI veterans

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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!

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The GermanMark

The GermanMark

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The German MarkThe German Mark

Communism

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Other factors…• Government established in difficult circumstances

• Mistrust of government and animosity towards it from it’s inception

• Refusal of the rest of the World to accept Germany

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Friedrich Ebert:First President of the Weimar

Republic

Friedrich Ebert:First President of the Weimar

Republic

Treaty of Versailles

Black Tuesday 1929- stock market crashes

Great Depressionduring 1930s

Increasing influence of new political parties that emphasize

state control-For example: Communism,

Nazism, Fascism

Total Controlof State by a

Dictator

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Summary• Germany in a desperate situation. The terms of the

Treaty of Versailles cripple the economy and prevent German recovery after the war. This in turn leads to the new, Weimar, government being unable to restore pre-war conditions. Animosity towards those who signed the treaty grows and many German people look for people to blame for the crisis, leading to theories of ‘the stab in the back’. The new government, already under fire, is likely to fail in it’s duty to provide security, prosperity and comfort given the conditions that it has inherited.