Wilhelmine Germany

Portrait of Wilhelm II, by Max Koner,

1891
 Outline of Lecture
- Wilhelmine Germany (Pre-WW1 Germany)
- Roots of Nazism
- First World War
- Versailles
- Stab in the back myth
- Weimar Republic
- Alternate path?
- Was a democratic alternative doomed to fail?
- Or was Nazism inevitable?
 Map of Germany 1866-1871
(Credit: University of Texas at Austin. Historical Atlas by William Shepherd (1911)
Otto von Bismarck
 Germany
- German unification
- Franco-Prussian War in 1870-71
- Otto von Bismarck (Chancellor)
- leads successful unification
- Bismarckian diplomacy
- Importance of alliances
- Dislikes colonialism
- Domestic Politics
- Manages conservatives by keeping them happy, by
going after Catholics and Socialists
Wilhelm II
 Germany under Wilhelm II
- Emperor/Kaiser
- Appoints Chancellor
- Removes Bismarck
- Wants Germany to take its “place in the sun”
- Wilhelm is very impulsive
- Growing nationalism
- Pan-German League formed in 1891
- Promotes imperialism, strong German state, German purity
- Antisemitic
- Grows during this period
- Early movement similar to Nazism
 Germany under Wilhelm II
- Wilhelm’s foreign policy
- Weltpolitik (World Policy)
- Germany as global power
- Germany as imperial power
- Germany as challenge to British naval supremacy
- Erratic and impulsive
- Interference in other’s affairs
- “Social Imperialism”
- Use international affairs and colonialism to turn attention away
from domestic problems
- Only firm ally is Austro-Hungary
- Germany encircled; result of ending Bismarckian alliance system
- Focus on pre-emptive attack on French
 Germany under Wilhelm II
- Wilhelm pushes in Morocco in 1911
- Second Moroccan Crisis
- French have oversight of Morocco
- Germany doesn’t gain in fiasco
- Growing desire for war in Germany
- Political division in Germany
- Germany as collection of smaller states
- Prussia as most powerful state, more autocratic
- Other states more liberal
- Junker class (Prussian landowners; nobility)
- Growingly concerned with rising middle and working class, a
result of increased industrialization
 Germany under Wilhelm II
- Attempts to limit social change
- Every male required to do military service
- Education state run
- Limit social democracy
- Promote Christianity & German patriotism
- Reichstag (German legislature)
- Approved taxation and legislation
- Growing left/centre influence
- Traditionally focused on “iron & rye”
- Merger of agricultural and industrial interests
- Junker class particularly powerful and support base for
Bismarck and later Wilhelm II
 Germany under Wilhelm II
- Rise of the Social-Democratic Party of Germany
(SPD)
- Threatens old interests
- Gains 35% of vote in 1912, largest party in Reichstag
- Growing fault lines going into war
- Growing left; increasing influence of workers and
middle class
- Growing nationalist and militaristic forces
- Conservatives forces & Junkers trying to maintain
influence
- Catholic/Protestant
 Germany and the First World War

“Mass Rally in Front of Feldherrnhalle in Munich (August 2, 1914)

(Courtesy of GHDI)
 The German War Effort
• Germany as main power of Central Powers
• Success in Eastern Front; threat until late in war
(belief of German win in 1918)
• Forces Russians out of war in 1917
• German weaknesses
• British naval blockade
• US entry in April 1917 – morale boost to Entente
• Final push in 1918 in West to take advantage of
Russian peace
• Overextension
• Entente forces push them back
 The German End of the War
• Crucial moment in German history
• German High Command
• Paul von Hindenburg & Erich Ludendorff
• Tell Wilhelm war is lost on September 29, 1918
• Ludendorff blamed and resigns; Hindenburg's
resignation refused.
• Max von Baden
• German Chancellor
• Contacts US president Woodrow Wilson
• “peace without victory”
• German u-boat attack sinks hopes
• Wilson demands regime change
 The German End of the War
• Wilhelm’s power evaporates
• October 1918
• Constitutional changes
• Universal suffrage; Reichstag more powerful
• Military wants to push forward
• Kiel sailors rebel
• Rebellion spreads
• Calls for Wilhelm’s abdication
• Wilhelm II abdicates on November 9
• German Republic declared on November 9
• “November Revolution”
The German End of the War

Friedrich Ebert
 The German End of the War
• November 11, 1918
• Germans sign armistice with Entente
• New republic never fully embraced
• Left wants to go farther
• Ebert turns to Hindenburg and military for order
• Freicorps (Free corps)
• New government
• February 6, 1919, located in Weimar
• Berlin seen as too imperial
• Berlin also too unsafe
• Weimar Republic formed
 Treaty of Versailles
• Result of Paris Peace Conference
• Germany not involved
• Territorial concessions
• Alsace-Lorraine to France
• Polish Corridor to Poland
• Danzig as free city
• 13.1% of Germany’s prewar territory gone
• Military limits
• Demilitarization of Rhineland
• Reparations payments
• Clause 231 – the war guilt clause
Territorial Changes post-WW1)
 Treaty of Versailles
• Result of Paris Peace Conference
• Germany not involved
• Territorial concessions
• Alsace-Lorraine to France
• Polish Corridor to Poland
• Danzig as free city
• 13.1% of Germany’s prewar territory gone
• Military limits
• Demilitarization of Rhineland
• Reparations payments
• Clause 231 – the war guilt clause
 Treaty of Versailles
• Germans upset with treaty
• Government reluctantly agrees
• Signed in the Hall of Mirrors
• SIGNIFICANCE: same place as where Germany
announced the formation of the German Empire in
1871
• Feeling of betrayal
• Issue with being blamed for whole war
• Military particularly feel betrayed
 “Stab in the back” myth
• Suggests those in power (socialists, for example;
some include Jews) gained from German defeat.
• Germany looked victorious in early 1918, then
lost at end of the year.
• Informs Nazi outlook
Weimar
Republic

Mass Demonstration in front

of the Reichstag against the
"Brutal Peace" (May 15,
1919) (Courtesy of GHDI)
 Early Challenges
• Republic as of November 10, 1918
• Friedrich Ebert is Chancellor
• Phillipp Scheidemann, leads SPD in parliament
• Series of uneasy agreements
• Military deal: state gives autonomy of military for order
• Demobilized military
• Freikorps
• Mobilized right-wing, anti-socialist forces
• Many German officers
• Elections in January 1919
The Spartacist Uprising

• “Street
Clashes in
Berlin during
the January
Uprising
(January 1919)
(Courtesy of
GHDI)
 The Spartacist Uprising
• Communist Party of Germany (KPD) forms
December 30, 1918
• Led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg
• Revolutionary Marxists
• Led demonstration to control Berlin
• KPD leaders against demonstration
• Freikorps break it up
• Supported by SPD
• Shows SPD willing to crush leftist dissent to consolidate power
• SPD no longer holds leftist support
• KPD loses important leaders; internationally gives control of
communism fully to Lenin and the Bolsheviks in Russia
 Aftermath of Election
• SPD, Center and DDP get 76% of the vote
• Meet in Weimar
• Get away from Berlin
• Concerns of violence
• Visual show that they were distancing themselves
of Imperial Germany to win over allies
• Ebert becomes President of Germany
• Scheidemann becomes Chancellor
• Resigns after Versailles
 Developing a Constitution
• Weimar Constitution comes into effect on
August 14, 1919
• Compromise document
• Unity of Germany most important
• Centralized power
• Angers Prussian conservatives
• military is now national matter
• Bicameral system
• Reichstag (direct vote)
• Reichsrat (appointed
 Developing a Constitution
• Power of president
• Significantly discussed
• Article 48 – President had emergency power
• Reichstag could veto it; President could then call new
elections
• Still could replace Chancellors at will
• Served 7 year term
• Proportional representation
• Multi-party system
• Government moves to Berlin a week after
constitution put in place
New Flag
 Dealing with Versailles
• Constitution comes into force two months
after Versailles
• Challenges
• Deal with economy
• Inflation
• Need to stabilize currency
• Deal with consolidation of power
• 1922 – the mark was worth 1/4500 a US dollar
• 1920–1923 = Years of Crisis
 Challenges from the Left and the Right
• 13 March 1920
• Before 1920 election
• Kapp Putsch
• Cover next week
• Response
• Left wing general strike (SPD, USPD and KPD lead it)
• Leads to military and Freikorps involvement
 Challenges from the Left and the Right
• March Action
• KPD attempt at a revolt
• March 17, 1921
• Focused on Prussia
• Communists greatly misread situation
• Put down quickly
• Thousands arrested
• Coincided with Plebiscite in Upper Silesia
• March 20, 1921
• Area mainly Polish, but votes to stay part of Germany
• Poland tries to intervened; Allies get involved
• 2/3rds goes to Germany; coal producing sections to Poland
 Reparations
• April 27, 1921
• Allies determines value - 132 billion gold marks
($31.4 billion USD)
• In goods and money
• British also demand 12 billion gold marks in back
pay and 1 billion owned by end of May
 Revolving Door of Chancellors
• Scheidemann resigns in June over Versailles
• Gustav Bauer
• Resigns because of Ruhr uprising
• Hermann Muller
• June 1920 elections end it
• Constantin Fehrenbach
• Centre Party
• Resigns over reparations payments in May 1921
• Joseph Wirth
• Resigns due to Upper Silesia, but asked to return
• Resigns November 1922 due to situation with allies
 Years of Crisis
• Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Germany isolated after war
• Treaty of Rapallo (April 16, 1922)
• Signed with Bolshevik Russia
• Multiple assassinations and assassination
attempts against German politicians
• Organization Consul
• Targeted those responsible for Versailles settlement
• Judicial system sympathetic to them because of
political affiliation
Wilhelm Cuno
 Wilhelm Cuno
• Businessman
• Not fully party of any party
• Hoped to limit impact of Versailles
• Failed shipment to Allies in early 1923
• French and Belgians occupy Ruhr on January 11,
1923
• Cuno calls for passive resistance
• Huge support
• Initially successful
• But later inflation
Gustav Stresemann
 Gustav Stresemann
• Member of DVP
• Named Chancellor in September 1923
• Ends passive resistance
• Right responds with Beer Hall Putsch
• Left responds with German October
• Works with financial leaders to work on economic
issues
• Government collapses by end of 1923
• BUT – he is named Foreign Minister after
Wilhelm Marx
 Wilhelm Marx
• Longest reigning Chancellor (over two separate
governments) during Weimar
• Stresemann becomes Foreign Minister
• 1923 election
• SPD has most votes; Fringe parties do very well
• Dawes Plan
• Charles G. Dawes
• August 16, 1924
• 1 billion goldmarks owed a year
• Loan of 800 million marks
• Ends occupation of Ruhr
• Leads to foreign investment
 Wilhelm Marx
• December 1924 election
• Fringe parties lose their successes
• Growing conservatism
• Protest policy of “fulfillment”
• Ebert dies February 28, 1925
• New President
• Paul von Hindenberg
• Leads to concerns of counterrevolution
Paul von Hindenburg
 The Golden Years
• 1924-1930
• Stresemann
• Great foreign minister
• Treaty of Locarno (1925)
• Affirms Versailles; proves Germany can play ball with other nations
• “spirit of Locarno”
• Nobel Peace Prize in 1926
• Kellogg-Briand Pact
• Young Plan (1930)
• Reduces reparations and international oversight of German
• Result of Stresemann’s diplomacy
• Dies October 1929
 The Golden Years
• Economic corrections
• Laying off of state workers
• Currency stabilization
• Working class
• Collective bargaining, trade unions, wage increases
• Social advancement
• Pay gaps: Skilled vs. unskilled; Male vs. female
• Growing mechanized labour
• Unemployment
• Unemployment insurance (1927)
• growing social welfare
 The Golden Years
• Cinemas
• 2.2 million going to movies every day in 1929
• New art forms
• George Grosz
• Bauhaus
• Walter Gropius
• Literature
• Franz Kafka
• “All Quiet on the Western Front” by Erich Maria Remarque
• Rise of American jazz
• Bertolt Brecht
• Rise of Radio
 The Golden Years

Left: Poster for Bauhaus Exhibition in Weimar (1923); Top Right: Dessau Bauhaus: View from the Stairwell during the
Building's Official Opening (December 4-5, 1926); Bottom Right: Josef Albers Evaluates Student Work (c. 1928)
Images all from GHDI
 The Golden Years

Left: Erich Mendelsohn, Schocken Department Store in Chemnitz (built 1926-28); Right: In a
Berlin Jazz Bar (1930)
Images all from GHDI
 The Great Depression
• October 24, 1929
• Stock market crash
• Foreign investors leave
• SPDs blamed for it
• Hindenburg
• forces through Young Plan
• Also working with military to force SPD out
Heinrich Bruning