Exploring the Weimar Republic: A Transformative Era in Germany (1918-1933)

the weimar republic 1918-1933 by autumn 1918 it became clear that germany could not win world war one

on october 29th at the small coastal town of wilhelmshaven in the northwest of germany sailors mutinied instead of

following orders to attack the british royal navy the mutinies quickly spread to the major

german port city of kyr and this incident sparked the german revolution rebellions rapidly spread across the

nation and forced kaiser wilhelm ii who had lost the support of the german military to abdicate on november 9 1918.

following the kaiser's abdication germany became a republic and friedrich ebert the leader of the majority social

democratic party or mspd became the chancellor of germany in january 1919 democratic elections

were held that gave the mspd and the independent social democratic party of germany the most seats in a new national

assembly this was followed by the election of ebert as reich president in august

as berlin was deemed too unsafe due to the spartacist uprising the assembly instead met in the city of weimar

on june 28 1919 germany signed the treaty of versailles officially ending world war one

germany agreed to relinquish more than 27 thousand square miles of territory decrease its military to no more than a

hundred thousand men and pay sizable reparations to the allies only through a positive trade balance

germany was also prohibited from joining the newly established league of nations peacemaking body in august 1919

president ebert signed the weimar constitution into law the constitution established the german

reich as a republic with a president chancellor and parliament the constitution allowed for

parliamentary elections every four years with individuals over the age of 20 able to vote in the election

presidential terms were seven years long combined with the possibility of reelection

all presidential orders had to be endorsed by the chancellor or head of the reichstag

the german people were guaranteed freedom of expression assembly and religion alongside access to public

education private property and equal workplace opportunities the president had the authority to

suspend civil rights according to article 48. while article 48 said this could only take place in an emergency it

importantly did not define what in fact constituted an emergency germany in crisis

when the weimar government took power germany was in the midst of a financial crisis hyperinflation largely brought on

by the german government's priority to tackle sovereign debt had crippled the country

as a result ordinary citizens struggled to afford to buy a loaf of bread in berlin a loaf cost 41 times more at

the end of 1922 than it did at the end of 1921. banknotes had lost so much value and

were so abundant it was not unusual to see people burning them to keep warm in the colder winters or even using them as

toilet paper when germany was unable to make reparation payments to the allies in

late 1922 belgium and france proceeded to occupy german coal mines railways and steel factories in the industrial area

of the rural valley in the following year these industries were all critical in

the rebuilding process of germany's economy germany ordered its workers not to cooperate with the french and belgian

occupiers and paid their wages if they participated in a so-called passive resistance

in response the french expelled tens of thousands of germans from the region and shot dozens of resistors

because germany could not generate revenue they simply printed more money by autumn 1923 it cost more to print a

german mark than it was worth bitterness and economic strife bred discontent within germany especially

among the military who believe that signing the treaty of versailles was a betrayal of the german people by the

country's politicians throughout 1923 violence broke out and rival political parties emerged to

challenge the weimar government left-wing parties briefly formed coalition governments in the provinces

of thuringia and saxony a nationalist group called the black reichsfield attempted a push or military

coup in coustrin as did a fascist group called the national socialist german workers party or nsdap in munich

economic and social recovery in 1923 the newly elected chancellor gustav stresemann implemented several

actions that aided germany's recovery he ordered the rue valley workers back into the factories a new form of

currency the renton mark was implemented under his cabinet and he promised to pay reparations so that the french and

belgian forces would withdraw from the ruler in 1925. the dawes plan named after the u.s

banker and u.s president's budget director charles dawes lobbied for german financial control of the ruler

and a more reasonable reparation payment plan proposed and accepted in 1924 the dawes

plan reduced the number of payments and loaned germany money from the united states

stress and his cabinet's efforts especially the dawes plan resulted in what's been called the golden twenties

of the weimar republic tensions between the allies and germany began to wane wages rose manufacturing

increased and germany took over their pre-war export levels by 1929. there were of course still struggles however

these included no significant agricultural gains high levels of unemployment and an overall dependence

on the u.s loans they had been provided in 1925 the lucarno treaty saw germany france belgium britain and italy agreed

to respect all post-versailles borders germany czechoslovakia and poland also agreed to settle any future border

disputes diplomatically by signing the locarno treaties germany was in 1926 eventually allowed to join the league of

nations newly found stability within weimar germany resulted in additional foreign

investments and a period of prosperity that cancelled out the political gains of the communist fascist and other rival

parties in the german reichstag global depression and the end of the weimar republic

signs of economic recovery and political cooperation led to a more favorable global response to the weimar republic

on the whole unfortunately this was not to last and the republic's dependence on u.s loans

the financial support which had once saved its economy sent germany plummeting back into financial ruin

after the stock market crash of 1929 germany was once again unable to pay its reparations and fulfill its economic

responsibilities businesses failed approximately 6.2 million germans lost their jobs and

public confidence in the republic declined once again the once mitigated communist and fascist

rivals seized upon the discontent the political crisis escalated further with thresaman's death in 1929 as tarisman

was holding together the weimar republic's grand coalition under social democrat hermann mueller

mueller's government could crucially not agree on how to afford much needed state unemployment relief despite facing only

the burgeoning stage of the nation's economic crisis mueller's replacement heinrich bruning

exacerbated problems by forcing his controversial agrarian support bills and his new taxes to cover national debt

into action in this political chaos bruning had invoked article 48 of the constitution

too in an unprecedented move bypass the reichstag to implement his legislation by a presidential decree

fatally bruning's reforms angered those in civil service whose salaries were slashed by 28 percent and had lost

critical large landowner supporters to hitler's nsdap that were promising stability

by 1932 the communists and nazis who both wanted to overthrow the bruining government altogether held 319 out of

the 608 seats in the sixth reichstag ultimately adolf hitler's nsdap profited more from the german economic collapse

as it had 230 seats and was the largest party overall hitler was named chancellor in 1933 by

president hindenburg an invitation that was meant to appease the extremists within the government

soon after hitler's election the reichstag building caught on fire allegedly being burned down by

communists hitler used this as an excuse to utilize article 48 to withdraw civil liberties

and suppress his communist rivals as a result in the 8th reichstag in 1933 hitler's nazis surged to 288 seats and

governed together with the nationalist parties following this he used the party's paramilitaries to intimidate

other parliamentarians into voting for the enabling act on march 23 1933 this allowed him to pass laws without

the input or consent of the german president or the reichstag once the enabling act became law

effectively abolishing the weimar republic hitler had full control to rule germany as a dictatorship

weimar culture after world war one germany like the rest of the world experienced the shift

both intellectually and culturally the benefits of industrialization had brought about unimaginable death and

destruction in the war leading intellectuals to question everything they once knew many asked how could

civilized society descend so quickly into such irrational chaos the horrors of the war brought out

a far more macabre tone within literature authors like thomas mann for example reevaluated society and humanity

in his novel the magic mountain the main character hans struggles for years with tuberculosis in a sanatorium allowing

him the opportunity to learn from his allegorical companions he otherwise would not have been able to meet

and eric maria remarks all quiet on the western front describe the physical and psychological toll of war

new themes like the exploration of man's morality his social class and the role of politics in response to conflict also

prompted writers to incorporate ideologies like communism into their works

this was also carried over to theater and cabaret where cheap performances offered political commentary and dark

comedy in 1928 better brecht's adaptation of john gay's 18th century criminal

underground drama the three-penny opera was performed in berlin the play with music as it was styled

criticized capitalism through a socialist lens the movie going by the same name was also made in berlin in

1931. cabaret culture in berlin and other similarly incorporated jazz music rose

to prominence this was a free-wheeling genre not restrained by the petals of structure and rules found in more

traditional music jazz also brought in more liberal american influences something the nazi

party deeply disliked and would attempt to eradicate from germany completely cinema also flourished with the german

expressionist movement producing deeply atmospheric and avant-garde works like fritz lang's metropolis despite its

initial dismal reception similarly art and architecture embraced new radical techniques and concepts

valta gropius and the bauhaus movement incorporated modernism fine arts and design education into paintings

buildings metal work textiles and the like the bauhaus movement sought to eliminate

the distinction between craftsmanship and artistic design its style incorporated industrialism and

practicality form and function and experimentation although it only received its iconic status post 1945

morality changes to the norm and fluidity of convention also began to influence sexual attitudes and behaviors

during the weimar republic the same clubs that had highlighted the cabaret performances were also where people

danced drank and fornicated while it is tempting to conclude that weimar was therefore an early

marketplace for cultural modernity the aforementioned literature and film was largely restricted to highbrow

intellectuals in berlin and had little wider enthusiasm across the republic as the historian zeeman reminds us one

of the thoughts from the third of german workers toiling in the fields berlin was not weimar rather weimar was

still weimar