Before the republic: Empire, nobility, bourgeoisie and parties
From 1871 Germany was an Empire. Its constitution gave the Emperor (Kaiser) great power: he chose the chancellor and led the army. An elected parliament, the Reichstag, existed (men over 25 voted), but it could not make or remove the chancellor. A council of the states (Bundesrat) was led by Prussia, the biggest state.
The country modernised fast: factories, railways, cities, schools. Two thinkers explain it in different ways. Karl Marx said change comes from the economy and class struggle: owners against workers. Max Weber stressed rational rules, offices and bureaucracy as the mark of the modern state. Society had the old nobility (landowners, army officers), the bourgeoisie (business owners, professionals, civil servants) and a growing working class.
Parties spoke for groups: Social Democrats (workers), the Catholic Centre, liberals, conservatives. Interest groups such as trade unions, industry associations and the farmers' league pushed their own aims. Many people were not used to compromise, which later mattered.
November Revolution and the 1919 constitution
By late 1918 Germany was losing the war, people were hungry and sailors and workers rose up. On 9 November the Emperor gave up his throne and a republic was declared. This is the November Revolution. An assembly met in the town of Weimar and wrote the Weimar Constitution (1919).
It set up a parliament chosen by all adults, men and women (women voted for the first time in January 1919), with proportional voting, a directly elected president and a chancellor who needed parliament's trust. The president could use emergency powers (Article 48). The rights it listed were wide. But proportional voting led to many small parties and weak governments.
The Treaty of Versailles and its burdens
In June 1919 Germany had to sign the Treaty of Versailles. It took land from Germany, limited the army to 100,000 men, and included a "war guilt" clause, which made Germany accept blame for the war. Germany also had to pay reparations, set in 1921 at 132 billion gold marks.
Most Germans saw it as unfair. A false story spread, the "stab-in-the-back" myth, that the army had not lost but was betrayed at home. The new republic, which signed the treaty, got the blame.
Crisis years up to 1923
The early republic faced attacks from both sides. In 1920 the Kapp Putsch tried to overthrow it and failed when workers went on a general strike. There were political murders. In January 1923 French and Belgian troops occupied the Ruhr industrial area because reparations were late. Germany answered with a strike, and the government printed money to pay the strikers.
Too much money chased too few goods, so prices raced up: hyperinflation. In late 1923 a loaf cost billions of marks. Savings and pensions turned to nothing, hurting the middle class most. In November 1923 Adolf Hitler tried to seize power in Munich (the Beer Hall Putsch) and failed.
Stabilisation in the mid-1920s
In late 1923 a new currency (the Rentenmark, then the Reichsmark) ended the inflation. Foreign minister Gustav Stresemann worked with other countries. The Dawes Plan (1924) eased the payments and brought large American loans. The Locarno treaties (1925) calmed relations with neighbours, and Germany joined the League of Nations (1926). Industry grew and city culture flourished in art, film and music.
But the calm rested on foreign loans, and many Germans still did not like the republic.
Great Depression and the collapse of democracy
In October 1929 the New York stock market crashed. American banks called back loans, German firms closed and unemployment rose from about 1.9 million (1929) to about 5.6 million (1932). Parliament could not agree on answers. Chancellors began to govern by presidential emergency decree (Article 48) instead of by majority vote, so parliament itself lost its role well before 1933.
The rise of the Nazis
The Nazi party (NSDAP) won only 2.6% of votes in 1928. After the crash it grew: 18.3% in 1930 and 37.3% in July 1932. It used rallies, posters and simple promises ("work and bread"), blamed the republic and minorities, and attracted unemployed workers, farmers, young people and many in the middle class who had lost savings. Some powerful conservatives thought they could control it.
On 30 January 1933 President Hindenburg appointed Hitler chancellor. Within weeks the Reichstag fire was used as a reason for emergency laws, and in March 1933 the Enabling Act let the government make laws without parliament. The republic was over. What followed is covered in the lessons on totalitarianism and the Holocaust.
Try it: build a cause-and-effect chain
In the 3D, run the steps once. Then press Prices, Jobless and Votes and slide the year. On paper write a chain of five arrows from "Versailles" to "1933". Which link do you think could have been broken? Discuss with a friend and give one reason.
Key formulas and definitions
- 1871: German Empire ¡ 1918: Emperor leaves, republic ¡ 1919: constitution, Versailles
- 1923: Ruhr occupation and hyperinflation ¡ 1924: Dawes Plan
- 1929: Wall Street crash ¡ 1930 to 1932: Nazi vote 18.3% then 37.3%
- 30 Jan 1933: Hitler appointed chancellor ¡ March 1933: Enabling Act
Worked examples
1. A loaf costs 163 marks in 1922 and about 200 billion marks in late 1923. Roughly how many times dearer is it?
200,000,000,000 Ãˇ 163 is about 1.2 billion. The price rose more than a billion times in under two years.
2. Unemployment was about 1.9 million in 1929 and 5.6 million in 1932. By how much did it rise, and how many times bigger is it?
Rise = 5.6 â 1.9 = 3.7 million. 5.6 Ãˇ 1.9 is about 2.9, so nearly three times bigger.
3. The Nazi vote was 2.6% in 1928 and 37.3% in July 1932. By what factor did it grow?
37.3 Ãˇ 2.6 is about 14.3. The share grew about fourteen times in four years.
4. Put in order: Dawes Plan, Versailles, Hitler becomes chancellor, hyperinflation.
Versailles (1919) â hyperinflation (1923) â Dawes Plan (1924) â Hitler becomes chancellor (1933).
5. Give two reasons the 1919 constitution made governments weak.
Proportional voting produced many small parties, so coalitions broke easily. And the president could rule by emergency decree (Article 48), which later let chancellors bypass parliament.
Common mistakes
- Saying Weimar failed only because of Versailles. Versailles, hyperinflation, weak politics and the Depression all played a part.
- Mixing up the two crises: hyperinflation was 1923, the Depression was 1929 to 1933.
- Thinking Hitler won an outright majority in a free vote. His best free result was 37.3% in July 1932, and he was appointed chancellor.
- Forgetting that the Empire (before 1918) was not a full democracy: the Kaiser chose the chancellor.