How did the Spartacist Uprising, the Weimar Constitution, the Treaty of Versailles, the Kapp Putsch, hyperinflation and the invasion of Ruhr cause problems for the new Weimar Republic?

The Weimar Constitution was published in 1919 and was praised as one of the most advanced democracies in Europe, the people voted the leaders into office and proportional representation was used to determine the number of seats each party was allocated.

The Spartacist uprising made it impossible for the new government to meet in Berlin. The Spartacists organised strikes and riots in Berlin and therefore it was not believed to be safe for the new leaders to meet in the capital so they chose the quiet town of Weimar and drew up what is now known as the Weimar Constitution. Due to the Spartacist uprising the republic appeared weak and defenceless when under attack and this meant support was hard to gain from the working class members of Germany who had once supported the Spartacists. The army also gave little support to the republic as Ebert promised not to change the army, it therefore remained as it had under the rule of the Kaiser, this made the republic appear weaker still to the German people.

In June 1919 the Treaty of Versailles was signed, its terms horrified both the German people and the government. The vast majority of the German people felt the treaty was much too harsh and humiliating. The new republic then got off to a bad start as it was immediately associated with the humiliating treaty and many Germans blamed them for its terms. This meant the republic was referred to as the “November Criminals” as opponents of the republic, especially the army, blamed the new republic for signing the armistice on 11th November 1918, which led to the treaty. The German ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

The Freikorps hated the new government and the Treaty of Versailles, they were angry because the same government had ordered all Freikorp units to disband. In March 1920 the Freikorps, led by an extreme nationalist, dr. Kapp, attempted to take power of Berlin, this caused to government to flee and therefore Dr. Kapp set up a government of his own. The army refused to stop Kapp and his followers so the people of Berlin defeated him by organising a general strike. Kapp abandoned his plans and fled to Sweden, the government could then return to Berlin. The Kapp Putsch proved that the government had managed to gain support from the workers of Berlin, it also emphasised the lack of support from the army.

The reparations agreed in the Treaty of Versailles proved too much for Germany to handle and by 1922 they announced they could not afford to pay for at least three years as the country was suffering from inflation. The French, however, refused to believe this and invaded the Ruhr area of Germany; this area was the industrial centre of Germany. The government ordered the German people to use passive resistance to gain back the area; the workers therefore went on strike and some even sabotaged equipment. Due to this the French expelled 150 000 Germans and replaced them with their own people. The invasion united the German people and the strikers were seen as heroes in their own country, the government also gained support and popularity because it ordered passive resistance and supported the strikers. However the invasion had disastrous effects on the German economy, the government had to print money in order to pay the strikers and this increased inflation.

By 1923 the German Mark had lost all its value as a result of hyperinflation, the government had printed so much money that it had become worthless. Germany had to send large quantities of goods to France and Belgium as part of their reparation payments agreed in the Treaty of Versailles, due to this there were not enough goods in Germany so the prices rose. The government had also printed more money to pay reparations and the workers of Ruhr. This made inflation even worse.

Due to hyperinflation among other things the government was once again very unpopular and many people turned to violence. The army was to desert the government the government and due to the crisis Hitler saw his chance to take control.

Kirsti Hanlon