These uprising basically took place in order to take control and to gain power; the Germans believed that this new government was very weak and that they were guilty of how they handled the treaty of Versailles. The Germans also believed that the Weimar constitution were incompetent. The Weimar government were also classed weak because of the occupation of the Ruhr and the fact that the reparations were the cause of the poverty which occurred.
The Spartacists were on the left wing and they were very much communists, they were led by Liebnecht and Rosa Luxemburg. They wanted Germany to be ruled by a workers’ council or soviets. In the early parts of 1919 the Spartacists launched their bid to gain power. They were joined by rebel soldiers and sailors; they set up soviets in many towns. However, some soldiers were anti-communist ex-soldiers who formed themselves into vigilante groups called the Freikorps.
Ebert had agreed with the commanders of the army and the Freikorps to put down the rebellion. This led to bitter street fighting between the Spartacists and the Freikorps. Both of these sides were heavily armed, which is why the number of casualties was considerably high. The Freikorps succeeded and soon after the rebellion Rosa Luxemburg and Liebknecht were murdered.
The Bavarians were on the extreme left wing they were led by Kirt Eisner, who was Ebert’s ally. In February 1919 he was murdered by political opponents. This meant a great opportunity for the communists to declare a soviet republic in Bavaria. Using the same tactics as he did against the Spartacists, Ebert got the Freikorps to move in to crush the revolt may 1919. Around 600 communists were killed in the process.
The Kapp Putcsh was one of the two opponents of the Weimar from the right. In March 1920 Dr Wolfgang Kapp led 5000 Freikorps into Berlin in a rebellion known as the Kapp Putcsh. The army refused to fire on the Freikorps and it looked as if Ebert’s government were doomed. However, the German public saved Germany from major destruction as the industrial workers went on general strike. This meant that there was no transport, power or water. After a few days Kapp realised that he wouldn’t succeed so he left the country.
Kapp was hunted down and he died shortly before his trial. The rest of the rebels were set free by the court and the judges. Kapp’s attempt to go back to the ways of the Kaiser, had failed.
The Munich Putsch was organised by Adolph Hitler who was an extreme right winger. This attempted rebellion occurred in November 1923, Adolph Hitler led an attempted rebellion in Munich. Hitler received a short prison sentence. It was a major coincidence how the judge was the same judge who had tried him two years earlier for disorder. Both times Hitler got off very lightly; it seemed that the Weimar’s right wing opponent had friends in high places.
Did the events of 1919-1923 make the Weimar Republic stronger or weaker? Explain your answers
In my opinion, I feel that the three major events which occurred in the years between the years of 1919-1923 made the Weimar Government both weaker and stronger in some cases. The three major events which occurred were: French occupation of the Ruhr, hyper inflation and the Munich Putcsh.
The French occupation of the Ruhr weakened the Weimar republic for the reason that a foreign country has invaded German territory and the government haven’t reacted to it, they have let the French occupy the Ruhr. This all took place because the German could not afford to pay off the reparations to the French and as the Ruhr is heavily industrialised the French targeted it in order to try and make some of the money back that they were owed in reparations. As a result of the invasion the Germans called for a passive resistance because they didn’t want to be ordered around by the French. This invasion showed a real weakness in how the government reacted as they couldn’t stop the threat from the French.
In a way the French occupation of the Ruhr strengthened the Germans as it united all the Germans and brought them closer as a society as their passive resistance ended up with the French leaving the Ruhr. This showed a strength in the government as they actually united and stopped the French from taking advantage of the Germans dire financial situations; this led to Hyperinflation in Germany.
The hyper inflation really showed a weakness of the Weimar government because they let the problem get to far out of hand it began in 1922. The hyper inflation added to the economic problems that the Germans were already facing, as well as the fact of the poverty which was now starting to be shown even more in the country. The German currency had become absolutely worthless, what would have bought you a car one day would have just about covered a loaf of bread the next day. As a result of this German people were starving because they didn’t have enough money to buy them any food with.
In August 1923, Chancellor Gustav Stresemann took over. He called of the passive resistance in the Ruhr. He called in the worthless marks and burned them; he created a new currency called the Rentenmark. He negotiated to receive loans from the Americans through what is known as the Dawes plan; this was done in order to pay off the reparations to their enemies the French. He renegotiated with France to arrange the reparation payments and the economic crisis was over. This showed that the Weimar were Strong because Stresemann got the German people back on their feet by helping to get the industrial area of the Ruhr producing goods again.
The Munich Putsch weakened for the reason that they showed that they showed that they lacked power. The attempted uprising was lead by Adolph Hitler; however, Hitler’s attempt to gain power had failed. Hitler got off very lightly and was sentenced to two years imprisonment which was then reduced to nine months; this showed that the Weimar was weak and that they failed to keep Hitler in prison for the full sentence as well as any from any future attempts of gaining power and causing trouble. However, you could argue that the Weimar were a success because they managed to imprison Adolph Hitler.
Conclusion
In conclusion my opinion of the Weimar constitution is that it weak in some cases and stronger in others. They showed great weakness during the uprisings from the extreme right and left wings. They also showed great weakness when the French occupied the Ruhr, and due to the government not dealing with this case properly hyperinflation was to follow and add to the already economical instability of the country. However, they showed strength when the Germans got together and worked as a unit to put an end to the occupation of the Ruhr. They also showed strength when they got Germany back on their feet after Chancellor Gustav Stresemann helped them out by calling of the passive resistance and borrowed money in order to get the economy going once again. They also showed some strength when they imprisoned Hitler for his attempted rebellion from which he was trying to gain power.
