Not only were there problems with the parties, but the civil service, judiciary, army etc also proved to be very unsupportive. All of these people had kept their jobs from the time of the Kaiser. They were “unwilling to transfer their loyalty from the imperialist Kaiser to the democratically elected president of a Republic” and they were “to prove a dangerous and subversive influence” (Evans and Jenkins)
Not only was the government divided in opinions, but also so to was the country. Germany operated within a Federal system, which meant it was possible for different states to have different rules and policies. These individual states were called the Lander and according to Evans and Jenkins they “could also create problems”.
Added to all of this was the humiliation of defeat at war, which disaffected large amounts of the public. Not only this but the Treaty of Versailles was seem as a ‘stab in the back’ delivered by the new Republic to the German people.
Over all it can be seen that there were many severe political problems. However there is no evidence to suggest that any of these problems were dealt with in any way what so ever.
As previously mentioned the Republic faced threats from both the Left and the Right. One of the first threats came from the Left and the group called the Spartacists. This group was lead by middle class intellectuals, and these included Karl Liebknect, Rosa Luxemburg, Clara Zetkin and Franz Mehring. After the war Leibknect used his oratory skills to urge the public to reject Ebert. Then on 16th December 1919 when an uprising began 16 Spartacists were killed when soldiers opened fire on the public. They then boycotted the next election and on 6th January staged an uprising in Berlin claiming they had over thrown Ebert. Along with General Noske, Ebert used force to try to disband the Spartacists. New recruits were to join the High Command as the regular army was in a state of confusion. It then took three days to crush the uprising. Whilst this revolt was ended, it could be argued that this was far from ‘remarkable’. Only through sheer brute force could this be managed, and even them it was chaotic. It could be suggested that this was more luck than anything else!
Also a threat from the Left was the communist uprising in the Ruhr. Arms were issued to a so-called ‘Red army’ and barricades were set up in the street. A government was established at Essen and planned to set up an independent Soviet Republic. However the army were quick to act and hundreds were killed as the Reichswehr restored normality. There is little success or control in this action, merely brutality.
Also extremely significant were the Right wing uprisings, including the Kapp Putsch. Both General Von Luttwitz and Wolfgang Kapp strongly disagreed to the army cuts the government had agreed to by signing the treaty of Versailles. The men of the Balitkum Brigade and also a Brigade led by Hermann Ehrhardt (who were due to be disbanded) joined with members of the Freikorps, making their numbers up to 12,000 men. They then chose to march through the Brandenburg gates and Kapp planned to become chancellor. The Reichstag members were forced to flee to Bresden and then to Stuttgart. Although the army was not in support of the Putsch, they refused to act. General Von Seeckt claimed, “Reichswehr does not fire on Reichswehr”. Before leaving, Ebert and Bauer had urged the workers to strike. “No factory must work while the military dictatorship of Ludendorff and the others rule. Down your tools! Come out on strike! Fight with all means for the Republic” This proved very effective. There was no water, electric, gas, or public transport. Civil servants would not follow Kapps orders and the banks would give him no money. After only 4 days it collapsed. “in reality, the putsch had been mistimed, badly planned and failed to muster anything like to expected support. Apart from a general desire to over throw the Republic, the leaders of the putsch had no worth while policies and lacked the means to establish an effective government.” It is plausible to suggest that the failure of this putsch was not entirely to success of the government. It was due to the inefficiency of Kapp and Luttwitz, and the government were lucky that this attempt was made by what could be called amateurs. Also the strike which they called for may not have been necessary, as it was not, after all, particularly beneficial to the economy! Had the government stood their ground than the army would have been forced to act and there would have not necessarily have been a strike. Whilst the putsch showed that German workers were willing to resist in favour of the Republic, it does not show that the government would resist in favour of the government! Out of the 412 officers involved, only 48 were fired, and only 1 was sent to prison. This shows a great weakness and lack of vindication, deterrence and retribution – meaning further attempts were far more likely. This is a far from effective way of dealing with political problems.
And of course, there was another significant uprising: the Munich Putsch. On the 8th November 1923 Hitler took control of Burgerbraukeller, a beer hall in Bavaria. He claimed the Bavarian government had been over thrown and convinced Von Kahr, General Otto Von Lossow and Hans von Seisser to join him on a march to Berlin. 3000 Nazis accompanied him. Armed police met them, and after 1 policeman was shot they were opened fire upon. The putsch was then ended. This served to give Hitler a large deal of popularity, sympathy and publicity. The leaders were accused of treason, however, Ludendorff was let off and Hitler was only given 5 years in prison. This again made to government look weak by failing to take a harsher line on those who should have been punished. Also it shows that the government had no coping methods other than army intervention, communication was not possible. The governments way of dealing with this matter was, again, not entirely satisfactory.
Not only did the Republic have political problems to deal with, they also had enormous financial burdens to deal with. They had already inherited a lot of problems from the war. There was heavy rationing in place, and people simply did not have enough money for food. Earnings were falling by 20-30%. The German government was not able to help the population, due to the huge amount of reparations they were due to pay to the allies. The sum was set at £6,600 million and they were to pay £100 million of this each year. It can be seen that this was not possible by the fact that their first payment was only £50 million. Not all historians would agree with this statement. For example John Hite and Chris Hinton claim, “Reparations were not so burdensome that they destroyed the German economy”. To add to Germanys problems was the French invasion of the Ruhr. On the 11th of January 1923 Poincare sent 60,000 French and Belgium troops into the Ruhr. This area produced 80% of the nations steel and 71% of its cool. It can be argued that it was in-fact “the region on which the whole German economy was dependent” (Evans and Jenkins). During this time a suspension of reparations began and German workers were urged not to co-operate. The French tried to deport those who tried to strike, and 150 workers were killed.
During and after the invasion of the Ruhr there was massive inflation. In 1914 £1 was worth 20marks, by 1919 it had risen to 250 marks. However there is great debate as to what caused this inflation. Synder claims that, “the entire problem was closely connected with the reparations demanded by the allies”. Stephen Lee believes that “the dramatic collapse of the mark was the direct result of this occupation [of the Ruhr] and the passive resistance to it”. There is then another argument from Kolb who believes “the governments passiveness in the matter of currency stabilisation is no doubt to be interpreted as part of its strategy over reparations”. Synder rejects this view as “incorrect and unjust” He maintains that “the process of inflation was already under way when the French occupied the Ruhr”.
No matter which Historians version you choose to believe the governments coping methods can be judged similarly. Looking at Stephen Lee and Kolb’s argument the government’s actions can be seen as pitiless. Looking at the results of their action i.e. loss of German life and the huge inflation it was a merciless and selfish act. By looking at Synder’s view, it should have been obvious to the government that a general strike would only further aggravate the problem of inflation.
From looking at the problems faced by the Republic, and the way in which they dealt with them, it can be said that whilst they managed to get through them, this was mainly through either sheer force or luck.
Mhairi B Thomson
Word count: 1929
