Moreover, the Kapp Putsch was led by a right winger, so the army and Freikorps refused to help. This showed that even the army could not be trusted. Ebert, the prime minister, was forced to call on the workers of Berlin- who were left wing- to go on strike. As a result, Berlin came to a stand still and the Putsch collapsed. This proved that the Weimar Republic had little power in repelling uprisings.
The Weimar Republic claimed to be completely democratic, especially after the totalitarian rule of the Kaiser. However, out of the 276 seats available in the Reichstag, 159 opposed democracy. This included the National Party which wanted to return to the rule of Kaiser. At the other end of the spectrum were the communists who wanted to believe democracy was not necessary. Clearly, parties like these weakened the democratic processes of the Weimar Republic and only increased its problems. The far right conservatives such as the “National Party” were often in conflict with liberal parties including the Social Democrats.
c) In 1923, the Weimar Republic was extremely unpopular and Hitler felt that this was his opportunity to seize power. On the 8th of November, Hitler and 600 other storm troopers entered a beer hall in Munich where Hitler declared himself President of Germany. The SA took over the local state army head quarters. Jews were physically assaulted and the offices of the anti-Nazi newspaper Munich Post were vandalised. The next day, Hitler marched on Munich but he had overestimated the support as the state police and army remained loyal to the government. During the clash, sixteen Nazis were killed. Ludendorff, who had supported Hitler’s failed coup, was arrested and Hitler fled the scene only to be arrested two days later charged with treason.
Hitler turned his trial into a publicity opportunity and gave long speeches that attacked the Weimar Republic and opposition parties. Prior to the Munich Putsch, Hitler had been an unknown Bavarian politician but after his trial he became a national right wing hero.
Hitler was sentenced to 5 years’ imprisonment but served only nine months because of a lenient judge. In confinement, Hitler wrote Mein Kampf, outlining many of the policies which he later put into practise as the Fuhrer. More importantly, the Munich putsch taught Hitler that he could become leader by rebelling- he changed his strategy to gain power by being elected.
d) The period of 1924-1929 under Stresemann is often called the Golden Age of the Weimar Republic as Germany began to recover economically, socially and enjoyed improved relations with other countries. As a result, the influence of extremist parties such as the Nazis and Communists lessened because the German public seemed to be satisfied with its government.
Praised as a skilful diplomat and statesman, Stresemann implemented a series of programmes that enabled the economic recovery of Germany. Stresemann called off the 1923 Ruhr Strike and began to pay reparations again. Although, this lost him the support of hard-line Germans who were bent on rebelling, hyperinflation began to go down as Germany restarted its industrial work. More importantly, the French left the Ruhr when persuaded by Stresemann and once payments were resumed. The American Dawes Plan allowed Germany to pay reparations according to its ability and the Young Plan of 1929 gave Germany a further 59 years to pay back the reparations. However, many Germans criticised the dependence of the German economy on US loans as the Plans could easily be ignored if foreign policy changed or the US was facing its own financial problems. This was certainly the case when the Depression hit the US and American banks began calling in loans.
Stresemann controlled the inflation by calling in the old, worthless marks and burned them. He replaced them with the new Rentenmark- worth 3,000 million old marks. In 1925, Stresemann signed the Locarno Treaty in which Germany agreed to its current borders including the loss of Alsace-Lorraine. The next year, Germany joined the League of Nations. It was evident that German was not a pariah anymore and had a considerable amount of influence. Despite establishing advantageous international ties, Stresemann lost the support of many Germans who saw his action as undermining the supremacy of Germany. Ex-soldiers like the Freikorps and the general German public believed that he was “stabbing the army in the back” by agreeing to the demands of the allies who had imposed “peace” on them in 1919. This meant that support for extremist, far right parties grew which proved to later destabilise the country.
Stresemann borrowed 25,000 million gold marks mainly from America. The money was used to build roads, railways and factories. These initiatives not only improved trade in German but employed thousands of people who began to enjoy a better quality lifestyle and prosperity. German culture also flourished and produced many talented actors, writers and artists such as Marlene Dietrich, Paul Klee and Erich Maria Remarque. However, the risqué lifestyle of the upper classes led the majority of ordinary Germans who valued traditional customs to label it as “decadence”. Many groups emerged that opposed this kind of heady and immoral lifestyle. Again, some Germans turned to extremist parties like the Nazis who wanted to return to country values.
Therefore, Germany certainly did recover economically and socially under Stresemann from 1924-1929. In the short term, the above policies and agreements helped Germany to recover but all of this fell apart as a result of the depression. Stresemann was mainly criticised for his dependence on the USA for loans as the Weimar republic could not guarantee that prosperity would last. Later, this made Hitler determined to establish complete German autarky.
