Weimar Germany• The Constitution (democratic principals) allowed

small parties to gain seats easily.– The president was permitted to rule by decree in

an emergency, permitting presidential dictatorship• Friedrich Ebert, a moderate socialistfirst president• The republic also lacked broad popular support.– massive inflation, due to the reparations imposed

by the allies11 trillion marks to dollar– The invasion of the Ruhr by the French caused the

German people to resent the Weimar government even more.

Unstable Germany

• Marxist rebellions threatened the new republic• Ebert turned to the old imperial officer corps

and “Free Corps” to crush the Marxists• “Free Corps” right-wing military groupattempts

the Kapp Putsch in 1920 in hope of creating a military run government– Fails due to workers lack of support of the overthrow

• By 1920, Marxist threat eliminated, but the far right threat dangerous

Factors of Doom for the Weimar

• German people unfamiliar with democracyallegiance had been to the Kaiser

• Wrongly blamed for the humiliation Germany faced under the Treaty of Versailles

• Insurmountable economic problemsdestroyed infrastructure and huge war reparations to pay

In 1923, Germany suffered from cataclysmic inflation. Paper money became worthless and children usedpackets of it as building blocks. Bettmann/Hulton Deutsch/CORBIS/Bettmann

The Stresemann Years• 1923 Gustav Stresemannbecame Chancellor of Germany– To repair inflationa new German currency introduced

helping Germany to get the economy back on its feet– agreed to a new system of reparation payments in 1924,

which helped to lower inflation.– In 1925, right after the French left the Ruhr, Field Marshal

Paul von Hindenburg became president.• Locarno– 1925 Locarno Agreements helped to integrate Germany

back into the European system.– However, its conciliatory outlook continued to alienate the

German nationalist public– 1926, Germany joined the League of Nations

Hitler Denounces the Versailles Treaty

• P. 1026• Topic sentence• 3 detail sentences• Most important sentence

During a Nazi Party rally in Nuremberg in 1927, AdolfHitler stops his motorcade to receive the applause of thesurrounding crowd. In the late 1920s, the Nazi movementwas only one of many bringing strife to the Weimar Republic.Heinrich Hoffman/Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz