Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918–39 · GCSE History

The Weimar Republic, 1918–1923

The Kaiser abdicated in November 1918, and the new Weimar Republic signed the armistice. Its constitution (1919) gave the vote to everyone over 20 and used proportional representation, but led to weak coalitions, and Article 48 let the President rule by decree.
The Treaty of Versailles (1919) was hated: Germany lost territory, its armed forces were cut, it accepted blame for the war and had to pay reparations. The politicians who signed the armistice were called the 'November Criminals'.
Challenges: the Spartacist Uprising (1919), the Kapp Putsch (1920), political murders, the French occupation of the Ruhr (1923) and hyperinflation (1923), which wiped out savings but let some people pay off debts.

Gustav Stresemann introduced the Rentenmark (1923) and negotiated the Dawes Plan (1924) and the Young Plan (1929). The Locarno Pact (1925), joining the League of Nations (1926) and the Kellogg–Briand Pact (1928), which renounced war, improved Germany's standing.
Society changed: wages and housing improved, unemployment insurance was introduced (1927), women gained the vote and more opportunities, and art, cinema and architecture flourished. But the recovery depended on American loans.

Hitler joined the small German Workers' Party (DAP) in 1919, which became the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in 1920, with a 25-Point Programme. The SA (Brownshirts) was set up in 1921.
The Munich Putsch (November 1923) failed, but Hitler's trial gave him publicity, and in prison he wrote Mein Kampf. During the 'lean years' (1924–28), support was low, but Hitler reorganised the party.
The Depression (from 1929) brought mass unemployment and support for extremist parties. Nazi propaganda, Hitler's image and fear of communism won votes. In the 1932 presidential election, Hindenburg beat Hitler, but Hitler won over 13 million votes. In July 1932 the Nazis became the largest party.
After political deals, Hindenburg appointed Hitler Chancellor on 30 January 1933.

Creating a dictatorship: the Reichstag Fire and emergency decree (February 1933), the Enabling Act (March 1933), banning trade unions and other parties (1933), the Night of the Long Knives (June 1934), and Hitler becoming Führer (August 1934).
Control: the SS, the Gestapo, concentration camps, the courts, propaganda (Goebbels) and censorship; the Concordat with the Catholic Church (1933), and the Reich Church.
Women: the Law for the Encouragement of Marriage (1933) gave loans to newly married couples, reduced with each child. Young people: the Hitler Youth and the League of German Maidens; Nazi-controlled schools.
Employment: the Reich Labour Service, autobahns, rearmament and conscription cut unemployment. The figures ignored 'invisible unemployment', such as women and Jews forced out of jobs. The German Labour Front replaced trade unions.
Persecution: a 1933 law led to the forced sterilisation of people with some disabilities and hereditary illnesses. Jews faced the boycott (1933), the Nuremberg Laws (1935) and Kristallnacht (1938). Roma and other minorities were also persecuted.

Weimar Republic: The democratic German government from 1919 to 1933.
November Criminals: The name given by opponents to the politicians who signed the armistice.
Hyperinflation: Prices rising so fast that money becomes worthless, as in 1923.
Rentenmark: The new currency introduced in 1923 to end hyperinflation.
Putsch: An attempt to seize power by force.
SA: The Nazi stormtroopers, also called the Brownshirts.
Enabling Act: The 1933 law that let Hitler make laws without the Reichstag.
Invisible unemployment: Unemployed groups, such as women and Jews, left out of the official figures.
Gestapo: The Nazi secret police.