THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC The Weimar Republic provides a comprehensive introduction to Germany in the aftermath of the First World War. Exploring themes including the formation of the Republic, the impact of the Treaty of Versailles and the Republic s problems and achievements, it is an invaluable study guide. This second edition includes two new chapters: the first looks at the Chancellors and Presidents of the Republic, the second assesses the career of Gustav Stresemann. It also contains a timeline and updated analysis to enhance readers understanding of events and controversies. Integrating historical interpretation, exam-style questions, and evaluation of sources, this book provides students with a clear understanding and a foundation for examination success. Stephen J. Lee is the former Head of History at Bromsgrove School. He has published over twenty books, including European Dictatorships and, in this series, Hitler and Nazi Germany and Imperial Germany. The Questions and Analysis in History Series provides short texts on central historical issues. Each book is structured to provide: Clear and concise background information A discussion of key issues Examples of documentary material with related questions Sample worked answers Guidance on using sources and on further reading.
Questions and Analysis in History Edited by Stephen J. Lee, Sean Lang and Jocelyn Hunt Other titles in the series: Modern History Imperial Germany, 1871 1918 Stephen J. Lee The Weimar Republic Stephen J. Lee Hitler and Nazi Germany Stephen J. Lee The Spanish Civil War Andrew Forrest The Cold War Bradley Lightbody Stalin and the Soviet Union Stephen J. Lee Parliamentary Reform, 1785 1928 Sean Lang British Foreign and Imperial Policy, 1865 1919 Graham D. Goodlad The French Revolution Jocelyn Hunt The First World War Ian C. Cawood and David McKinnon-Bell Anglo-Irish Relations, 1798 1922 Nick Pelling Churchill Samantha Heywood Mussolini and Fascism Patricia Knight Lenin and Revolutionary Russia Stephen J. Lee Gladstone and Disraeli Stephen J. Lee Russia and the USSR, 1855 1991 Stephen J. Lee Early Modern History The English Wars and Republic, 1636 1660 Graham E. Seel The Renaissance Jocelyn Hunt Tudor Government T. A. Morris Spain, 1474 1598 Jocelyn Hunt The Early Stuart Kings, 1603 1642 Graham E. Seel and David L. Smith The Mid Tudors: Edward VI and Mary, 1547 1558 Stephen J. Lee The Reign of Elizabeth I, 1558 1603 Stephen J. Lee
THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC Second Edition STEPHEN J. LEE Routledge Taylor & Francis Group LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 1998 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 Second edition published 2010 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business 1998, 2010 Stephen J. Lee Typeset in Akzidenz Grotesk, Perpetua and Scala Sans by Book Now Ltd, London Printed and bound in Great Britain by TJ International, Padstow, Cornwall All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Lee, Stephen J., 1945 The Weimar Republic / Stephen J. Lee. 2nd ed. p. cm. (Questions and analysis in history) 1. Germany Politics and government 1918 1933. 2. Germany Social conditions 1918 1933. 3. Germany Economic conditions. 4. Germany Foreign relations 1918 1933. I. Title. II. Series. DD240.L394 2009 943.085 dc22 2008054276 ISBN10: 0 415 47323 3 (hbk) ISBN10: 0 415 47322 5 (pbk) ISBN10: 0 203 97944 3 (ebk) ISBN13: 978 0 415 47323 1 (hbk) ISBN13: 978 0 415 47322 4 (pbk) ISBN13: 978 0 203 97944 0 (ebk)
CONTENTS List of illustrations Outline chronology Series preface Introduction Acknowledgements ix xi xv xvii xviii 1 The German Revolution, 1918 19 1 Background 1 Analysis 1: Explain the political conflict in Germany between 1914 and 1919 2 Analysis 2: Was there a German Revolution, 1918 19? 6 Sources: 1. The birth of the Republic and its enemies 13 2. Historians and the German Revolution 17 2 Versailles and its impact, 1919 33 20 Background 20 Analysis 1: Was the Treaty of Versailles a Carthaginian peace? 21 CONTENTS v
Analysis 2: Was the Treaty of Versailles a disaster for the Weimar Republic? 26 Sources: 1. War guilt 30 2. Historians on the legacy of the Treaty of Versailles 33 3 The constitution and party system, 1919 33 35 Background 35 Analysis 1: How democratic was the Weimar Republic? 36 Analysis 2: Analyse the role of the political parties during the Weimar Republic 41 Sources: 1. The constitution, reactions and developments 48 2. Historians and the crisis of party government in Weimar Germany 50 4 Chancellors and Presidents of the Republic, 1918 33 55 Background 55 Analysis 1: Examine the roles and significance of the twelve Chancellors of the Weimar Republic 55 Analysis 2: Compare Ebert and Hindenburg as Presidents of the Weimar Republic 63 Sources: 1. Presidents of the Weimar Republic 69 5 Crisis and recovery, 1920 23 73 Background 73 Analysis 1: Why was the Republic confronted by crisis between 1920 and 1923? 74 Analysis 2: Why had the Republic not collapsed by 1923? 78 vi CONTENTS
Sources: 1. What motivated political action? 81 2. The impact of economic crisis 83 6 A period of stability, 1924 29? 86 Background 86 Analysis 1: How stable was the Weimar Republic economically between 1924 and 1929? 87 Analysis 2: How stable was the Weimar Republic politically between 1924 and 1929? 90 Sources: 1. Political stability? 95 2. Historians on the period of economic stabilisation 97 7 Foreign policy, 1919 33 100 Background 100 Analysis 1: What were the aims and methods of the foreign policy of the Weimar Republic between 1918 and 1929? 101 Analysis 2: What were the aims and methods of the foreign policy of the Weimar Republic between 1929 and 1933? 108 Sources: 1. The foreign policy of Stresemann 113 2. Germany and Russia, 1922 26 115 8 Gustav Stresemann: an assessment 118 Background 118 Analysis 1: How successful was Stresemann s foreign policy? 119 Analysis 2: Assess the importance of Gustav Stresemann in the domestic development of the Weimar Republic 123 CONTENTS vii
Sources: 1. Historians on the state of Stresemann s foreign policy by 1929 130 2. Historians on Stresemann s domestic influence 132 9 Social and cultural achievements, 1918 33 135 Background 135 Analysis 1: How extensive were the social achievements of the Weimar Republic? 135 Analysis 2: Did the Weimar Republic see a golden age of German culture? 139 Sources: 1. The Weimar Republic and women 144 2. Historians and Weimar culture 146 10 Crisis and collapse, 1929 33 150 Background 150 Analysis 1: Examine the controversy over the Chancellorship of Heinrich Brüning (1930 32) 151 Analysis 2: Why did Weimar democracy collapse after 1929? 156 Analysis 3: What were the alternatives to the replacement of the Weimar Republic by a Nazi regime? Why did these not occur? 161 Sources: 1. Propaganda for electoral support 164 2. Historians and the role of Heinrich Brüning 170 Notes 175 Select bibliography 185 Index 188 viii CONTENTS
ILLUSTRATIONS 1 The constitution of the Weimar Republic 41 2 The main political parties of the Weimar Republic 47 3 Reichstag election results during the Weimar Republic 51 4 The Chancellors and Presidents of the Weimar Republic 56 5 A cartoon by Heine: Ebert s Heavy Task (1919) 70 6 An election poster produced by the NSDAP in 1932 165 7 An election poster produced by the SPD in 1932 166 8 An election poster produced by the Centre Party 167 9 An election poster produced by the NSDAP 168 10 A cartoon by John Heartfield, produced in 1932 169 ILLUSTRATIONS ix
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OUTLINE CHRONOLOGY 1918 September October November December 1919 January February April May Kaiser advised by Hindenburg and Ludendorff to form a parliamentary government Appointment of Prince Max of Baden as Chancellor; naval mutiny at Wilhelmshaven Naval mutiny at Kiel; overthrow of Wittelsbach dynasty in Bavaria and establishment of Independent Socialist regime under Eisner; abdication of Kaiser; proclamation of Republic by Scheidemann (9); handover of government by Prince Max to Ebert; formation of Council of People s Representatives (SPD and USPD); Ebert Groener Pact; Armistice with the Allies (11); formation of DVP, DDP, DNVP Resignation of USPD from Council of People s Representatives; formation of KPD Spartacist uprising in Berlin; death of Liebknecht and Luxemburg; formation of DAP in Munich; elections for National Assembly National Assembly convened in Weimar; Ebert elected President; Scheidemann appointed Chancellor; assassination of Eisner in Bavaria Bavarian Soviet Republic under Leviné Overthrow of Bavarian Soviet Republic by Freikorps OUTLINE CHRONOLOGY xi
June August October 1920 February March June October 1921 February April May July August 1922 April June July September November 1923 January Ruhr August September October November Bauer succeeded Scheidemann as Chancellor; signing of Treaty of Versailles Constitution of the Weimar Republic Hitler joined DAP DAP became NSDAP; Twenty-Five Point programme. Kapp Putsch; Communist uprisings in Ruhr and Saxony (March to April); Müller succeeded Bauer as Chancellor Reichstag elections; Fehrenbach succeeded Müller as Chancellor (to December) Split of USPD; left wing joined KPD London Conference on reparations Reparations fixed at 132,000 million gold marks London Ultimatum over reparations; Wirth succeeded Fehrenbach as Chancellor; policy of fulfilment Hitler leader of NSDAP Assassination of Erzberger Genoa Conference; Treaty of Rapallo with Soviet Union Assassination of Rathenau Law for the Protection of the Republic Remainder of USPD rejoined SPD Cuno succeeded Wirth as Chancellor French occupation of the Ruhr; passive resistance in Stresemann succeeded Cuno as Chancellor End of passive resistance in the Ruhr; state of emergency under Article 48 of constitution; Kahr State Commissioner of Bavaria SPD KPD government in Saxony overthrown by Reichswehr Hitler s Munich Putsch; Rentenmark introduced; KPD, SPD, DNVP brought about collapse of Stresemann s government; Marx succeeded Stresemann as Chancellor xii OUTLINE CHRONOLOGY
1924 February April May December 1925 January February April October 1926 April May September December 1927 January July 1928 February May June August October December 1929 June October November December 1930 March End of state of emergency Hitler sentenced to imprisonment; Dawes Plan Reichstag elections Reichstag elections; Hitler s release from prison Luther succeeded Marx as Chancellor Death of Ebert Hindenburg elected President Locarno Treaties Treaty of Berlin with Soviet Union Marx succeeded Luther as Chancellor Germany joined League of Nations Stresemann and Briand awarded Nobel Peace Prize Early withdrawal of Inter-Allied Military Commission from Germany Law on Labour Exchange and Unemployment Insurance Crisis over Reich School Law Reichstag elections Müller succeeded Marx as Chancellor formation of Grand Coalition Kellogg Briand Pact Hugenberg leader of DNVP Kaas leader of Centre Party Young Plan Death of Stresemann Wall Street Crash Failure of right-wing plebiscite to overturn Young Plan Reichstag ratified Young Plan; collapse of Grand Coalition; Brüning succeeded Müller as Chancellor OUTLINE CHRONOLOGY xiii
June September 1931 May June July 1932 February April May June July November December 1933 January Early withdrawal of Allied troops from Rhineland Reichstag elections Collapse of Kreditanstalt Hoover Moratorium German banking crisis Geneva Disarmament Conference Hindenburg re-elected President; Brüning banned SA and SS Papen succeeded Brüning as Chancellor Ban on SA and SS revoked Lausanne Conference and cancellation of remaining reparations payments; Papen withdrew Germany from Geneva Disarmament Conference; Reichstag elections Reichstag elections Schleicher succeeded Papen as Chancellor Unemployment over 6 million; Hitler succeeded Schleicher as Chancellor (30), with Papen as Vice Chancellor xiv OUTLINE CHRONOLOGY
SERIES PREFACE The Questions and Analysis series has two main aims. The first is to separate narrative from interpretation so that the latter is no longer diluted by the former. Each chapter starts with a background narrative section containing essential information. This material is then used in a section focusing on analysis through a specific question. The main purpose of this is to help to tighten up essay technique. The second aim is to provide a comprehensive range of sources for each of the issues covered. The questions are of the type which appear on examination papers, and some have worked answers to demonstrate the techniques required. The chapters may be approached in different ways. The background narratives can be read first to provide an overall perspective, followed by the analyses and then the sources. The alternative method is to work through all the components of each chapter before going on to the next. SERIES PREFACE xv
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INTRODUCTION This title, The Weimar Republic, was first published in 1998 as the first contribution to the Questions and Analysis series. The total number of volumes now stands at 23, covering themes in Modern and Early Modern History. Numerous changes have taken place in the structure of examination questions and it is no longer possible to replicate these precisely: the focus in this volume is therefore more on the style of question rather than on the precise wording or mark allocation. The later volumes have also included a significant increase in the study of historiography, intended for students both at A2 and in higher education. This I have tried to reflect through a more extensive inclusion of historical debates covering all aspects of the Weimar Republic. Finally, I have updated a number of specific interpretations and have allowed more space for the treatment of individuals; this applies especially to Ebert, Stresemann, Hindenburg and Brüning but I have also included something on each and every Chancellor of the Republic. These additions explain why this second edition is substantially longer than the first. INTRODUCTION xvii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Author and publisher are grateful to the following: For written sources: V.R. Berghahn, Modern Germany: Society, Economy and Politics in the Twentieth Century (Cambridge University Press, first published 1982, edition used, 1995); J.A.S. Grenville, The Major International Treaties, 1914 1973 (Methuen, 1974); A. Kaes, M. Jay and E. Dimendberg (eds), The Weimar Republic Sourcebook (University of California Press, Berkeley, 1994); J.W. Hiden, The Weimar Republic (Longman, 1974); J. Laver, Imperial and Weimar Germany (Hodder & Stoughton, 1992); G. Layton, From Bismarck to Hitler: Germany 1890 1933 (Hodder & Stoughton, 1995); J. Noakes and G. Pridham, Nazism, 1919 1945 (University of Exeter Press, 1996 edition); J.J.K. Peukert, The Weimar Republic (Penguin Books, trans, 1991); J. Remak (ed.), The Nazi Years (Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1969); L.L. Snyder, The Weimar Republic (Van Nostrand, Princeton, NJ, 1996); The German White Book Concerning the Responsibility of the Authors of the War (New York, 1924); Count Max Monteglas, The Case for the Central Powers (London, 1925); Philip Scheidemann, The Making of New Germany: Memoirs, trans. J.E. Michell II (Appleton Century Crofts, Inc., New York, 1929); W.G. Runciman (ed.), Max Weber, Selections in Translation, trans. E. Matthews (Cambridge University Press, 1978); Alma Luckau, The German Delegation at the Paris Peace Conference (Columbia University Press, New York, 1941); Harlan R. Crippen (ed.), Germany: A Self Portrait (Oxford University Press, London, 1944); G. Bry, Wages in Germany, 1871 1945 (Princeton UP, Princeton, NJ, 1960); F.K. Ringer (ed.), The German Inflation of 1923 (Oxford University Press, 1969); Eric Sutton (ed. and trans.), Gustav Stresemann: His Diaries, Letters and Papers, II, 1935 7 (The Macmillan Company and Curtis Brown Ltd., New York); xviii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
E. Kolb, The Weimar Republic (trans. Routledge, 1988); M. Laffan (ed.), The Burden of German History 1919 45. Essays for the Goethe Institute (Methuen, 1988); A. Nicholls (ed.), German Democracy and the Triumph of Hitler: Essays in Recent German History (George Allen and Unwin, 1971); A.J. Ryder, The German Revolution of 1918 (Cambridge UP, 1967); S. Haffner, Failure of a Revolution: Germany 1918 19 (trans. André Deutsch, London, 1973); E.J. Feuchtwanger, From Weimar to Hitler: Germany, 1918 33 (St Martin s Press, New York, 1993); H. Mommsen, The Rise and Fall of Weimar Democracy (trans. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill and London, 1996); A.J.P. Taylor, Origins of the Second World War (Hamish Hamilton, London, 1961); M. MacMillan, Peacemakers: The Paris Conference of 1919 and its Attempt to End War (John Murray, London, 2001); M.F. Boemeke, G.D. Feldman, E. Glaser (eds.), The Treaty of Versailles: A reassessment after 75 years (Cambridge UP, 1998); A. Osiander, The States System of Europe, 1640 1990: Peacemaking and the Conditions of International Stability (Oxford UP, 1994); H. Schulze, Germany: A New History (trans. D.L. Schneider), Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1998); G. Scheele, The Weimar Republic: Overture to the Third Reich (Faber and Faber, London, 1946); H.W. Koch, A Constitutional History of Germany in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (Longman, London, 1984); V.R. Berghahn and M. Kitchen (eds.), Germany in the Age of Total War (Croom Helm, London, 1981); A. Dorpalen, Hindenburg and the Weimar Republic (Princeton UP, Princeton, NJ, 1964); J.W. Wheeler- Bennett, Hindenburg: The Wooden Titan (London 1936; 1967 edition); E.J. Passant, A Short History of Germany 1815 1945 (Cambridge UP, 1962); H. Holborn, A History of Modern Germany 1840 1945 (Eyre and Spottiswoode, London, 1969); W.M. Knight-Patterson, Germany from Defeat to Conquest (George Allen and Unwin, London, 1945); J. Wright, Gustav Stresemann: Weimar s Greatest Statesman (Oxford UP, Oxford, 2002); H.A. Turner, Stresemann and the Politics of the Weimar Republic (Princeton UP, Princeton, NJ, 1963); K.D Erdmann, Gustav Stresemann: The Revision of Versailles and the Weimar Parliamentary System. The 1980 Annual Lecture (German Historical Institute, London); Mary Fulbrook (ed.), German History since 1800 (Arnold, London, 1997); M. Dill, Germany: A Modern History (Ann Arbor, MI, 1961); P. Gay, Weimar Culture: The Outsider as Insider (Norton, New York, 1968, 2001 edition; K. Bullivant (ed.), Culture and Society in the Weimar Republic (Manchester UP, 1977); H. Mommsen, From Weimar to Auschwitz (trans. Princeton, UP, Princeton, NJ, 1991); H. Winkler, Germany: The Long Road West, Vol. 1: 1789 1933 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xix
(trans. Oxford UP, Oxford, 2006); W.L. Patch Jnr., Heinrich Brüning and the Dissolution of the Weimar Republic (Cambridge UP, 1998); The League of Nations Official Journal, special supplement no. 44. For illustrations used, acknowledgements are due to the following: AKG London; Hoover Institution Archives; Bilderdienst Suddeutscher Verlag; Wiener Library; Akademie der Künste, and Mary Evans Library. xx ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
1 THE GERMAN REVOLUTION, 1918 19 BACKGROUND Germany was taken into the First World War in August 1914 by a civilian government under Bethmann Hollweg, the fifth Chancellor of the Second Reich. By July 1917 his regime had been converted into a military dictatorship under Field Marshals Ludendorff and Hindenburg. This, however, made little difference to Germany s prospects in the War. Despite defeating Russia in the East, the Reich faced imminent collapse in the West by October 1918. The decisive factors were the entry of the United States into the war and a crippling blockade imposed by the Royal Navy. Ludendorff therefore advised Kaiser Wilhelm II to appoint a civilian government to negotiate an armistice with the Allies. Prince Max of Baden was entrusted with this unenviable task on 26 October. He was supported by the Social Democrats (SPD), who since 1912 had been the largest party in the Reichstag, but opposed by the more radical Independent Socialists (USPD) and Spartacists, who had broken away from the SPD during the course of the war. The situation then deteriorated rapidly as the armed forces began to disintegrate. The result was a series of military and naval mutinies. The Kaiser was persuaded to abdicate on 9 November. On the same day, Prince Max of Baden handed over the reins of government to Friedrich Ebert, who succeeded him as Chancellor, while the latter s SPD colleague, Philipp Scheidemann, proclaimed Germany a Republic. At this stage the SPD were obliged to share power with the radicals the USPD and Spartacists in a Council of People s Representatives. It THE GERMAN REVOLUTION 1