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Pre-Holocaust German History
I
The Birth of Modern Germany
Early Modern Germany
What is now known as Germany was for centuries a series of kingdoms and
principalities, large and small. Most of these were loosely bound by the Holy Roman
Empire, which was led by the Pope in Rome. However, after the Protestant reformation
of the 1500‘s, many of the princes in these states became Lutheran or Calvinist
Protestants. Disputes over whether Catholics or Protestants would succeed to the
thrones in these states led to one of Europe’s most destructive conflicts, the Thirty
Years’ War.
The Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) was actually a series of conflicts involving
many nations in Europe, but was fought mostly in and around the German-speaking
states. Thousands of villages and hundreds of towns in the German lands were
destroyed, and famine and plague followed. After the war, the Holy Roman Empire
remained in control until 1806, when it was abolished. After the Napoleonic Wars, a
German confederation, led by the powerful Prussian state, was established 1n 1815. In
1848, German liberals took to the streets, attempting to force the creation of a unified
Germany with more political power for the people. This revolution was stopped by the
Prussian army. The Prussian king, preferring to have all Germans rule under his own
and the other princes’ dictatorial rule, stopped all reforms.
The Second Reich
In 1871, after Prussia led several other northern German states to victory over
Denmark, Austria, and France, a feeling of strong nationalism prevailed in Germany.
Wilhelm I of Prussia and Otto von Bismarck, his chancellor, or prime minister, were
able to take advantage of this feeling to unite all of Germany under the banner of the
Second Reich, or Empire. (The first was the Holy Roman Empire). Bismarck used an
authoritarian style, denying many individual freedoms in order to enforce the unity of the
state. However, religious differences remained. Catholics in the South and West of
Germany were suspected of being more loyal to Catholic Austria-Hungary than to other
Germans. Political divisions arose, as well. The Social Democratic Party (SPD) was
founded in the 1870’s to oppose the repressive government of the Kaiser. The Social
Democrats were accused of being radical revolutionaries by the wealthy and powerful
people in Germany. The SPD did not receive much support from the German middle
class.
In the early years of the twentieth century, the third Kaiser (emperor), Wilhelm II,
wanted to increase the power of Germany in Europe. At first, Wilhelm II attempted to tax
the nation’s wealthy people in order to pay for an expanded military. The elites
threatened to revolt against this tax, so the government extracted the necessary funds
from the working class. Workers responded negatively with strikes and protests against
the government. The Social Democrats gained more influence by opposing the heavy
2 taxation of the lower-paid workers. As the SPD gained more seats in the Reichstag
(parliament), they were able to get an inheritance tax passed which raised most of its
money from the estates of the wealthy. The wealthy and powerful elites of Germany
resented the new tax and warned that the SPD was full of dangerous radicals. Now
Germany had class conflict, too.
While Germany was strengthening its military, its neighbors were taking notice.
An arms race resulted as nations competed to build their armies and navies. They also
competed for colonies in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific. Germany had possessions in
East Africa, the West African Coast, Southwest Africa, China, and Samoa.
Anxious to protect themselves and their possessions, the great European powers
entered into alliances. Germany’s neighbor and main rival, France, formed the Triple
Entente with Russia and Great Britain. Britain guaranteed neutral Belgium that it would
intervene to protect it in any conflict with Germany. Germany already had entered into
the Triple Alliance with Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The arms race and
imperialist competition had led to many tensions among the competing nations.
Wilhelm‘s government, which was still struggling to unite its various regions, religions,
and classes, may have been tempted to use its new military might in order to grab funds
from foreign conquests rather than from heavy taxation of its own people. The danger of
a mass conflict among heavily-armed foes was growing as the year 1914 began.
3 II
World War I
The Great War, as it was called before 1941, was a disaster for Europe. More
than 10 million men died. Twice that number suffered wounds, many of which were
crippling. Over 100 billion dollars were spent fighting the war -- by the victorious nations
alone. Northern France had been devastated by years of trench warfare; Germans were
starving and near revolt; Russia had been taken over by a Communist dictatorship. An
entire generation of young European men -- the so-called “Lost Generation” -- had been
virtually wiped out.
At the end of World War I, the victorious nations were eager to blame Germany
for the catastrophe. Germany’s militarism and aggression, they claimed, were the main
reasons the war broke out. After all, Germany had launched the first attacks. The
reality, however, is much more complex.
The “Powder Keg”
The Balkan region of Southeast Europe was seething with nationalist feelings in
1914. Two wars in 1912 and 1913 pitted Balkan nations against the Turks and also
against each other. Slavic peoples such as the Czechs, Slovaks, Serbs, and Croats
had been ruled by the Austrian empire for centuries. These peoples had their own
languages and culture and a separate religion (Eastern Orthodox) than Catholic Austria.
Nationalist movements, many of which were violent, were coming to life in the dying
empire. Russia, a Slavic, Eastern Orthodox nation, sympathized with these nationalist
movements and was accused by Austria-Hungary of stirring up discontent in the empire.
Serbia, an independent nation bordering the empire, was even more of a threat. Serbs
lived in Bosnia and other parts of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Serb nationalists were
agitating to leave the empire and join a Greater Serbian state.
The tension exploded in the summer of 1914. On June 28, Archduke Franz
Ferdinand, the heir to the Austrian empire, paid a visit to Sarajevo, a city in the Empire’s
province of Bosnia. Sarajevo was a center of Serbian nationalism, and a terrorist group
plotted to assassinate Franz Ferdinand as he traveled through the city. One terrorist
threw a bomb with a lit fuse into the open car the Archduke and his wife were using.
Franz Ferdinand managed to throw the bomb back into the street before it exploded.
However, the Archduke’s driver, racing away from the scene, reached a dead end. As
he tried to get the car turned around, an assassin named Gavrilio Princip approached
the car and killed the Archduke, his wife, and the driver.
The Austrian Empire responded swiftly to the assassination. The terrorists were
discovered to have been armed in Serbia and smuggled across the border by a Serbian
nationalist group known as the Black Hand. Although the connection between the
terrorists and the Serbian government was never proven, the Austro-Hungarian
Emperor, Franz Josef, felt he had no choice but to declare war on Serbia.
The First Gamble: the Schlieffen Plan
At this point, all the alliances began to take on frightful consequences. Russia
saw itself as Serbia’s protector and mobilized its troops on the Austrian border. France,
4 the ally of Russia, then mobilized its troops, in turn, on the border of Austria’s ally,
Germany. When a nation mobilizes its troops, it moves infantry and tanks into place so
that an assault on an enemy could occur rapidly and effectively. Therefore, the
neighboring nation is in far more danger when troops are mobilized. Germany,
especially, had good cause to be alarmed. With French troops massing to the west and
Russia moving to mobilize its troops on the German border as well as the Austrian, the
Germans faced the danger of attacks on two fronts.
The troop mobilizations placed all the nations involved in a high state of anxiety
and made it very hard for diplomats to stop a general war from breaking out. If one
nation were to attack another, many nations would likely be fighting within days.
Germany, under the most pressure to strike first, did so in August of 1914.
The German army had developed a plan for a two-front war. Named after its
author, Alfred von Schlieffen, the plan called for a quick strike into France before the
Russians could mobilize on the German border. Under the Schlieffen Plan, the
Germans would bypass the French defenses by invading neutral Belgium and then
swinging southwest and flanking the French forces. With a crushing victory in northeast
France, the Germans could march into Paris and end the war in the west before the
Russians could be ready to advance into Germany. Then, the Germans could swing
their forces back to the east and defend themselves against an invasion from the east.
Attempting to execute this plan was a huge gamble: if the army could not carry it out,
Germany would be faced with a two-front war. Yet the Kaiser and his ministers felt they
had no choice.
On August 3, 1914, Germany, under the pretext of “defending” Belgium from a
French attempt to violate its neutrality, rolled into Belgium. Now Germany was at war
with France, and other nations, following their treaty obligations, entered the war.
England declared war on Germany for violating Belgium’s neutrality. Russia declared
war on Germany for attacking France. Austria-Hungary came in on the Germans’ side,
declaring war on the French, British, and Russians. Colonies and former colonies such
as Algeria, Australia and Canada also joined in. Turkey, seeing an opportunity to gain
back British-held territories in the Middle East, entered the war soon afterward on the
German/Austrian side. The German/Austrian alliance became known in the war as the
Central Powers; the French/Russian/English alliance became known as the Allied
Powers.
As with most plans, the Schlieffen Plan ran into unforeseen difficulties. In this
case, it was transportation. The Belgians tore up their railroads in front of the German
advance, and the Germans were forced to use horses to transport their equipment and
supplies. This slowed the German advance, and the French were able to mobilize
quickly enough to the northeast to cut off the German armies. The French and Germans
settled into a stalemate where neither could advance. In the east, a similar situation
unfolded. As the allies on both sides moved their troops to the front lines, a new type of
destructive and deadly warfare developed.
A War of Attrition in the Trenches
The balance of warfare had shifted toward defense with the invention of
repeating rifles, machine guns, and advanced artillery. In addition, barbed wire and
5 mines were used to slow enemy advances enough to leave infantrymen vulnerable. The
use of rapid strikes and the element of surprise were the only ways to gain ground in a
military conflict. When stalemated, enemies were facing each other at a distance of
several hundred meters. Each side was occupying a network of trenches protected by
barbed wire and a “no man’s land” of mines.
In order to attack the enemy, one side would open up artillery and mortar fire on
the enemy, hoping to “soften it up.” While the shells rarely did a lot of physical damage
to dug-in troops, the psychological effect of daily shelling was often devastating. After
the artillery fire stopped, the attackers would vault out of their trenches, avoiding their
own mines while dodging mortar fire, grenades, and machine gun fire. Once close to the
enemy trenches, attacking troops had to brave minefields and cut through barbed wire
before reaching the trenches for brutal hand-to-hand fighting. Not surprisingly, almost all
such charges in World War I were unsuccessful.
As the war progressed, more modern weapons were introduced. The airplane
was not used on a large scale by either side and did not inflict much damage by itself,
but it was valuable for reconnaissance. Much more frightening was the use of poison
gas. The Germans were the first to use lethal gas as a weapon in April 1915. Along the
Western Front that day, German troops released a huge green cloud of chlorine
downwind toward Algerian, French, and Canadian positions, killing hundreds and
causing mass panic. The Allies responded by developing gas masks and their own gas
canisters. Although gas did not kill nearly as many men as conventional weapons, its
effect on soldiers was chilling. Even more horrific was the prospect of a mustard gas
attack. Mustard gas was a blistering agent which burned away any exposed skin,
blinded unprotected eyes, and burned out lungs when inhaled.
The largest battles of attrition took place at Verdun and the Somme in France.
At Verdun, the Germans attempted to seize important hills outside the city and then draw
the French into attacking a fortified position. Over ten months in 1916, the Germans
managed to seize one hill, but repeated attempts to seize a second led to slaughter of
immense proportions. Battle lines moved back and forth, with troops finding refuge in
trenches and shell-holes. Severe food shortages and disease took their toll as well as
battle wounds and deaths. By December 1916, the French had driven the Germans
back to their previous positions. No ground was gained to justify the huge losses on
either side. Over 700,000 casualties resulted from this battle, with both sides suffering
over 100,000 killed.
In part to relieve the pressure on the French at Verdun, the British launched an
offensive along the Somme River in July of 1916. At huge cost (58,000 casualties on
the first day alone), the British captured the first line of German trenches. But German
reinforcements arrived to slow the advance. Over the next four months, the British,
joined by the French, advanced a total of 12 kilometers at a cost of more than 400,000
British casualties and 200,000 French losses. The Germans lost about half a million
more men.
Problems at Home in Germany
Germans who had enthusiastically cheered as troops left in August 1914 were
becoming disenchanted with the huge losses. Food shortages began as early as 1915.
6 Tensions between workers and industrialists grew as more pressure was placed on
them to produce materials for the war. Skilled workers, who were in great demand,
began to exercise choice, leaving one job for another and often disrupting production.
The Reichstag passed a law forcing workers to stay at their jobs during the war.
Workers later revolted against these controls and against wage cuts by striking in large
numbers. Mass rebellion by the workers of Germany was feared throughout the war.
Meanwhile, the German government struggled with the high cost of war. There
were two main options the government could consider. The first was heavy taxation.
With the population already on edge and the burden of taxes already heavy on workers,
the government would have to grant more freedom and democracy in order to avoid civil
unrest. The second option was to pay for the war through conquest. If Germany could
grab some of the French and Belgian colonies and annex some territory in France, it
could use the industry and natural resources of the lands gained in order to enrich the
nation. The Kaiser and his ministers chose the second option. Germany would now
gamble everything on the strategy of conquest.
The Second Gamble -- Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
German industry had developed a second deadly and frightening weapon, the
unterseeboot or U-boat. These were the first submarines to be used effectively in
warfare. U-boats were able to destroy enemy ships through the element of surprise. An
undetected submarine could sink an enemy ship with a torpedo. Submarines were
vulnerable, however, in that they had to surface for air every few hours. On the surface,
submarines were clumsy and easy targets for the guns of naval ships.
Kaiser Wilhelm and his generals saw an opportunity to drive Britain out of the
war and shift the balance toward Germany. If U-boats could effectively blockade and
starve Britain into submission, then the Germans could deal with the French on their
own. The Russians were withdrawing from the war after the Bolshevik Revolution of
1917. Thus, the Germans, with the help of their allies, could win the war at sea and on
the ground in France without having to worry about an eastern front. When the civilian
chancellor, Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg, resisted this plan, his government was
disbanded and replaced by a military dictatorship run by General Erich von Ludendorff.
Submarines were not fast enough to chase merchant ships, then board them and
confiscate the cargo. Instead, they had to torpedo ships without warning in order to
have a successful blockade. A submarine blockade required attacks on any ship that
approached the enemy. Even ships from neutral nations such as the United States were
targeted. Hundreds of neutral ships went down in 1917. This policy of unrestricted
submarine warfare violated international law and brought strong criticism down on the
Germans. America had already been outraged by the sinking of the British passenger
ship Lusitania, which was torpedoed off the Irish coast in late 1915 with 128 Americans
among the 1,260 dead. United States President Woodrow Wilson warned Germany
that it would be held responsible for American lives and ships lost to further submarine
attacks. Despite the protests, Germany continued to target all merchant ships, even
those from neutral nations, which attempted to enter or leave British ports. Even though
they knew that this policy would eventually lead to America’s entry into the war, the
Germans felt they could achieve their goals before the Americans arrived.
7 With the Russians out of the war, Germany and Austria-Hungary devoted many
of the men and resources from the eastern front to one final assault in the West. If the
attack, called the “Peace Offensive” by the Germans, forced a quick surrender by the
French and British, then the Americans, who were threatening to enter the war on the
Allied side, would be too late.
America Enters the War
As more American ships fell victim to unrestricted submarine warfare, President
Wilson and Congress edged closer to a declaration of war. The United States was
pushed over the brink by the infamous “Zimmermann telegram.” This message was
sent by Germany’s foreign minister, Arthur Zimmermann, to the German ambassador to
Mexico. British intelligence intercepted the message, decoded it, and quickly passed it
on to the Americans. Zimmermann’s message showed how desperate the Germans had
become. He urged his ambassador to offer a deal with Mexico. If Mexico would go to
war against the United States, Germany would help Mexico win back most or all of the
territories it had lost to the U.S. in the Mexican-American War. American public opinion
swung wildly in favor of war when the Zimmerman note was publicized. On April 2,
1917, Wilson asked for a declaration of war, and Congress issued it four days later.
The U.S., however, was unprepared for a large-scale war, and in fact had an
army of little over 100,000 men at the time of the declaration. Congress quickly instituted
a military draft, and the small American Expeditionary Force (AEF), led by General John
J. Pershing, landed in France in June 1917. The Americans insisted on fighting alone, not
under British or French command. The AEF did not reach full strength until the spring of
1918. In all, over 3 million U.S. troops fought in Europe.
Meanwhile, the Germans’ Peace Offensive was making gains. Outnumbering
the French, British, and newly-arrived Americans on the western front, the Germans
crossed the Marne River, just 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Paris, on June 3, 1918.
Despite the heavy casualties of this latest offensive, Germans were now optimistic for
victory.
The turning point of the entire war was the fighting that followed in the summer
of 1918. American troops saw their first major action in the Battle of Belleau Wood near
the Marne. Nearly a million U.S. troops drove the Germans back. In the so-called
Second Battle of the Marne in 1918, combined Allied forces drove the Germans back
across the Marne. By September, German forces had lost all the ground they had
gained in the offensive. Furthermore, almost all German reserve troops had been used
up. German supplies were low and the American force looked too strong to resist.
The New German Government and the “Stab in the Back”
In the late summer of 1918, the military dictatorship of Germany did a strange
thing: it handed power back to a civilian government led by the Social Democratic Party.
This was a sure sign that the generals knew that the German war effort was lost. The
military leaders saw two benefits to this move. First, a civilian government was more
likely to receive lenient terms from the winners at the end of the war. Second, and more
importantly, the military government would be out of power when the German defeat
8 became final. Thus, civilians, not the military, could be blamed for the surrender.
To make sure they were not the scapegoats, the generals began to establish the
myth of the dolchstoss, or “stab in the back.” Friendly newspaper editors and people
on the street began to state openly that the German military was being weakened by
radical unionists and rumor-mongers. The union workers wanted Germany to lose so
that a communist government like Russia’s could take over after the war, went the story.
By staging so many strikes, they were helping Germany’s enemies. Jews, the eternal
scapegoats, were accused by many of spreading malicious rumors in order to make the
people accept defeat more readily. Jews were accused because they were considered
outsiders whose racial and religious differences made them natural enemies of the “true
German” people. While the rumors were not widely believed at first, they later took on a
large significance when Germans looked back on their defeat in World War I.
On November 11, 1918, the Central Powers and Allied Powers signed an
armistice in Paris. World War I was over, but the costs were enormous. Over one
million German men were dead, and Germany’s economic and social situation was
chaotic. Change in Germany was inevitable, but would it be gradual or radical?
9 III
The Weimar Republic: Chaos and Instability
Germany was on the verge of violent revolution in the fall of 1918. Anger over
the loss of the war and the death of so many men was expressed through violent
demonstrations. The democracy that had just been born was in danger of being swept
aside by a communist revolution or a right-wing counter-revolution.
The unrest began with a naval mutiny. German sailors in the North Sea ports of
Wilhelmshaven and Kiel were ordered out on a desperate mission against the powerful
British navy, even though it was obvious that the war was lost. The sailors rebelled and
seized government offices. This mutiny sparked similar actions throughout Germany.
Sailors, soldiers, and workers formed councils which took over most government offices
in the state of Bavaria, and many others nationwide.
The situation appeared dangerously similar to the Russian Revolution of the year
before. Radical workers were calling for a communist state with all private property
abolished. Knowing that the Tsar had been executed by radicals under similar
circumstances in 1917, the Kaiser fled Germany.
The Weimar Constitution
At this point, the Social Democrats, the party many looked to for leadership after
the war, decided to proclaim Germany’s switch to a republic. In a republic, there is no
monarch. Instead, there is a constitution and the people choose their representatives.
This republic became known as the Weimar Republic because its constitution was
written and signed in the city of Weimar. Under the new Constitution, a President would
replace the Kaiser as the head of state. The President was elected directly by the
people, and had no power to make policy. However, he had three substantial powers the power to appoint a chancellor, to dissolve parliament, and to call new elections. The
most important of these powers was the appointment of a chancellor. The chancellor
acted as head of government, taking care of the daily business of the republic. In a
national emergency, the President was empowered to rule Germany through decree,
with the chancellor acting as his representative. In normal circumstances, laws would
have to be approved by the Reichstag.
The Weimar Constitution reflected many liberal influences, including the United
States Constitution and France’s Declaration of the Rights of Man. Freedom of speech
and freedom of the press were guaranteed for the first time in German history. Religious
freedom was protected. Women were given the right to vote in Germany, two years
before they were enfranchised in America. The Constitution also guaranteed workers’
rights and economic freedom and promised that all Germans would share in the
economic well-being of the nation.
10 The Communist Threat
At first, it looked like the communists would cooperate with the Social
Democrats. Although they were more radical, the communists shared many of the
ideals of social justice that the Social Democrats had always held.
The new government was led by Friedrich Ebert, a Social Democrat who was
known for moderate views. The communists originally supported Ebert, but their alliance
did not last long. By January of 1919, the communists abandoned their support of the
Social Democrats and formed their own party, the Communist Party of Germany
(KPD). Radical workers began demonstrating in the streets in favor of a communist
government. Ebert overreacted to these demonstrations. He called in the army to stop
the rebellion. The army shot and killed many revolutionaries, but another problem arose,
as well. The Freikorps, private militias loyal to conservatives, jumped into the fray and
killed many more. Communist leaders Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebnicht were taken
into custody and brutally murdered by Freikorps men while “trying to escape“. The
communists never forgave the Social Democrats for their use of deadly force. This
incident was only the beginning of five years of political violence and instability in
Germany.
The Treaty of Versailles
The end of the fighting in Europe was officially an armistice, not a peace treaty,
until 1919. The Weimar government negotiated and signed the agreement that officially
ended World War I, the Treaty of Versailles. This agreement would prove to be
disastrous both in the short term and in the long run for Germany.
Some terms of the treaty were intended to weaken Germany. The Germans
were forced to give up all of their colonies. Their army was limited to 100,000 men.
Submarines and warplanes were banned, and the navy was limited to 36 warships.
Other terms were intended to punish and humiliate the Germans. Germany and
its allies had to accept responsibility for the war and its death and damage. Germany
was required to pay an indemnity, or penalty, to the Allies, of $33 billion. Germany lost
huge amounts of territory. Alsace-Lorraine was given back to France after 48 years;
West Prussia, Upper Silesia and Posen were to be ceded to a new Polish state. East
Prussia was now cut off from the rest of Germany (see map). Allied troops were
installed along the Rhine River in western Germany.
When the terms of the treaty were revealed, the German public was outraged. It
seemed the entire blame for the war had been placed on the Germans. Considering the
position Germany had been in just before the war and the huge losses it had suffered,
the German people felt that they did not deserve to be singled out and punished.
Veterans of the war felt the most anger. Many felt that all of the German soldiers’
sacrifices were wasted. A rumor grew out of the frustration and shame of the German
military. The “stab in the back” myth contended that the German army would have
emerged victorious if not for the cowardly backstabbers at home. The “November
criminals” had robbed Germany of its glory, driven out the royal family, and reduced the
nation to a weak republic, according to a popular belief. Many veterans angrily blamed
radical workers and “rumor-mongering” Jews for the defeat. One such veteran was a
11 young corporal named Adolf Hitler who had returned to Munich after being temporarily
blinded by a gas attack in 1917.
Was this the meaning of the sacrifice which the German mother made to
the fatherland when with sore heart she let her best-loved boys march off, never
to see them again? Did all this happen only so that a gang of wretched criminals
could lay hands on the fatherland?...And yet, was it only our own sacrifice that
we had to weigh in the balance? Was the Germany of the past less precious?
Was there no obligation toward our own history? Were we still worthy to relate
the glory of the past to ourselves? And how could this deed be justified to future
generations?
Monstrous and degenerate criminals! (Mein Kampf, 205-206)
When he had recovered, Hitler got a job with the new republican government that
he so despised. His assignment was to join a radical group and report on its activities to
a special department. In time, Hitler stopped making his reports. The group he had
joined was the German Workers‘ Party. This party would later evolve into the National
Socialist Workers‘ Party of Germany, known for short as the Nazi Party.
Instability
Anger over the treaty and political and social unrest led to a very rocky period of
instability for the Weimar Republic. Political assassinations and attempted revolutions
were common in the years 1919-1923. Pitched battles were fought in the streets
between radical left wingers (Communists) and right wingers (extreme conservatives
who favored a return of the Kaisers and a crackdown on individual freedoms). Freikorps
militias roamed the country looking for fights, and found radicalized workers seemingly
everywhere willing to oppose them. Workers not only took to the streets to fight, but also
to stage strikes to protest right-wing takeovers of government.
The army, the government, and the courts all took the side of the right-wingers in
this struggle. A communist uprising in the state of Bavaria was brutally suppressed by
the army, with over 1,000 rebels being executed on the spot and thousands being sent
to prison. But when the national government was overthrown by conservatives led by
Wolfgang Kapp in 1920, the army refused to intervene. Kapp’s putsch, or military
coup, was stopped when workers all over Germany refused to report to their jobs. The
republic was restored in days, as the strike succeeded in forcing Kapp out. Even though
Kapp’s men had executed over 200 supporters of the government, very few were
arrested. Kapp died before he could be put on trial, and another ringleader was
convicted and given a very light sentence. The courts were very lenient, also, on
rightwing political assassins. Not a single right winger convicted of a political killing
receiveda heavy sentence. Communist assassins, even though they were responsible for
lessthan ten percent of the killings, were dealt with much more harshly. Ten Communist
assassins were executed, and all the others were given long prison terms.
Meanwhile, the German economy was very fragile. Business owners faced a
crisis as workers staged strike after strike. German business was in no position to resist
the workers, and so the employers gave in to wage demands, in effect buying peace
12 from the workers. However, these costs had to be passed on to the consumer. Thus, a
period of heavy inflation began. Banks suffered because the money that they had
loaned out was being paid back in funds that were heavily devalued by inflation. With
banks in a crisis, money to lend was scarce, and so interest rates shot up as well,
causing even more inflation.
The French, Belgians, and British, who had borrowed heavily from the United
States during the war, were under heavy pressure to repay that debt. In turn, they
insisted that Germany stick to a strict payment schedule for the war reparations. The
Germans struggled to pay the debt, even printing money to pay it. The French and
Belgians, acting on a failure to pay an installment of the reparations, sent troops early in
1923 into the industrial Ruhr region of Germany. The French and Belgians hoped to set
up a “puppet state” where they would control the wealth of the area and extract
reparations through force. A wave of nationalism ran through Germany, and the people
of the Ruhr staged a general strike where almost everyone stayed home. The German
government, in support of the protest, paid these workers while they were at home. Of
course, in order to afford these payments, the German government had to print money.
Hyper-inflation resulted. In 1918, roughly four German marks equaled one dollar. In
1923, the value of the mark fell to unimaginable depths in the worst explosion of inflation
in modern history. At the beginning of the year, it took 17,000 marks to equal one U.S.
dollar. By August, 4.6 million marks equaled one dollar. By September, the figure was
25 billion marks to the dollar. And by November 16, over 4 trillion marks equaled one
dollar.
Savings accounts were wiped out literally overnight. A German who had saved
money for years and left it in a bank now found his savings worthless. For instance, if
someone had saved 100,000 marks, a large sum in those days, its value would have
gone from $21,000 U.S. dollars in 1918 to a tiny fraction of a cent in November of 1923.
People on pensions found their monthly payments ridiculously inadequate. The
government tried to adjust their payments to match the inflation rate, but in the time it
took to adjust the rates and mail the checks, inflation was proceeding so fast that the
checks were worthless when they arrived.
The “Beer Hall Putsch”
The end of the period of wild instability in the Weimar Republic was marked by
Adolf Hitler’s failed putsch, or attempt to overthrow the republic in November 1923.
Hitler had become the leader of the Nazis, who were a small party with great ambitions.
The Nazi party hoped to exploit the popular resentment in Germany of the treaty and of
the French occupation. Their platform called for abolition of the Treaty of Versailles.
Under the Nazi vision, Germany was to conquer lands in Eastern Europe so that the
German people would have lebensraum, or living space. Full citizenship rights would
be given only to “pure” Germans: not to Jews, Gypsies, Slavs, or other minority groups.
In a time of economic, social, and political upheaval, these ideas began to take hold.
The 34-year old Hitler may have overestimated the popularity of his ideas. On
November 8, 1923, he attempted to place Germany under Nazi rule. He began with a
planned speech in a beer hall in which he declared that the Bavarian government was
overthrown. His brown-shirted storm troopers then staged a “spontaneous”
13 demonstration in the streets of Munich. Hitler’s plan was to use his storm troopers to
oust the Bavarian state government in Munich. After that, he would gather his forces and
lead a march into Berlin, where they would topple the republic and set up a radical right
wing government in Germany. Some key allies that Hitler had counted on betrayed him,
however, and he was arrested on November 10. His “Beer Hall Putsch” had failed.
After being convicted of treason, Hitler was given a light sentence of five years in prison.
14 IV
The End of the Weimar Republic
and the Rise of Nazism
The crisis of 1923 was overcome, and Germany entered a period of stability
which would last for five years. Yet even as the nation was getting to its feet, political
and economic storms were gathering.
A Period of Stability: 1924-1929
Gustav Stresemann took over as chancellor for two short months at the end of
1923. In those two months, several attempts to overthrow the government were
prevented (including Hitler’s). The workers in the Ruhr went back to their jobs, the
government stopped printing money, and a new mark was introduced, bringing more
stable value to money. The Dawes Plan, under which American money was loaned to
Germany to help its economy get back on its feet, was adopted in 1924.
There were other international developments which strengthened the Weimar
Republic. French troops began to leave the Ruhr in 1925. That same year, Germany
signed treaties with its neighbors guaranteeing the borders of Germany, Belgium,
France, Italy, Poland, and Czechoslovakia and renouncing the use of force in resolving
conflicts. In 1926, the Berlin Treaty was signed with the Russian leaders. Both the
Soviets and the Germans pledged to remain neutral if the other was at war with another
nation. Germany was now in good standing with the international community, and in
1926 was admitted to the League of Nations, an organization founded after the Great
War to guarantee peace and security to member nations.
Even though German democracy was a confusing tangle of multiple parties and
coalitions and frequent changes of government, the Weimar Republic remained fairly
stable politically through the end of the twenties. Attempts to overthrow the government
ceased, and street fighting among various factions became a rare occurrence. Yet even
though the economy, the government, and foreign relations seemed to be stable,
underlying problems threatened the seemingly stable Weimar Republic.
Underlying Political and Social Problems
All these agreements would seem to have been good for Germany. The
economy was stabilized and Germany’s relationships with the powers of Europe were
greatly improved. However, these treaties were not popular with all the people inside
Germany. Feelings of nationalism ran deep among a large segment of the population.
Many of those whose relatives had been “stranded” inside Czechoslovakia and Poland
after the Treaty of Versailles had hoped to see the lost lands somehow regained by
Germany. To the nationalists, Germany’s glory had been destroyed by the war, and its
people had been separated by political boundaries imposed by the Social Democratic
leaders who had signed the Treaty of Versailles. Among the nationalists were many
military officers who were determined to let the republican government take the blame
15 for any and all problems in Germany.
In addition, most Germans were dissatisfied with the society of the new
Germany. Germany was still essentially conservative. Adults in Germany had been
brought up in a traditional society and educated in highly regimented, traditional school
systems. These people were offended in many ways by the new openness of
democracy. Women had been given formal equality under the Weimar Constitution, yet
most German women retained the traditional role of mother. Working women had been
oddities before the First World War, but now there was a sizable population of single
women living on their own and working in the cities. These “new women” expressed
themselves by wearing short hair, driving cars, and going out to nightclubs. Although the
“new women” were still a minority, they attracted a lot of attention from writers,
filmmakers, and photographers. They also received a great deal of disapproval from the
public. American culture, especially jazz music, also found its way into Germany.
Conservatives felt that jazz represented the undisciplined, crude culture of
America, and resented their children’s interest in it. In addition, churches became active
in criticizing the decadence that went along with freedom. Birth control had now become
widely available, and the church leaders blamed democracy. Germans were
experiencing freedoms they had never had before, and many Germans were
uncomfortable with the things that came along with democracy.
The Nazi Party
Adolf Hitler sat seething in prison for the 10 months of his sentence. In his cell,
which was actually a fairly comfortable room, he dictated his memoirs to a faithful Nazi
Party subordinate, Rudolf Hess. In Mein Kampf, (My Struggle) Hitler described not only
his life story but also his philosophy. In a rambling, sometimes illogical style, the future
Chancellor described his political philosophy, which mostly consisted of contempt for
democrats, Jews, foreigners, trade unionists, and all those Germans not strong enough
to share his vision for the renewed glory of Germany. Later, the book would be treated
as the Nazi bible, given as a present at graduations, weddings, and the like.
When Hitler emerged from prison, he had become an idol to the members of the
Nazi Party. Hitler was able to use his prison ordeal to promote the idea of a leader who
had suffered through war and political unrest. He, the self-sacrificing hero, was the
perfect leader to guide Germany back to greatness, according to popular Nazi belief.
Hitler used his enhanced status to reorganize his party, to attract thousands of new
members, and to become the unquestioned leader of the NSDAP. Within a few years of
his release from prison, Hitler had over 100,000 members of the SA (Sturmabteilung),
his brown-shirted militia, marching boisterously and often violently through the streets all
over Germany. Mass gatherings and parades of the party faithful helped to build up the
image of Hitler as a powerful figure.
The Nazi Party ideology was centered around a few basic ideas: the racial purity
and historic greatness of the German people; the unfairness of the Treaty of Versailles;
and the need to reconquer Eastern European lands (see box). This set of ideas had
been all but ignored in the early Twenties. Middle class voters, after experiencing the
problems of war and its aftermath, were willing to allow the Weimar government a
chance to prove itself throughout most of the Twenties. Nazi ideas were still barely
16 registering in 1928, when the Nazis received only 2.5 percent of the vote in elections for
the Reichstag. But the events of 1929-30 changed the situation.
The Great Depression
The Great Depression, which began in the United States, was triggered by a
major stock market crash and widespread closings of banks, whose investments in the
stock market were reduced to a tiny fraction of their original amounts. In Germany, the
situation was slightly different. German banks had relied on their American counterparts
to lend money to help pay the reparations from World War I. Banks in the U.S.,
desperate for cash, demanded that German banks repay the loans from the American
banks. German banks were unable to pay, and had to shut their doors due to lack of
funds. With German banks out of business, many people’s savings were lost. Millions
were thrown out of work and impoverished. Many of these unfortunate Germans
became angry at the government and at capitalism for failing them.
By 1929, the Social Democrats were no longer the dominating party in the
Reichstag. The SPD was forced to join with conservative parties in order to govern
Germany. As disaster struck, the SPD faded into the background and the conservatives
took control of the government. The new government showed very little concern for
individual rights and democracy.
Nazi Party – Main Beliefs
1. All German Speakers must be reunited (including those living within the borders of
France,
Poland, Austria, and Czechoslovakia).
2. Eastern lands and overseas colonies must be captured in order to provide living space
(lebensraum).
3. The Treaty of Versailles must be abolished.
4. Non-Germans (Jews, Gypsies, and Slavs) must not be citizens, nor be allowed to hold
office or
vote.
5. All German citizens are guaranteed a decent standard of living. If the presence of nonGerman
aliens threatens this promise, the aliens are to be expelled.
6. Non-Germans must no longer be allowed to immigrate into Germany.
7. Newspapers may not be owned by non-Germans. All newspapers must be printed in
German.
Source: Facing History and Ourselves
Paul von Hindenburg, former Field Marshal and now President of Germany,
used Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution to declare an emergency. He used his two
chancellors, Heinrich Bruning (1929-1932) and Franz von Papen (1932-1933) to rule
Germany by decree. During a national emergency, the Reichstag’s powers were limited.
The chancellor could dissolve the parliament at any time, and thus could get any new
law or program he wished. Bruning and von Papen attempted to fix the economy by
17 imposing heavy taxes and reducing spending on social programs. As a result, the living
standard for workers sank even lower.
Radicals Gain Followers
The Great Depression is said to have radicalized German politics. The parties in
the center, such as the Social Democrats and the Catholic Center Party, began to see
their support erode. “Fringe” parties such as the Nazis on the right and the Communists
on the left began to gain support. The Nazis, who had just three percent of the vote in
1928, shot up to 18 percent in 1930. The Communists gained, as well, although not
quite as dramatically. The KPD vote rose from 11 percent in 1928 to 15 percent in 1930.
By 1932, the Nazi Party was the largest party in the Reichstag, with 230 seats. The
Communists were the third largest, with 89 seats.
Why did such a dramatic shift occur? Several factors must be considered. First
of all, many Germans had never fully supported liberal democracy. The inefficiency of
the Weimar governments and the shocking social changes associated with the new
freedom made many Germans feel alienated from their government. This made them
more likely to support parties that promised sweeping changes.
The huge unemployment problem attracted many workers to the Communists.
Here was a party which pledged to put people to work, but beyond that, to correct the
social, political, and economic injustices in Germany. The wealthy industrialists and
bankers who had caused the crisis would be swept away, and the workers would have
control of factories and businesses. In a time when workers felt powerless and small,
the Communists’ promise of power and equality was especially enticing.
The Nazis, however, were attracting most of the angry voters. Most Germans
were still furious over the loss of the World War and the harsh terms imposed by the
Treaty of Versailles. During hard times, many of these Germans saw radical nationalists
such as the Nazis as the true representatives of the German people. Hitler promised to
repudiate the treaty and make Germany strong again. Nazi propaganda emphasizing
national pride and nostalgia was very effective in this uncertain time.
As historian William Sheridan Allen points out in his study of one German city,
the Nazis were seen as enthusiastic and energetic, qualities which appealed to Germans
who wanted change. Nazi propaganda by this time had shifted away from anti-Semitic
themes to images of youth and vitality, directly linking the Nazi party to attractive
features of the German volk: youth, good looks, energy, and optimism. These positive
qualities overcame the reservations people had about the rough tactics used by the
Nazis.
At the same time, however, the Nazis were able to take advantage of racial fears
and anti-Semitism. Although racial fears were played down in Nazi propaganda of this
era, they existed in the general public. Communism was associated with Slavic and
Asiatic peoples. As the chief critic of communism, Hitler was positioned as a racial
defender of the German people against the threat of these Eastern hordes. And in his
tirades against the Treaty of Versailles, Hitler was appealing to all those who had fallen
for the “stab in the back” myth, which blamed Jews, among others, for the “criminal”
betrayal of the Fatherland in 1918-1919.
The Nazi Party most likely would not have succeeded in normal times. When
18 people have jobs, available goods and services, comfortable social surroundings, and a
stable political system, they have no need for radical nationalism. But when a country
suffers as many shocks and setbacks as Germany did in the years after the war, radical
nationalists such as the Nazis offer something that many people wish to hear. “It is not
your fault,” they say. “Foreigners and traitors have conspired to rob you of your rights
and your wealth.”* When people are angry and frustrated, it is easy to exploit their
feelings with such words.
*There are several recent examples. The same theme was used by authoritarian rulers in
Yugoslavia (1989-1999) and Zimbabwe (2000-present). Syrian President Bashir Assad
has used similar rhetoric in an attempt to connect rebels in his country to foreign
terrorists and imperialists. 19