Political Unrest in Weimar Germany (AQA GCSE History)
Revision Note
Written by: Zoe Wade
Reviewed by: Natasha Smith
How unstable was Weimar Germany? - Timeline & Summary
One of the first big challenges to the Weimar government was the Spartacist Uprising in 1919. They wanted to turn Germany into a communist country. Led by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, the Spartacists tried to take control of Berlin through a violent uprising. The Weimar government struggled to control them and had to rely on the Freikorps, a group of former soldiers, to crush the uprising. Although the government managed to put down the rebellion, it showed how fragile and dependent it was on outside help to stay in power.
Another major threat was the Kapp Putsch in 1920. This time, the danger came from the right-wing side of politics. The Freikorps tried to overthrow the Weimar government and set up a dictatorship under Wolfgang Kapp. They took control of Berlin and the government was forced to flee. However, the putsch eventually failed because workers across Germany went on a general strike. Without public support, the Kapp Putsch collapsed. However, it showed that many armed people in Germany were opposed to the new democracy and wanted to overthrow it.
The Munich Putsch in 1923 was another threat. Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party organised this putsch. Hitler and his supporters tried to seize power in Munich, hoping it would spark a larger revolution across Germany. The putsch was quickly put down by the police and Hitler was arrested. However, the Munich Putsch was still significant because it revealed the growing support for extremist groups in Germany, especially in Bavaria.
Although each of these uprisings failed, they highlighted the constant threats facing the Weimar government from both the left and the right. The Weimar Republic was often caught between powerful groups who wanted to replace it with either a communist or authoritarian regime, making it a very unstable period in German history.
The Spartacist Uprising, 1919
Who were the Spartacists?
The Spartacist League was a German communist group
The KPD supported their cause
Spartacist comes from the name Spartacus, the leader of a slave revolt in Ancient Rome
Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht led the Spartacists
What caused the Spartacist Uprising?
Friedrich Ebert sacked Emil Eichhorn, Berlin’s police chief
Eichhorn was popular amongst the workers as he was respected and capable
Luxemburg and Liebknecht saw this as an opportunity to challenge the Weimar government
The Weimar Republic was only newly established
Many workers were unhappy with the Weimar government
What happened in the Spartacist Uprising?
The beginning of the Spartacist Uprising
On 4th January 1919, the uprising started
By 6th January, Berlin was in chaos:
Luxemburg and Liebknecht had encouraged the workers to go on a general strike
over 100,000 workers protested on the streets
the Spartacists had taken control of the government’s newspaper and various telegraph offices across Berlin
Ebert's reaction
Chancellor Ebert did not know what to do
The First World War had weakened the Reichswehr
There were too many protestors on the streets
Ebert turned to another organisation to defeat the Spartacist Uprising
He ordered the Reichswehr to organise the Freikorps units to fight the Spartacist Uprising
The Freikorps held extreme right-wing opinions and hated communists
The end of the Spartacist's Uprising
The Spartacist Uprising ended on 13th January 1919
The Freikorps and Reichswehr were fighting mainly unarmed communist workers
On 16th January, both Luxemburg and Liebknecht were brutally killed by the Freikorps
Worked Example
Read Interpretations A and B
How does Interpretation B differ from Interpretation A about the popularity of the Spartacist Uprising?
Explain your answer based on what it says in Interpretations A and B.
[4 marks]
Interpretation A - An excerpt of a letter written by Betty Scholem from January 1919
Betty Scholem was the wife of the middle-class and wealthy Berlin printer Arthur Scholem
'The workers held a meeting after your father flatly turned them down, and the older and more rational ones, in particular those who had just returned from the front, well-nigh beat the life out of the Spartacus people. With a vote of everyone else against four (the four Spartacans in the shop), they decided against a further strike.'
Interpretation B - A speech by Ernst Toller on 14th July 1919
Ernst Toller was a German author, playwright, left-wing politician and revolutionary. He was imprisoned for five years for his part in communist uprisings in Bavaria
'The working class will not halt until socialism has been realised. The revolution is like a vessel filled with the pulsating heartbeat of millions of working people. And the spirit of revolution will not die while the hearts of these workers continue to beat.'
Answer
Interpretation A highlights the lack of support for the Spartacist Uprising as it states "With a vote of everyone else against four (the four Spartacans in the shop), they decided against a further strike" (1). The Spartacist Uprising only lasted 9 days, suggesting that it may not have had popular support (1).
Interpretation B differs because it shows that the Spartacist Uprising was well-supported. B states "The revolution is like a vessel filled with the pulsating heartbeat of millions of working people" (1). By 6th January, over 100,000 workers protested on the streets of Berlin (1).
Examiner Tips and Tricks
To gain full marks for this question, ensure that you provide extended reasoning. This means you should use evidence, such as quotes from the interpretations, to support how the interpretations differ.
Our exam skills pages give further guidance and advice on comparing interpretations questions
The Kapp Putsch, 1920
Who were the Freikorps?
The Freikorps was a right-wing group of German ex-soldiers
'Freikorps' means ‘Free Corps’ in German
The Freikorps was a dangerous organisation because:
after the army released them from military duty in November 1918, they kept their weapons
they held extreme right-wing beliefs. This did not match the government’s moderate approach to politics
there were roughly 250,000 Freikorps members by March 1919
What caused the Kapp Putsch?
Putsch means ‘uprising’ in German
It is an attempt to remove a government by force
After helping Ebert stop the Spartacist Uprising, they turned against the government because:
the Freikorps believed that the government had committed a dolchstoss by signing the armistice and the Treaty of Versailles
in March 1920, Ebert planned to disband the Freikorps units in Berlin
Ebert was scared of the power of the Freikorps
What happened in the Kapp Putsch?
The start of the Kapp Putsch
Fearing unemployment, 5,000 Freikorps members attempted to overthrow the government
They announced Wolfgang Kapp, a right-wing politician, as their leader
Ebert attempted to use General Seeckt, the head of the Reichswehr, to stop the Freikorps
General Seeckt saw the Freikorps as fellow soldiers and refused to attack them
The Freikorps successfully captured Berlin
The government fled to the towns of Weimar and Stuttgart
The Freikorps' mistake
At this point, Kapp and the Freikorps made a critical error. They declared they would invite the Kaiser back to govern Germany
Many of the lower classes would not support the Kaiser returning to Germany as king
They had achieved more rights and freedoms since the Kaiser’s abdication
The end of the Kapp Putsch
The workers, with the Weimar government’s encouragement, called for a general strike
Berlin lost gas, electricity and water supplies
There was no public transportation
After four days, Kapp left Berlin
He could not govern the city without essential services
He and his conspirators fled to Sweden
By 1922, Kapp returned to Germany to stand trial for conspiracy and treason. He died before the trial began
The Munich Putsch, 1923
Who were the Nazi Party?
The Nazi Party was a right-wing group. From 1919, it underwent a series of developments:
in 1919, the party was called the German Workers’ Party
It was led by Anton Drexler
It only had 23 members
Adolf Hitler joined the party in September 1919
in 1920, the DAP had changed its name to the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (the NSDAP or Nazi Party)
Drexler and Hitler released the Twenty-Five Point Programme, stating the party's aims
Hitler began to make speeches. He was a very talented orator, increasing his popularity
Party membership started to increase
in 1921, Hitler became the leader of the Nazi Party
He also increased his control by creating the paramilitary group, the SA
in 1922, Hitler ran the Nazi Party as a dictatorship
What caused the Munich Putsch?
From 1920, the NSDAP was growing in support and popularity in Munich and Bavaria
The Nazi Party gained supporters by arguing that the Treaty of Versailles should be overturned
The hyperinflation crisis reached its worst state towards the end of 1923
By November 1923, the NSDAP had 50,000 members
Many Germans began to look at extremist parties like the NSDAP for solutions
Hitler believed that Germany would be supportive of a Nazi uprising
What happened in the Munich Putsch?
Examiner Tips and Tricks
You could be given a question which asks you if the political or economic consequences were the most important impact of the First World War on Germany.
This is a 12-mark question that expects you to refer to these two bullet points and another factor. Ensure you write three paragraphs that:
P - make a point about the question
E - use evidence that supports the point that you have made
E - explain why this evidence caused an impact on Germany. Avoid repeating the point again. Explain how damaging this factor was to the German economy or political system after the First World War
L - link your explanation back to the question by stating how significant this factor was in creating an impact on post-war Germany
Write a conclusion about which factor you believed was the most important impact of the First World War on Germany. Make sure that you consider short- and long-term consequences, importance and impacts in your conclusion.
Our exam skills pages give further guidance and advice on the 'bullet point' question
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