The Weimar Republic.

[John]

What was the Weimar Republic and where did its loyalties lie?

[Tom King]

The Weimar Republic was the government that was set up in Germany after the end of WW1 and the downfall of the Kaiser. This new Government faced problems from all sides, the Treaty of Versailles, the communists threat, amongst a host of other social, economic and political unrest that was post war Germany.

Out of this melting pot the socialist and nationalist elements grew and matured. The government had to rely on right wing Freikorps battalions to fight its battles for them as a standing army was strictly controlled under the treaty of Versailles. This led to fighting in disputed territories such as Silesia between Freikoprs units and the Poles, the Kapp Putsch and the Red Rising in the Ruhr also took place.

The Weimar republic was eventually replaced by Hitlers Thousand Year Reich......

[John]

Cripes , well I'm not supporting the Weimar Republic then....

[landsknechte]

Cripes , well I'm not supporting the Weimar Republic then....

←

Heaven knows it might be a wee bit late at this point anyhow.

Seriously though, it was a brilliant period of artistic development, but complete and utter chaos wracked with violence and hyperinflation.

--Chris

[Guest Rick Research]

And let's not forget the Fatal Lesson that political extremism with petty rivalries from inflexibly dogmatic nonentities trumping the national interest, and obssessive me-first-you-never partisanship leading to utter ruination...

nah, that could never happen in any democracy again!

animal

[landsknechte]

And let's not forget the Fatal Lesson that political extremism with petty rivalries from inflexibly dogmatic nonentities trumping the national interest, and obssessive me-first-you-never partisanship leading to utter ruination...

nah, that could never happen in any democracy again! 

animal

←

Of course not! As a Californian, I can't imagine another scenario where a right-leaning Austrian could ever come to be elected to a major political office in a foreign country during a time of economic uncertainty.

--Chris

[Nick]

It is against the club rules to discuss politics... but there are historic parallels at work....although perhaps a lot more benign

[Guest Rick Research]

Or....

so we HOPE! cheeky cheeky cheeky cheeky

wub.gif

[landsknechte]

It is against the club rules to discuss politics... but there are historic parallels at work....although perhaps a lot more benign 

←

Well, there are a number of gaps in that parallel. The advent of a highway transportation system that actually works being one...

[Bob Hunter]

Ah, yes, his excellency The Governator!

Edited May 31, 2005 by Bob Hunter

[landsknechte]

[Guest Craig Gottlieb]

What was the root cause of unemployment and hyper-inflation - two situations exploited by the Nazis as they gathered their strength in the 20s and early 30s?

[Les]

What was the root cause of unemployment and hyper-inflation - two situations exploited by the Nazis as they gathered their strength in the 20s and early 30s?

←

During the war, money for the war effort was raised by selling bonds, government loans, and related methods. When the war ended, and the old government went out, the means of paying back investors and people who made loans to the government was bankrupted. (The government in effect pinned it's hopes of paying people back after winning the war, and placing indemnities, reparations/restitution on the French, British, Italians, and of course the Russians.)

The Versailles Treaty added major insult(s) and even more disastrous injuries to an already bad situation. Germany lost up to 10% of it's population by border alterations, lost of the Saar coal mines for 15 years, a requirement that the German merchant fleet be surrendered to the Allies to compensate for lost shipping during the war, etc.

In short, this and other factors literally killed the German economy. The inflationary period set in, and until circa 1922/23, the economy was in a downward spiral. Circa 1923, a series of economic reforms were instituted, and the Allies realized that unless some of the Treaty terms were not enforced rigerously as written in 1919, that there would be a complete collapse, possibly a revollution along the lines of what happened in Russia, and -no one- would get any more money out of Germany. The Allies eased the terms a bit, and for a while things slowly started getting better.

In the very late 1920's, there was a minor bank collapse in Austria, that had a ripple effect across Germany. Banks at the time were often inter-related, loaned to each other without support or means to pay loans back. One bank collapse, led to another, and another. German banks began collapsing much like dominoes, and at almost the same time, the Wall Street Crash (October 1929) added another economic tidal wave to the German situation.

People had their life's savings wiped out when the war was lost in 1919, and the bonds, loans, and other promises couldn't be repaid. Ten years later, what small measure of recovery had taken place, was wiped out again. To say there was a measure of political unrest would be putting it mildly.

There's much more to the situation obviously, but the economy had a major importance in what followed.

Hitler got into office by promises of "bread and jobs". He was able to stay in office by invoking "Article 48" of the German constitution which granted him in effect dictatorial powers and an end run around other consitutional requirements. Technically, the Weimar Republic didn't end with Hitler's rise to the Chancellorship, or even the government moving to Berlin. There is no absolute clear dividing line, and it could be argued that the Weimar Republic ended when the Russians ran up a red banner in Berlin during one May day in 1945, and the German decided to call it quits a few days later.

Les

Les

[Les]

Hyperinflation...

I forgot to mention what the cause of this was all about. An official in the Treasury department had the bright idea, that even though all of the gold in the Treasury had to be handed over to the Allies as part of the Treaty of Versaille's terms, that having any "real" backing to the currency wasn't absolutely necessary for commerce.

The government continued to print money, and there was nothing backing it. There wasn't even the good faith of the government behind it. The people who tried to redeem debts and claim owed debts started realizing the money was worthless. The government at the same time was printing even more money, playing a hide the pea in the shells game. The treasury at first thought it could pay off debts simply by printing more money and handing out paper notes. When people started realizing what was happening, the cycle started speeding up, not stopping or even slowing down. The hyperinflationary period started in 1921, and by the end of 1922 had hit it's highwater mark, and emrgency reforms and the "Rentenmark" currency began appearing, marking the German government and international attempts to normalize the German economy.

Les

[JensF.]

In 1923 for example a bread cost around 2000000000 Reichsmark. They even stamped new values on stamps for letters because their price changed sometimes two times a day, gaining some more zeros! Somewere I have a 300 and 500 Reichsmark coin from 1923. Someone said, it was the time when everyone was a billionaire. Really crazy times then...

Edited October 26, 2005 by JensF.