The Weimar Republic faced opposition from the outset in 1919, after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. Economic hardship affected the whole nation and led to uprisings and assassinations.

In 1923 the Weimar Republic was teetering at the brink of a very large cliff with problems such as hyperinflation, attempted revolutions and public discontent, pushing it increasingly towards the edge.

Wilhelm II or William II was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia, ruling the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia from 15 June 1888 to 9 November 1918. After the Kaiser gave up his place on the throne (abdication), it was up to the politicians to sign the armistice in November 1918, which became known as the Weimar Republic. The Weimar Republic had one main flaw. Proportional representation, this was when the Germans voted for a party. Each party was then allocated seats in the Reichstag exactly reflecting the number of people who had voted for it. It was a disaster it resulted in lots of tiny parties, with no party strong enough to get a majority vote, therefore, no government to get its laws passed in the Reichstag.

The Weimar Republic was also responsible for signing the peace treat (Versailles) and accepting the conditions attached (reparations, war guilt etc).

November criminals is a term usually associated with Hitler and the Nazis who believed Germany was stabbed in the back by the politicians, that Germany was not defeated and could have continued the fight (and maybe ultimately won).

The Treaty of Versailles was a document drawn up but the League of Nations, mainly influenced by Britain, France and the U.S.A after the ending of the First World War. The treaty was hated so much by the German public as it restricted what Germany could do with regards to the economy, military and land that they own. The whole point was to weaken Germany to that they didn't have enough power to attack and by this, Britain, France and U.S.A had a bit of 'revenge'.

One of the main features what made the Treaty so unpopular were the millions of pounds of reparations which Germany were made to pay back to all the countries they had fought for all the damage caused. This huge bill made the German economy go into Hyper-inflation were the value of money decreased massively, to the point where the money wasn't worth the paper it was printed on.

This is when the first crisis hit Germany. The occupation of the Ruhr. This was caused because Germany didn't keep up with its reparation payments, so the French were seizing raw materials such as coal for themselves. The French occupied Ruhr, Germany's most important industrial region. This was legal under the Treaty Of Versailles. The German government replied by issuing orders such as, not to work for the french authority put up passive resistance-the German public went on strike, they didn't want anything to do with the French it meant that the French and Belgian soldiers in the Ruhr weren't actually stopping anything in Germany, it was pointless. Hyper-inflation proved that the old mark was of no use. a new currency was needed. In September 1923, Germany had a new chancellor, Gustav Stresemann. He called off the passive resistance and ordered the workers in the Ruhr to go back to work and the mark was replaced with the Rentenmark. Then, in 1924, the Dawes plan was announced. This was created by Charles Dawes who was American, set realistic targets for Germany's reparation payments. This one action stabilised Weimar Germany and over the next five years, 25 million gold marks was invested in Germany. The economy quickly got back to strength, new factories were built, employment returned and things appeared to be returning to normal. Stresemann gave Germany a sense of purpose and the problems associated with hyperinflation seemed to disappear. The years 1924-1929 are know as the Golden Age of Weimar.

The Young Plan was made in 1929 during Weimar's Golden Years. On the other hand to the Golden Years, the reparations still remained a big issue even before the October 1929 Wall Street Crash. When the Wall Street stock market crashed in October 1929, the world economy was plunged into the Great Depression. By the winter of 1932, America was in the depths of the greatest economic depression in its history.

	Created by livi.11 almost 11 years ago

Note on What Problems Faced The Weimar Republic and How Far Were These Problems Overcome by 1929?, created by livi.11 on 30/12/2013.