Treaty of Versailles and the Weimar Republic

On June 28, 1919 two representatives from Germany went to Versailles to sign a very harsh treaty with severe consequences after World War I.  The Germans believed that the terms of the treaty were unjust and that they were a defenseless country.  The Weimar Republic was developed because of this treaty.  The military was not allowed to rule and control the government.  However one good thing from the treaty was that the German Empire was not broken up into small states again.  The Germans did not like this form of government because it was forced upon them.  Germany’s economy had suffered a great toll and this was affecting all of the citizens. (204)

Flag of the Weimar Republic

                The proclamation of the Weimar Republic occurred on August 14, 1919 after a lot of revolts.  This marked the end of the revolutionary era.  The feeling throughout all of Germany was low because they were not happy about the terms of the treaty, the economy was struggling, and the conditions for everyday life were terrible.  Because of all of these issues the Weimar Republic did not start out very strong.  Furthermore, the military was greatly decreased so it now was more a police force than military. (205)

                The election of the government’s representatives was on June 6, 1920.  Throughout the next fourteen years the Weimar Republic was very disorganized and weak.  The people were not sympathetic towards this new form of government which led to the government changing about once every eight and a half months.  The constant changing and the citizen’s feeling for it showed that there would be many problems with this form of government.  (206-207)

                The Germany economy failed even more when the war debts were brought about.  The Reparations Commission established Germany’s debt at 132 billion marks in gold plus interest. This caused even more outrage among the Germans and the government had to sign off on this because otherwise blockades would be stopping them from receiving food which they desperately needed.  There was no way for Germany to get out of this huge debt, they had to find a way to pay it off.  Because France realized that Germany did not want to pay what they owed, France decided to step in.

                Germany’s largest coal mines were in the Ruhr district.  On January 11, 1923, French and Belgian occupied the Ruhr district with the intent to take the coal.  This caused even more unrest throughout Germany and the citizens striked against the troops.  Germany tried to help the people by printing more money, but this lead to problems because now the money was practically worthless.  

   This period in Germany was a period of resentment against the Allies and especially France.  The Germans did not like having their type of government controlled by outside forces.  Also, they felt even more defenseless because they were not allowed to have a military so they had no way to protect themselves if something happened.  Also adding to the tension was the fact that their money became useless, their economy was bad, and they living conditions were terrible.  All of this was blamed on the type of government and other countries.  They needed someone to blame so they blamed the Allies, saying their punishment after the war was unjust.