Early challenges, 1919–23

The 'stab in the back' and the 'November Criminals'

Many Germans could not believe they had lost the war. German armies were still on foreign soil in November 1918, and people had been told they were winning.

Right-wing nationalists spread the : the claim that the army had not been defeated, but betrayed by politicians at home, especially socialists, and in antisemitic versions, Jewish people.

The politicians who signed the armistice were called the .

Significance: from the start, the new republic was blamed for defeat, which made it unpopular.

Key terms

The Treaty of Versailles, 1919

Germany was not allowed to negotiate the treaty: it had to sign or face invasion. Germans called it a , a dictated peace.

Term	Detail
Land	Lost about 13% of its European land, including Alsace-Lorraine to France and land to Poland, and all its colonies
Army	Limited to 100,000 men; no tanks, air force or submarines; the Rhineland demilitarised
	Germany had to accept blame for the war (Article 231)
	Set in 1921 at £6,600 million

Key terms

The war guilt clause

Source: the Treaty of Versailles

From Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles, the peace treaty that Germany signed on 28 June 1919. It became known as the 'war guilt clause'.

The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies.

Significance: Germans hated this clause most, because it blamed Germany alone, and was used to justify the reparations. Weimar politicians were blamed for signing the treaty, which made the republic even more unpopular.

Challenges from the Left and the Right

communists, led by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, tried to seize power in Berlin. The government used the , groups of right-wing ex-soldiers, to crush the revolt. Luxemburg and Liebknecht were killed.

Wolfgang Kapp and about 5,000 Freikorps took over Berlin. The army refused to stop them, and the government fled. But Berlin's workers went on a , the city came to a halt, and the putsch collapsed.

Significance: the republic survived, but it depended on the army and the Freikorps, who did not support democracy.

Key terms

1923: the Ruhr and hyperinflation

Causes: in 1922, Germany failed to pay a reparations instalment. In January 1923, French and Belgian troops occupied the Ruhr, Germany's main industrial area, to take goods instead. German workers went on strike in , and the government printed money to pay them.

Consequence: prices rose out of control: . By November 1923, a loaf of bread cost billions of marks, and money was almost worthless.

Who lost	Who gained
People with savings	People with debts or loans, who could repay them easily
People on fixed incomes, such as pensioners	Some businessmen and landowners
Workers, when wages lagged behind prices	Foreigners, who could buy cheaply

Exam tip

In 'Explain why the Weimar Republic was unpopular in 1919–23', link each reason to the republic: Versailles, the stab in the back, the revolts and hyperinflation were all blamed on it.