It’s two days before the end of WWI, Germany’s getting pretty desperate. The government have lost control of their country – in some places, people have set up their own councils to replace the government’s. It’s not going well. Thousands are protesting on the streets. Here, we see the situation which unfolded in the final few days of the great war through Germany’s eyes.
REVISION NOTES
The legacy of WWI:
– fighting lasted between 1914 & 1918
– 55% of German troops became casualties (2 million killed & 4 million wounded)
– The cost of the war caused Germany’s debts to treble to 150 billion Marks
– British Navy ships blockaded German ports – preventing German ships delivering food into the country
– 750 000+ Germans die because of food shortages in WWI
– Germany lost much support of the people before it was even defeated on the battlefield (e.g. German crews mutinying; workers strikes with soldiers refusing to stop [Omitted word*]; 7th Nov – some in Munich tried to declare independence from Germany)
THE GERMAN REVOLUTION (1918-19)
The abdication of the Kaiser:
– 9th Nov 1918, the Kaiser is in the army headquarters in the town of Spa (700km away from Berlin)
– His ministers tell him the only way to restore order in Germany is for him to abdicate
– He initially refused
– General Wilhelm Groener (the army’s 2nd in command) told him he lost the support of the army – officers at the army headquarters refused to support him
– 9th Nov 1918, the Kaiser was then forced to abdicate
– 10th Nov 1918, he went into exile in Holland in the early hours of the morning
The declaration of a republic:
– 9th Nov 1918, the streets were full of people – some gathered peacefully, others took over parts of the city
– Philipp Scheidemann (a leading member of the SPD – Social democratic party & largest party in the German parliament) was told that armed rioters were preparing to announce a communist government in Berlin
– Scheidemann rushed to an open window of the Reichstag and announced to the crowds that the Kaiser had gone and that there was a new German Republic
– Scheidemann appealed for a peaceful transition into the new republic
The Council of the People’s representatives:
– The SPD had to work quickly to establish the new republic
– 9th Nov 1918, the Kaiser’s Chancellor (Max von Baden) handed over his office to Friedrich Ebert, leader of the SPD
– 10th Nov, he made an agreement with General Groener to work with the army to keep the communists out of power
– 10th Nov, Ebert suspended the old Reichstag (parliament)
– Ebert named 6 moderate politicians to form the Council of the People’s Representatives
– This council were to be head of the country but only until a new constitution could be agreed
– These steps helped to prevent the takeover of Germany by extremist groups
The armistice:
– 11th Nov 1918, Ebert’s representative (Matthias Erzberger) signed the armistice (the formal agreement between the allies and Germany to end WWI)
This video is a revision resource for the ‘Weimar & Nazi Germany’ module of the new Pearson Edexcel 2016 History GCSE (9-1), though may be compatible with other specs from different exam boards.
FOR FULL VERSIONS OF THE NOTES FOR THIS AND OTHER WEIMAR & NAZI GERMANY VIDEOS, FOLLOW THIS LINK: https://quizlet.com/_59lgnv
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