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This question is worth 14 marks. It is asking you to describe the ways in which the events weakened the Weimar Republic.
A) The Treaty of Versailles - showed the leaders of Weimar to be weak- they accepted a treaty which was seen to be harsh
- The leaders were seen as traitors - They accepted the treaty and as a result Weimar was always going to be linked with defeat
- Cash - the amount of reparations was enormous and it was always going to be difficult to keep up with repayments
- Land - this weakened the Weimar republic because it showed Germany giving up both parts of the country and also its empire.
- Army - Germany’s military power was seriously weakened the country could now no longer claim to be a great power.
- War Guilt -This weakened the Republic because it suggested that Germany was to blame for the war. Many Germans were unwilling to accept this.
- The Invasion of the Ruhr - France and Belgium had invaded the Ruhr because the government had failed to keep up with repayments from the treaty of Versailles. It was embarrassing to have other countries invade.
Money spiraled out of control it appeared that the government had no control over inflation.
Increase in poverty- with hyperinflation savings were lost, many businesses went bankrupt and there was an increase in unemployment
Ending of passive resistance - with the government backing down many beleived that the government had lost control. It was this that encourage Hitler to try and take control with the Munich putsch.
C) The Wall Street Crash - 1929
Ending of American loans - in the late 1920’s Germany had recovered in part because of the loans from America. After the Wall Street Crash this led to the loans being ended and money being recalled.
Businesses became bankrupt - in repaying the money to America businesses became bankrupt and closed.
Rise in unemployment - by 1933 unemployment had reached around 6 million
Governments were divided and seen as weak - because the governments were coallitions (more than one party) they kept arguing about what to do, some wanted to raise taxes others wanted to lower unemployment benefit to help give the government more money.
Rise of extremity- because the government could not decide what to do they kept being replaced. As people saw them being ineffective people began to turn to parties like the Nazis and Communists. People had lost faith in democracy.
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