The Council of the People's Deputies (German: Rat der Volksbeauftragten , sometimes translated as "Council of People's Representatives" or "Council of People's Commissars") was the provisional government of Germany during the first part of the German Revolution , from 10 November 1918 to 13 February 1919. Formed initially by three members each from Germany's two main socialist parties, it shaped the transition from the Empire to the Weimar Republic .
184-750: Reichswehr ( lit. ' Reich Defence ' ) was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first years of the Third Reich . After Germany was defeated in World War I , the Imperial German Army ( Deutsches Heer ) was dissolved in order to be reshaped into a peacetime army. From it a provisional Reichswehr was formed in March 1919. Under
368-653: A Free Socialist Republic was proclaimed at the Berlin Palace . The proclamation was issued by Karl Liebknecht , co-leader with Rosa Luxemburg of the communist Spartakusbund ( Spartacus League ), a group of a few hundred supporters of the Russian Revolution that had allied itself with the USPD in 1917. On the same day, in a move that was contrary to the constitution because only the Kaiser could appoint
552-594: A " Working Committee of German Associations " was founded with representatives of many groups considered "fit for good society". In 1919 the Weimar National Assembly established a parliamentary committee to inquire into the events that had led to the "outbreak, prolongation and loss of the First World War". Its results were of questionable value due to a lack of cooperation from the civil service and military and to increasing interference from
736-531: A "six-man chancellor." Ebert, however, enjoyed special trust among the state secretaries and civil servants because the Emperor's last chancellor had handed the office to him. At times he continued to use the title of chancellor, which raised him above Haase in the eyes of the Supreme Army Command and the public. It suited Ebert that the USPD had sent two moderates, Haase and Dittmann, along with
920-471: A "war guilt lie". In line with national conservative and bourgeois right-wing parties, they accused the governing parties of having contributed to Germany's humiliation by signing the treaty and of denying it the right to self-determination. The young republic was exposed from the beginning to attacks from both the extreme right and extreme left. The Left accused the Social Democrats of betraying
1104-557: A 1929 report in the weekly Weltbühne on the collaboration, which was by then already known. On 26 September 1923, the Bavarian government declared a state of emergency and placed executive power in the hands of Gustav Ritter von Kahr as state commissioner. The government in Berlin responded by declaring a nationwide state of emergency, and President Ebert transferred executive power to Otto Gessler. After General Otto von Lossow , who
1288-679: A buildup of reservists. On 9 November 1918, at the beginning of the German Revolution that led to the collapse of the German Empire and the flight of Emperor Wilhelm II , a republic was proclaimed from Berlin. The next day, German Chancellor Friedrich Ebert and General Wilhelm Groener , acting in the name of the Supreme Army Command , concluded the Ebert–Groener Pact . In it Groener assured Ebert of
1472-664: A ceasefire to the Entente powers and to amend the German constitution so that the Empire would become a parliamentary monarchy. They hoped that by doing so, Germany's opponents would grant more favourable terms and that they could save the Army and its "honour" by shifting responsibility for the lost war to democratic politicians. Emperor Wilhelm II appointed the liberal Prince Maximilian von Baden as chancellor. Baden brought members of
1656-631: A chancellor, Prince Max of Baden, at Ebert's request, transferred his powers as chancellor to him. In view of the mass support for more radical reforms among the workers' councils, a coalition government called the Council of the People's Deputies ( Rat der Volksbeauftragten ) was established, consisting of three MSPD and three USPD members. Led by Ebert for the MSPD and Hugo Haase for the USPD, it governed Germany from November 1918 to January 1919. Although
1840-579: A coalition government; Hitler's far-right Nazi Party held two out of ten cabinet seats. Von Papen, as Vice-Chancellor and Hindenburg's confidant, was to serve as the éminence grise who would keep Hitler under control; these intentions severely underestimated Hitler's political abilities. By the end of March 1933, the Reichstag Fire Decree and the Enabling Act of 1933 were used in the perceived state of emergency to effectively grant
2024-599: A democratic German government and implicitly demanded the Emperor's abdication. The leadership of the largest party in the Reichstag, the Majority Social Democrats (MSPD), and especially its chairman Friedrich Ebert , saw the party's main goal as already having been achieved by the constitutional reforms and believed that the Empire's elites would come to terms with democratisation if Germany remained
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#17327870507612208-534: A democratically legitimised government that replaced the Council of the People's Deputies on 13 February. It then drafted and approved the constitution for the parliamentary Weimar Republic. At the end of September 1918 when the German Army was facing inevitable defeat in World War I , the Supreme Army Command (OHL) under Generals Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff called on the government to offer
2392-477: A general strike. The putsch quickly failed due in large part to the refusal of the ministerial bureaucracy to obey Kapp's orders. The Reichswehr, however, proved itself to be unreliable. It adopted a wait-and-see attitude under General von Seeckt, the head of the Troop Office , who said that "Reichswehr do not fire on Reichswehr". Some among the working class did not limit themselves to passive resistance to
2576-545: A later date (Article 233). In the short term it was required to pay the equivalent of 20 billion gold marks in installments through April 1921 (Article 235). The most contentious article of the treaty, the so-called War Guilt Clause , did not use the word "guilt". It stated that Germany accepted full responsibility for all the loss and damage from a war that was imposed on the Allies by the aggression of Germany and its allies ( Article 231 ). The implications of Article 231 and
2760-528: A monarchy. Then on 29 October, sailors at Kiel mutinied against orders to sail out for a final battle against the British Navy. They set up workers' and soldiers' councils in Kiel that took control from the military and the civilian government. From Kiel they spread the German Revolution rapidly across the country, reaching Berlin on 9 September. The leaders of the MSPD feared that the supporters of both
2944-445: A new (and at that point not yet formed) government that had taken over in order to save the people from civil war and famine. He also invoked the danger of anarchy in order to gain the support of the civil servants, the majority of whom – including the state secretaries (equivalent to ministers) – had chosen to stay in office. It was of great importance for the MSPD to form a coalition with the USPD in order to maintain its acceptance by
3128-406: A number of important social reforms such as the eight-hour workday and universal suffrage that for the first time gave women the right to vote. Following the quick and almost bloodless collapse of the political system of the authoritarian Empire, the revolution became violent as it wrestled with the question of whether Germany was to become a soviet republic , as the more radical elements wanted, or
3312-648: A number of only about thirty. At the Tomka gas test site near Saratov , chemical warfare agents were jointly tested and developed. In December 1926, Social Democrat Philipp Scheidemann disclosed the collaboration with the Soviet Union to the Reichstag , toppling the government under Wilhelm Marx . In 1931 Carl von Ossietzky and Walter Kreiser were convicted of espionage in the Weltbühne Trial for
3496-511: A parliamentary democracy. Under Ebert's leadership, the Council defeated the radical Left, but it was at the cost of bloodshed that permanently split Germany's socialists. The Council also found it necessary to keep many right-wing, anti-republican elements in power in the administration, judiciary and military. The Council scheduled elections to a constituent national assembly in January 1919. The resulting Weimar National Assembly established
3680-437: A parliamentary system. The rebellion caused great fear among supporters of the monarchy and in the middle classes because of the soviet-style aspirations of the councils. To centrist and conservative citizens, the country looked to be on the verge of a communist revolution. By 7 November, the revolution had reached Munich , resulting in the flight of King Ludwig III of Bavaria . The MSPD decided to make use of their support at
3864-592: A peacetime army following demobilisation. On 6 March 1919 the Weimar National Assembly passed a law on the formation of a provisional army to be made up of 43 brigades. It authorised the Reich President "to dissolve the existing army and to form a provisional Reichswehr which, until the creation of a new armed force to be ordered by Reich law, would protect the borders of the Reich, enforce
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#17327870507614048-645: A peacetime army. Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles , the new army, the Reichswehr , was limited to 100,000 men and the Reichsmarine (navy), to 15,000. The treaty prohibited an air force, submarines, large warships and armoured vehicles. The official formation of the Reichswehr took place on 1 January 1921, after the limitations had been met. The soldiers of the Reichswehr took their oath to
4232-486: A putsch or made himself dictator, but he did neither and voluntarily returned the powers to the political authorities when the crises had passed. And in 1926, he lost his position as head of the Army Command at the demand of Reichswehr Minister Gessler. After becoming chancellor at the end of January 1933, Hitler presented his government program to the generals on 3 February. He promised them among other things that
4416-462: A representative of the left wing, Barth, through whom Ebert hoped to be able to win over the radical revolutionaries as well. The "bourgeois ministers" (state secretaries) remained in office as "technical assistants". Each was to be joined by one MSPD and one USPD member as "political undersecretaries of state" to keep watch over them. On 10 November 1918, the three thousand delegates of the workers' and soldiers' councils who had been elected earlier in
4600-682: A result it was the leadership of the Reichswehr with its largely anti-democratic civil service personnel that, along with the Foreign Office, determined the portrayal of the war in the Weimar Republic. All in all, there was little objective and critical questioning of the causes of the war or of Germany's responsibility for it in academia, politics or the media during the Weimar period. The official view of history continued to follow
4784-633: A series of actions by the Reichswehr and its leadership showed its increasing power and drift towards the Nazis: While Seeckt was head of the Army Command, he reorganized the Reichswehr so that it could be rapidly expanded when free of the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles. He had done so while accepting the Weimar Republic as the framework in which he had to work, in spite of his fundamental dislike of parliamentary democracy. Following his forced resignation in 1926, von Schleicher became
4968-492: A socialist reorganization of Germany, such as the immediate nationalisation of large estates and certain key industries, or if it should instead leave such decisions to a constituent national assembly (constitutional convention). On the evening of the ninth, the MSPD received word that the Berlin workers' and soldiers' council, called together by the Revolutionary Stewards , had decided to elect new councils
5152-545: A speech delivered by Adolf Hitler at a Nazi Party rally in Munich on 24 February 1929. A few weeks later, the term Weimarer Republik was first used again by Hitler in a newspaper article. Only during the 1930s did the term become mainstream, both within and outside Germany. According to historian Richard J. Evans : The continued use of the term 'German Empire', Deutsches Reich , by the Weimar Republic ... conjured up an image among educated Germans that resonated far beyond
5336-600: Is so called because the Weimar National Assembly that adopted its constitution met in Weimar from 6 February to 11 August 1919, but the name only became mainstream after 1933. Even though the National Assembly chose to retain the old name Deutsches Reich (Art. 1 of the Constitution), hardly anyone used it during the Weimar period, and no single name for the new state gained widespread acceptance. To
5520-544: The Admiral Scheer . The rapprochement between the Republic and the Reichswehr brought the greatest gains to the Reichswehr . It achieved an increase in the defence budget, and criticism of the increase was seen as an attack on the Reichswehr and thus on the state. Because of Hindenburg's support for the Reichswehr , the presidential cabinets from 1930 onward increased its power. Chancellor Heinrich Brüning
5704-643: The Stahlhelm and Kyffhäuserbund , although the Reichswehr officially described itself as "apolitical". In March 1920, Germany's political leadership did not use the Reichswehr against the Kapp Putsch , a failed coup attempt against the Weimar Republic. It occurred after the government tried to demobilise two Freikorps brigades and one of them, the Marinebrigade Ehrhardt , refused to disband. When Defence Minister Noske consulted with
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5888-650: The 1848 German revolutions was named as the national flag in the Weimar Constitution . It was abolished after the entry into force of the Enabling Act of 1933, when the Nazi Party gained total power, in favour of two co-official national flags: the old black-white-red imperial tricolour and the flag of the Nazi Party . From 1935, the Nazi flag with the symbol offset became the sole national flag of
6072-569: The Armistice of 11 November 1918 , the new German government agreed to the speedy evacuation of occupied territories. The withdrawal on the western front began on 12 November and by 17 January 1919 the areas on the west bank of the Rhine were free of German military forces. The task was then to gradually disarm the units of the Imperial Army which still numbered several million soldiers. This
6256-769: The Black Reichswehr , whose members were largely ex-Freikorps, had a peak strength of about 20,000 men and allowed the Reichswehr to clandestinely exceed the Versailles Treaty's 100,000-man limit. On 1 October 1923, about 4,000 of its members attempted a putsch at Küstrin on the Oder river east of Berlin. After its failure, Seeckt quickly had the Black Reichswehr disbanded. Reichswehr generals also maintained close contacts with politically right-wing, anti-republican military associations such as
6440-588: The Black Reichswehr , a secret reserve networked within the Reichswehr and organised as labour battalions ( Arbeitskommandos ) to circumvent the Treaty of Versailles' 100,000 man limit on the German army. The Black Reichswehr was never involved in direct military action and was dissolved in 1923 after a group of its members attempted to overthrow the government in the Küstrin Putsch . The Reichswehr also developed far-reaching cooperation with
6624-452: The Black Reichswehr , the illegal paramilitary groups it sponsored in contravention of the Versailles Treaty. The Reichswehr saw itself as a cadre army that would preserve the expertise of the old imperial military and form the basis for German rearmament . In Part V of the 1919 Versailles Treaty, Germany had obligated itself to limit the size and armaments of its military forces so that they could be used only as border protection and for
6808-408: The Ebert–Groener Pact of 10 November, the Supreme Army Command and the Council of the People's Deputies were in tacit agreement to support each other. On the other hand, the MSPD and USPD had differing ideas about how Germany should develop and were under great time pressure to act. When the two parties formed their alliance, the Council chose to govern outside the imperial constitution. It instructed
6992-584: The Independent Social Democrats (USPD) and the Marxist Spartacus League were leaning towards Bolshevism . In order to retain the initiative and keep control of the revolutionaries during the rapidly developing events, the MSPD also began to call for the Emperor's abdication. On 9 November, the day the revolution reached Berlin, Baden on his own authority announced that the Emperor had abdicated and then, without
7176-455: The Kiel mutiny on 3 November. Sailors, soldiers and workers began electing workers' and soldiers' councils ( Arbeiter- und Soldatenräte ) modelled after the soviets of the 1917 Russian Revolution . The revolution spread throughout Germany, and participants seized military and civil power in individual cities. The power takeovers were achieved everywhere without loss of life. At the time,
7360-457: The League of Nations , which marked its reintegration into the international community. Nevertheless, especially on the political right, there remained strong and widespread resentment against the treaty and those who had signed and supported it. The Great Depression of October 1929 severely impacted Germany's tenuous progress; high unemployment and subsequent social and political unrest led to
7544-533: The League of Nations . While war continued to be seen in the Reichswehr as a means to achieve political goals, government policy under the Locarno Treaties and the Dawes Plan , which for the short term resolved the issue of German reparations payments to the victorious powers, was oriented more toward maintaining peace and international understanding. Seeckt and his officers were opposed to joining
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7728-488: The Military Inter-Allied Commission of Control until 1927. Conscription into the German Army had traditionally been for a period of 1 to 3 years. After they had completed their terms of service, the discharged soldiers created a large pool of trained reserves. The Versailles Treaty fixed the term of service for Reichswehr officers at 25 years and for all others at 12 in order to prevent such
7912-548: The Reichstag 's majority parties into the government for the first time, initiated the democratisation of the Reich with the October constitutional reforms , which among other changes made the chancellor dependent on the confidence of the Reichstag rather than the emperor, and asked US president Woodrow Wilson to mediate a ceasefire. It was clear from Wilson's reply notes that the Entente powers were willing to negotiate only with
8096-409: The Reichswehr began a secret program of expansion. In December 1933 the army staff decided to increase the active strength to 300,000 men in 21 divisions. On 1 April 1934, between 50,000 and 60,000 new recruits entered the force and were assigned to special training battalions. The original seven infantry divisions of the Reichswehr were expanded to 21, with military district headquarters increased to
8280-583: The Reichswehr from the control of the Reichstag . Under Seeckt the Reichswehr developed into what many historians consider a "state within the state". During the 1920 Kapp Putsch , Seeckt refused to deploy the Reichswehr against the Freikorps involved in the putsch but immediately afterwards had the Ruhr Red Army brutally suppressed during the Ruhr uprising . In 1921 the Reichswehr organized
8464-501: The Reichswehr intervened in politics more often in order to achieve its goals, with the result that the Republic and the Reichswehr moved closer together. In February 1927 the Military Inter-Allied Commission of Control, which until then had supervised disarmament, withdrew from Germany. The decision to build the pocket battleship Deutschland in 1928, which was in compliance with the provisions of
8648-426: The Reichswehr to all social groups would lower its effectiveness. Löbe's proposal did not pass. The Reichswehr saw itself as a ' cadre army ' or 'Leader army' (' Führerarmee '), which meant that every unit kept close ties to its former members and could hope to call on them in a time of need. This was to become a basic prerequisite for the rapid growth of the army after the proclamation of military sovereignty by
8832-457: The Reichswehr would remain Germany's sole armed force and announced the reintroduction of conscription. The Reichswehr hoped for increased efforts to revise the Treaty of Versailles and to build a strong military and firm state leadership, but it also feared that the Reichswehr would be supplanted by the 3 million member SA. Its leader Ernst Röhm and his colleagues thought of their force as
9016-545: The Reichswehr , and maintain peace and order." The strength of the navy was to be 20,000 men. From 1 October 1919 to 1 April 1920, the forces of the Provisional Reich Army were moved into the 400,000-strong 'Transitional Army' consisting of 20 brigades. At the same time, the old army's units and duties were eliminated. After falling to 150,000 men in October 1920, the brigades were replaced by regiments, and
9200-470: The Reichswehr's leadership, only General Reinhardt, Chief of Army Command, recommended the use of army troops in defence of the government. The rest of the generals, including Hans von Seeckt, chief of the Truppenamt – the disguised general staff of the Reichswehr – advised against deploying troops. He is reported to have said, " Reichswehr will not fire on Reichswehr ". The only alternative left to
9384-457: The Ruhr uprising in the demilitarised Rhineland – to the Freikorps , which continued to operate even though it had been officially disbanded in 1920. In 1923 General von Seeckt, who had the backing of Otto Gessler, organised "civilian work groups" called Arbeits-Kommandos (AKs) that were attached to Reichswehr units and received training and support from them. The AKs, better known as
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#17327870507619568-699: The Silesian Uprisings and the Greater Poland uprising in the German Province of Posen , which became part of the Second Polish Republic under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. In the four years following the First World War, the situation of most German civilians remained dire. The post-war economic crisis was a result of lost pre-war industrial exports, the loss of imported raw materials and foodstuffs due to
9752-462: The Spartacus League and the left wing of the USPD. In January, the Spartacus League, in what was known as the Spartacist uprising , took advantage of a large strike in Berlin and attempted to establish a communist government. The uprising was put down by paramilitary Freikorps units consisting of volunteer soldiers. Following bloody street fights, Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht were summarily killed after their arrests on 15 January. With
9936-582: The Weimar Constitution . The commander-in-chief was the Reich president , while the Reich minister of the armed forces exercised command authority. Military right of command ( Kommandogewalt ) was in the hands of the OHL. The resulting dualism between civilian power and military command was to become a heavy burden on the Republic. Whereas Reichswehr Minister Otto Gessler was content with limited political and administrative duties during his tenure (1920–1928), Colonel General Hans von Seeckt , Chief of Army Command from 1920 to 1926, succeeded in largely removing
10120-417: The "Council of the People's Commissars", but it was established as the "Council of the People's Deputies". The Council consisted of Friedrich Ebert, Philipp Scheidemann and Otto Landsberg from the MSPD, and Hugo Haase, Wilhelm Dittmann and Emil Barth of the USPD. Ebert and Haase were to be equal chairmen. Scheidemann emphasised the equal rights of all members and called the Council of the People's Deputies
10304-424: The 1930s. The Weimar Republic had a semi-presidential system . At the end of the First World War (1914–1918), Germany was exhausted and sued for peace in desperate circumstances. Awareness of imminent defeat sparked a revolution , the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II , formal surrender to the Allies , and the proclamation of the Weimar Republic on 9 November 1918. In its initial years, grave problems beset
10488-427: The Bavarian Reichswehr , enjoyed certain rights of autonomy with respect to the Reich government. According to the Weimar Constitution, the Reich President had "supreme command over the entire armed forces of the Reich". In general, however, he could act only if there was a countersignature by a member of the government. In terms of authority, this was the Reichswehr minister. Two Reich Presidents held office during
10672-404: The Council of the People's Deputies was formed, the cabinet of Chancellor Ebert approved the Armistice of Compiègne , which came into force the following day and ended World War I. The Council then had to deal with the consequences of the agreement, including the handover of Alsace–Lorraine , the withdrawal of the German military from all French and Belgian territories and the German region west of
10856-415: The Empire to National Socialism and the cause of an "entente" between the traditional military elites and the Hitler movement in 1933. Hitler was dependent on their support in his rise to power, while Schleicher and the military needed Hitler's supporters as a "mass base". Historians of the Weimar Republic differ on the question of whether the Reichswehr was a "state within a state". Those who argue that it
11040-505: The German officer class. A rift developed between the MSPD and USPD after Ebert called upon the OHL for troops to put down a mutiny by a leftist military unit on 23/24 December 1918 in which members of the Volksmarinedivision (People's Navy Division) captured the city's garrison commander Otto Wels of the MSPD and occupied the Reich Chancellery where the Council of the People's Deputies had its offices. The ensuing street fighting left 11 Volksmarinedivision members and 56 members of
11224-469: The Kaiser that Germany needed to pursue an armistice and that the majority parties in the Reichstag, not the OHL, had to take responsibility for it. Although in retreat, the German armies were still on French and Belgian territory when the war ended on 11 November. Ludendorf and Paul von Hindenburg then began proclaiming that it was the defeatism of the civilian population – especially the socialists – that had made defeat inevitable. The stab-in-the-back myth
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#173278705076111408-417: The Kapp Putsch. Especially in the Ruhr , where dissatisfaction with the lack of nationalisation of key industries was particularly high, councils were formed that sought to seize local power. In the Ruhr uprising , civil war-like fighting broke when the Ruhr Red Army , made up of some 50,000 armed workers, mostly adherents of the KPD and USPD, used the disruption caused by the general strike to take control of
11592-399: The Kiel barracks. The sailors and soldiers welcomed him, and he was able to defuse the situation. On 9 November 1918, the German Republic was proclaimed by MSPD member Philipp Scheidemann at the Reichstag building in Berlin, angering Friedrich Ebert , the leader of the MSPD, who thought that the question of monarchy or republic should be answered by a national assembly. Two hours later,
11776-416: The League of Nations and saw their existence threatened by the pacifism of Germany's left. After the election of Paul von Hindenburg as Reich president in 1925, his status as victor in the 1914 Battle of Tannenberg made him a figure with whom Reichswehr soldiers identified. In October 1926, without seeking government approval, Seeckt invited the son of former emperor Wilhelm II to attend army manoeuvres in
11960-745: The Left and supporters of the former empire led to political violence and extremism . The young republic found itself in a nearly constant economic and political crisis until 1924. The Treaty of Versailles ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allied powers and set the conditions for peace. It was signed 28 June 1919 and can be divided into four main categories: territorial issues, disarmament, reparations and assignment of guilt. Territorially, Germany had to renounce sovereignty over its colonies and in Europe lost 65,000 sq km (25,000 sq mi) or about 13% of its former territory – including 48% of its iron and 10% of its coal resources – along with 7 million people, or 12% of its population. The Saarland
12144-409: The MSPD and USPD, while the soldiers' representatives were mostly politically independent. Although it was intended to monitor the Council of the People's Deputies, the latter in fact controlled the overall council organisation through the Greater Berlin Executive Council rather than the other way around. The Council of the People's Deputies was able to take the dominant position because it was made up of
12328-402: The MSPD members were not eager to enact any initiatives that were likely to further disrupt the strained food supply or negatively affect industrial productivity. The Council had its hands full with demobilising and reintegrating eight million soldiers, withdrawing three million of them across the Rhine and ensuring a sufficient supply of coal and food to last the winter. There were also threats to
12512-462: The MSPD, was in favour of having Germany's future determined by a national assembly. A council state with constant monitoring of the elected representatives by the masses was something the majority of workers did not want, and the election of a national assembly met with approval from all social classes. The Reich Congress also passed a resolution on the military called the Hamburg Points, which contained revolutionary demands that were strongly opposed by
12696-403: The March 1920 Kapp Putsch , Freikorps units under General von Lüttwitz occupied the government quarter in Berlin. In an attempt to reverse the revolution and install an autocratic government, the former Prussian civil servant Wolfgang Kapp appointed himself Reich chancellor and Lüttwitz Reichswehr minister and commander-in-chief of the Reichswehr. The legal government fled Berlin and called for
12880-426: The National Assembly convened in the city of Weimar , giving the future Republic its unofficial name. The Weimar Constitution created a parliamentary republic with the Reichstag elected by proportional representation . During the debates in Weimar, fighting continued sporadically across Germany. On 7 April 1919 the Bavarian Soviet Republic was declared in Munich but quickly put down by Freikorps and remnants of
13064-429: The National Assembly voted to approve the treaty on 23 June. It was signed in Paris five days later. Explaining the rise of extreme nationalist movements in Germany shortly after the war, British historian Ian Kershaw pointed to the "national disgrace" that was "felt throughout Germany at the humiliating terms imposed by the victorious Allies and reflected in the Versailles Treaty...with its confiscation of territory on
13248-520: The Nazi regime in 1935. Under the terms of the Versailles Treaty, the Reichswehr was allowed 4,000 officers, while the Reichsmarine could have 1,500 officers and deck officers. The actual Reichswehr officer corps numbered 3,718, down from 227,081 in 1918, of whom 38,118 were career officers. The officers transferred to the Reichswehr were almost all general staff officers. Of the approximately 15,000 men who had been promoted to officers during
13432-618: The November 1918 Ebert-Groener Pact , the military had ensured the survival of the new government. In the crisis-ridden early 1920s, the Republic used the Reichswehr primarily to fight insurgent left-wing forces, such as during the Spartacist uprising in Berlin in 1919. Wherever the Treaty of Versailles tied the Reichswehr's hands or its own manpower was insufficient, it left 'national defence' – e.g. border skirmishes against Polish and Lithuanian irregulars, or deployment in 1920 against
13616-421: The People's Deputies could have acted more courageously and whether the important transitional phase could have been used to bring about more far-reaching changes in state and society. Its co-operation with the civil service and the military was unavoidable, but the regime could have built up its own troops, which would have been loyal to the Republic. The Social Democrats around Ebert later insisted that they lacked
13800-519: The Reich Federation of German Industry. With the help of retired officers, sports schools for training infantrymen were founded, most of them near former military training areas, where exercise instructors for military sports were trained. This took place, especially in northern Germany, with the support of the veterans' group Der Stahlhelm . Other aids in military training included the use of dummy tanks for exercise purposes. In February 1923
13984-630: The Reich's integrity from separatist movements in the Rhineland and from Polish territorial expansion . Late in December, members of the People's Navy Division ( Volksmarinedivision ), which had been formed to protect the revolutionary government in Berlin, rose up over the issue of back pay owed to them. After the Ebert government used military force against them during the 1918 Christmas crisis ,
14168-460: The Reichstag not to reconvene and decreed that the existing Federal Council of the states (Bundesrat) should exercise only its administrative functions, not its legislative powers. As a result, none of the top executive or legislative bodies of the Empire remained in power. The state secretaries, who under the imperial constitution had been subject to the chancellor's instructions, became independent heads of their departments, in effect ministers in
14352-405: The Republic, such as hyperinflation and political extremism , including political murders and two attempted seizures of power by contending paramilitaries ; internationally, it suffered isolation, reduced diplomatic standing and contentious relationships with the great powers. By 1924, a great deal of monetary and political stability was restored, and the republic enjoyed relative prosperity for
14536-468: The Republic. Even though the German nobility, which was officially abolished in August 1919, had accounted for only 0.14% of the pre-war German population, an average of 23.8% of the officers in the Reichswehr were from noble backgrounds. The proportion of former noble officers in the individual branches of the armed forces varied greatly. In 1920 they made up 50% of the officers in the cavalry but only 5% in
14720-575: The Rhine, plus the surrender of the fleet and other war equipment to the World War I Allies. On 12 November, two days after it had convened for the first time, the Council issued an appeal "To the German People". The following points of the "socialist programme" immediately went into effect: In the same document, the Council also promised to introduce the eight-hour workday and other social and political reforms by 1 January 1919. They included
14904-530: The Rhineland and 50 kilometres (31 miles) east of the river demolished. Germany was prohibited from having an air force, tanks, poison gas, heavy artillery, submarines or dreadnoughts . A large number of its ships and all of its air-related armaments were to be surrendered. Germany had to compensate the Allied Powers for the losses and damages of the war, with the exact amount left to be determined at
15088-636: The Soviet Red Army , leading among other things to the secret training of German military pilots in clear violation of the Treaty of Versailles. With Seeckt's fall in 1926, the Reichswehr made a change in course for which Colonel (later General) Kurt von Schleicher was primarily responsible. The goal was to arouse broad social support for rearmament and to militarize society itself for the purpose of future warfare. Under Paul von Hindenburg's Reich presidency, Reichswehr leadership gained increasing political influence and eventually helped determine
15272-430: The Soviet Union, to train aviation and tank specialists on Soviet soil, and to have chemical warfare agents manufactured and tested. A secret Reichswehr aviation school and testing facility was established at Lipetsk , where some 120 military pilots, 100 aerial observers, and numerous ground personnel were trained as the core of a future German Air Force. At Kazan , tank specialists were trained, but not until 1930 and to
15456-743: The Third Reich, and after World War II, both the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic readopted the black-red-gold flag. The coat of arms was initially based on the Reichsadler ("imperial eagle") introduced by the Paulskirche Constitution of 1849, and announced in November 1919. In 1928, a new design by Karl-Tobias Schwab was adopted as national coat of arms, which
15640-590: The Treaty of Versailles and seen as a matter of prestige, caused problems for the Social Democrat Reich Chancellor Hermann Müller because his party had campaigned against the ship, but his cabinet members voted for it in order to save the coalition government. For the Reichswehr leadership, the vote was a landmark political decision. The 1929 budget included the first instalment for the Deutschland's sister ship,
15824-576: The USPD accused Ebert, Scheidemann and Landsberg of betraying the revolution and supporting the old, anti-revolutionary forces. The USPD members resigned from the Council of the People's Deputies on 29 December and were replaced by two additional representatives of the MSPD, Gustav Noske and Rudolf Wissell . Historian Heinrich August Winkler noted that "a good degree of democracy" had been achieved before 9 November 1918. Universal suffrage for men had been in place since 1871, and parliamentary government had been introduced in October. The political system of
16008-514: The USPD and the Spartacists, but the MSPD was able to avoid the more specific expression "executive, legislative and judicial power" that the other groups had wanted. The MSPD for its part had to accept that the national assembly would be discussed only "after a consolidation of the conditions created by the revolution". The provisional revolutionary government was formed in the late afternoon of 10 November. The USPD originally wanted to call it
16192-424: The Weimar Republic. Especially within the former nobility, however, the stance towards National Socialism was not without criticism. The Reichswehr leadership and officer corps successfully resisted the democratisation of the troops. Preference was given to recruits from the predominantly conservative rural areas of Germany. The Reichswehr leadership considered them not only physically superior to young men from
16376-575: The Weimar Republic: Friedrich Ebert until 1925, followed by Paul von Hindenburg . The first Reichswehr Minister was Gustav Noske , who was replaced by Otto Gessler after the Kapp Putsch in 1920. Wilhelm Groener took office in 1928, and his deputy Kurt von Schleicher replaced him in 1932. Schleicher continued to hold office on a provisional basis during his two-month chancellorship. Prior to Adolf Hitler's appointment as Reich chancellor, Hindenburg unilaterally – not at
16560-549: The Workers' and Soldiers' Council of Greater Berlin called for a National Congress of Councils ( Reichsrätekongress ) which took place from 16 to 21 December 1918. Against the opposition of the more radical members who demanded a socialist republic, Ebert, backed by the large MSPD majority at the Congress, was able to schedule the election for a provisional National Assembly that would act as an interim parliament and be given
16744-477: The abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II was announced, marking the end of Imperial Germany and the beginning of the Weimar Republic. The armistice that ended the fighting was signed on 11 November. Germany lost the war because its allies were facing defeat and its economic resources were running out, while by late summer 1918 fresh American troops were arriving in France at the rate of 10,000 per day. Support among
16928-411: The affirmation of Ebert, those responsible were not tried before a court-martial, leading to lenient sentences, which made Ebert unpopular among radical leftists. The National Assembly election , in which women were allowed to vote for the first time, took place on 19 January 1919. The MSPD won the largest share of the votes at 37.9%, with the USPD fifth at 7.6%. To avoid the ongoing fights in Berlin,
17112-650: The argument issued by the OHL in 1914 that Germany had been threatened by invasion and encirclement. Revising the conditions of the Versailles Treaty became the main goal of German foreign policy. The consensus opposing the "war guilt clause" did much to promote agitation against foreign countries and the Weimar Constitution. Both the DNVP and, in particular, the NSDAP questioned the entire post-war order and propagated
17296-422: The authoritarian state had collapsed in November 1918, with only a minority still standing behind it. The monarchists and army command resisted the change of regime, which meant that the revolution could not retain the old state institutions without danger to the new system. In spite of the revolution, the administration continued to function, the judiciary and education systems had scarcely been touched, and after
17480-692: The chancellor's recommendation as required by the constitution – appointed Werner von Blomberg as Reichswehr Minister. The head of army command was initially General Walther Reinhardt . After the Kapp Putsch, General Hans von Seeckt took over the post and had both the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and the Nazi Party banned in 1923. Wilhelm Heye followed him in 1926. Heye was succeeded in 1930 by Kurt Freiherr von Hammerstein-Equord , who tendered his resignation on 27 December 1933. He
17664-416: The cities but also as able to stand up against the "temptations" of social democracy. In 1926 Reichstag President Paul Löbe proposed to make recruitment dependent on physical fitness only in order to make the composition of the Reichswehr reflect more closely that of society as a whole. The proposal led to fierce opposition from the Reichswehr and conservative circles, both of which believed that opening
17848-477: The civilian leadership became problematic. Its loyalty was to an abstract state rather than the regime, and its insulation from the political world of itself led to it becoming a state within the state. In his 1929 Thoughts of a Soldier ( Gedanken eines Soldaten ) , Seeckt wrote, "The Army should become a State within the State, but it should be merged into the State through service; in fact it should itself become
18032-571: The clandestine establishment of the Black Reichswehr , unauthorised weapons testing in the Soviet Union , the establishment of a Leaders' Assistant Training School ( Führergehilfenschulung ) which was intended to compensate for the forbidden General Staff training, and the maintenance of the General Staff in the newly created Truppenamt . Under the code name 'Statistical Society', plans for an armaments industry were worked out with
18216-470: The collapse of Chancellor Hermann Müller's grand coalition and the beginning of the presidential cabinets . From March 1930 onwards, President Paul von Hindenburg used emergency powers to back Chancellors Heinrich Brüning , Franz von Papen and General Kurt von Schleicher . The Great Depression, exacerbated by Brüning's policy of deflation , led to a surge in unemployment . On 30 January 1933, Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler as Chancellor to head
18400-424: The composition of the Reich governments. As a result, the Reichswehr contributed significantly to the development of an authoritarian presidential system during the final phase of the Weimar Republic. After Adolf Hitler announced the "regaining of military sovereignty" (reintroduction of conscription etc.) in 1935, two years after his rise to power , the Reichswehr was absorbed into the new Wehrmacht . It
18584-408: The constituent assembly, were to be held under a franchise that would be equal, secret, direct and universal, based on proportional representation and open to all men and women aged 20 and above. The decree on elections was issued on 30 November. Over the next two months, the Council issued a large number of decrees, some of which formalised points made in "To the German People". On the same day it
18768-401: The constitutional authority to do so, handed the chancellorship to Ebert. A few hours later, also acting on his own, Philipp Scheidemann of the MSPD, standing on a balcony of the Reichstag building, declared that Germany was a republic . Ebert planned to quickly "steer the revolution into orderly channels" and published an appeal to the people which he signed as "Reich Chancellor". He spoke of
18952-498: The continental blockade, the loss of Germany's overseas colonies and the worsening debt balances that had been exacerbated by Germany's heavy reliance on bonds to pay for the war. The economic losses can be attributed in part to the extension of the Allied blockade of Germany until the Treaty of Versailles was signed on 28 June 1919. It is estimated that between 100,000 and 250,000 German civilians died of disease or starvation between
19136-626: The councils at the Assembly was critical in that it gave the deputies the credibility they needed to function effectively. The Assembly also set up the Executive Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Councils of Greater Berlin under the leadership of Richard Müller , the head of the Revolutionary Stewards. It consisted of 14 representatives each from the workers and soldiers. The workers' representatives came equally from
19320-416: The creation of jobs, unemployment assistance that would distribute the burden between Reich, state and municipality, a raise in the earnings ceiling for health insurance, more housing to relieve the shortage, a better food supply, the continuance of orderly production, the protection of property against private infringement and the safeguarding of personal freedom and safety. Future elections, including that for
19504-515: The day Hindenburg died, Reichswehr Minister Werner von Blomberg , who was originally to have helped 'tame' the Nazis, had the Reichswehr swear its oath personally to Hitler. Under the Weimar Republic the oath had been to the constitution. On 1 March 1935, the Luftwaffe was established and on 16 March universal conscription was reintroduced, both of which violated the Treaty of Versailles. In
19688-598: The day met at the Circus Busch auditorium in Berlin. Contrary to the expectations of the Independents, the MSPD dominated the meeting as a result of its extensive party organisation and ability to mobilise the unions. Together with the right wing of the USPD, it constituted the majority in the Council Assembly, which readily confirmed the membership of the Council of the People's Deputies. The approval of
19872-404: The demobilisation authorities "had the power to determine who should be dismissed and who should be retained in employment". On 29 November 1918, the denial of voting rights to welfare recipients was repealed. A government proclamation of December 1918 ordered farmers to re-employ returning soldiers "at their former working place and to provide work for the unemployed", while an important decree
20056-504: The driving force behind shaping the military. He used a more "modern" approach that relied on a combination of political, military, and economic factors. Germany's economic position was to be strengthened and France relegated to the role of a junior partner. The supremacy thus gained in Europe was to form the basis for a position of world power. Historian Klaus-Jürgen Müller sees in this one of the "lines of continuity" of German development from
20240-590: The east bank near Cologne , Mainz and Koblenz . In addition, the Rhineland and an area stretching 50 kilometers east of the Rhine was to be demilitarized. France had demanded the occupation both to protect itself from a renewed German attack and as collateral for German reparations. The occupation was to last 5 years in the British zone, 10 in the American and 15 years in the French and Belgian zones, until 1934, but
20424-433: The eastern border and even more so its 'guilt clause'." Adolf Hitler repeatedly blamed the Republic and its democracy for accepting the oppressive terms of the treaty. Article 231 of the Versailles Treaty was widely perceived not only as a legal legitimisation of reparations but also as a moral condemnation of Germany, and it triggered a storm of indignation among the German public. The hostility towards it came from across
20608-417: The end of the war and the signing of the treaty. Many German civilians expected life to return to pre-war normality after it was lifted, but the severe food shortages continued. In 1922, for example, meat consumption had not increased since the war years. At 22 kilograms per person per year, it was less than half of the 52 kilograms consumed in 1913. German citizens felt the food shortages more deeply than during
20792-480: The enormous fall in the Papiermark 's value. After four years of war and famine, many German workers were disenchanted with the capitalist system and hoped for a new era under socialism or communism. Socialists dominated the new revolutionary government in Berlin, and numerous short-lived council republics were set up in cities across Germany. Even after they were suppressed, ideological conflicts between
20976-411: The entire military forces of the Reich" and the power to appoint and remove military officers. Peace treaties and declarations of war required a national law (Article 45), which had to originate from and be approved by the legislature. In addition, General Seeckt was fundamentally loyal and helped the state to consolidate. When in 1923 Defence Minister Otto Gessler was given executive functions to deal with
21160-411: The farming population. In addition, Ebert's government got food supplies moving again and issued various decrees related to the promotion of civil aviation and restrictions on firearm possession. The Council did not tackle fundamental reforms in the military. Before the Council's formation, Ebert had promised the new head of the OHL, General Wilhelm Groener , that military command would remain with
21344-577: The final army strength of 100,000 was reached by 1 January 1921. The Reichswehr was officially formed on that date, with the Defence Law of 23 March 1921 regulating the details. The soldiers' oath was sworn to the Weimar Constitution . The Reichswehr was divided into the Reichsheer (army) and the Reichsmarine (navy). The Reichsheer consisted of seven infantry and three cavalry divisions, with all units renumbered. The Reich's territory
21528-516: The future army of Germany, replacing the smaller Reichswehr and its professional officers. The Reichswehr supported Hitler in taking power away from the SA in the summer of 1934. Röhm wanted to become Reichswehr minister, and in February 1934 demanded that the much smaller Reichswehr be merged into the SA to form a true people's army. This alarmed both political and military leaders, and to forestall
21712-426: The government was to flee Berlin. (By contrast, the left-wing Ruhr uprising , which began during the Kapp Putsch, was ruthlessly put down with the active involvement of the Reichswehr .) As a result of the Kapp Putsch, Noske was replaced by Otto Gessler. The Reichswehr leadership began early on to circumvent the arms restrictions in the Versailles Treaty through a series of secret and illegal measures. They included
21896-544: The government, which wanted to prevent a German admission of guilt before the world public. The committee met until 1932. During the course of World War I, war reporting was the responsibility of the German General Staff and after 1918 of the Potsdam Reich Archives founded by General Hans von Seeckt , which dedicated itself to the task of "disproving" German war guilt and war crimes. As
22080-421: The grassroots level and put themselves at the front of the movement. They joined the calls for Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicate, and when he refused, Chancellor Maximilian of Baden made a public announcement that the Kaiser and Crown Prince Wilhelm had already done so. Gustav Noske (MSPD) was sent to Kiel to prevent any further unrest and took on the task of controlling the mutinous sailors and their supporters in
22264-465: The ideals of the labour movement because of their alliance with the old elites; the Right held the supporters of the Republic responsible for Germany's defeat in the First World War, denigrating them as "November criminals" and insinuating that the German army, which was still fighting on enemy soil when the war ended, had been stabbed in the back by them and the revolution (the stab-in-the-back myth ). In
22448-403: The important party leaders, and the effective power lay with them. In the words of legal historian Ernst Rudolf Huber , "The party-political parity in the Executive Council as well as in the Council of the People's Deputies was a clear indication that it was not the ' council state ' but the party state that prevailed in the revolution. The council organisation remained a mere tool for establishing
22632-581: The industrial district. After bloody battles in which an estimated 1,000 insurgents and 200 soldiers died, Reichswehr and Freikorps units suppressed the revolt in early April. Council of the People%27s Deputies The Council took over the functions of head of government ( chancellor Friedrich Ebert served as chairman of the Council) and issued decrees in place of legislation ( Reichstag ). In its first days, it introduced
22816-421: The infantry and 4% in the sappers. Of the approximately 1,000 non-commissioned officers promoted to officers in 1919, by 1928 only 117 remained, or 3.5% of the total officers in the Reichswehr . Since the Reich government did not bring the officer candidate recruitment process under state control, regimental commanders in the Reichswehr continued to be responsible for selecting officer candidates, as they had in
23000-558: The institutional structures Bismarck created: the successor to the Roman Empire ; the vision of God's Empire here on earth; the universality of its claim to suzerainty ; and a more prosaic but no less powerful sense, the concept of a German state that would include all German speakers in Central Europe ;– 'one People, one Reich, one Leader', as the Nazi slogan was to put it. The black-red-gold tricolour of
23184-407: The last foreign troops evacuated the Rhineland on 30 June 1930. The treaty's disarmament provisions were intended to make the future German army incapable of offensive action. It was limited to no more than 100,000 men with only 4,000 officers and no general staff; the navy could have at most 15,000 men and 1,500 officers. The Rhineland was to be demilitarized and occupied and all fortifications in
23368-409: The loyalty of the armed forces, and in return Ebert promised that the government would take prompt action against leftist uprisings, call a national assembly, keep the military command within the professional officer corps and, most importantly, retain the military's traditional status as 'state within a state' – that is, it would continue to be largely independent of the civilian government. As part of
23552-399: The maintenance of order within Germany. In accordance with the treaty's provisions, personnel strength was limited to a professional army of 100,000 men plus a 15,000-man navy. The establishment of a general staff was prohibited. Heavy weapons above defined calibres, armoured vehicles, submarines and large warships were prohibited, as was any type of air force. The regulations were overseen by
23736-525: The mid-1920s, most Germans referred to their government informally as the Deutsche Republik , but for many, especially on the right, the word " Republik " was a painful reminder of a government structure that they believed had been imposed by foreign statesmen and of the expulsion of Emperor Wilhelm II in the wake of a massive national humiliation. The first recorded mention of the term Republik von Weimar (Republic of Weimar) came during
23920-456: The military. Supreme command was to be with the Council of the People's Deputies, disciplinary authority to reside with the soldiers' councils, officers were to be elected and there were to be no rank insignia and no requirement to salute officers when off-duty. The demands were never implemented. On 18 December 1918, the Council decided in principle to socialise "suitable" industries. No concrete steps were taken to accomplish it, however, since
24104-495: The modern sense. The government, which was controlled by the Council, exercised the former roles of the emperor, chancellor, Bundesrat and Reichstag. The Council began working according to rules of procedure on 12 November. The rules prohibited unauthorised intervention in the administration by individual members of the Council. Its instructions to the state secretaries had to be issued collectively and only as guidelines, not for individual cases. On 10 November 1918, just hours before
24288-577: The nation's crises, the power went in essence to Seeckt. He acted in the interests of Germany in preventing a possible civil war over the end of passive resistance to the occupation of the Ruhr and then during the communist threat of the German October in Saxony and Thuringia . Maintaining the integrity of the Reich and the Army were his top priorities. With the power in his hands, he could have staged
24472-481: The navy was 12 years, with 25 years for officers. The 1921 Defence Law ended the military sovereignty of the states but left Saxony , Württemberg , Baden , and Bavaria with limited independence. Bavaria was special in that Military District VII covered the entire territory of the state with the exception of the Palatinate , and only Bavarians served in the 7th (Bavarian) Division. Until 1924 this unit, known as
24656-473: The new Wehrmacht . Although ostensibly apolitical, the Reichswehr acted as a state within a state, and its leadership was an important political power factor in the Weimar Republic. The Reichswehr sometimes supported the democratic government, as it did in the Ebert-Groener Pact when it pledged its loyalty to the Republic, and sometimes backed anti-democratic forces through such means as
24840-406: The new Chancellor broad power to act outside parliamentary control. Hitler promptly used these powers to thwart constitutional governance and suspend civil liberties, which brought about the swift collapse of democracy at the federal and state level, and the creation of a one-party dictatorship under his leadership. Until the end of World War II in Europe in 1945, the Nazis governed Germany under
25024-458: The new Chief of the Truppenamt , Major General Otto Hasse , travelled to Moscow for secret negotiations. Germany was to support the development of Soviet industry, and Red Army commanders were to receive general staff training in Germany. In return, the Reichswehr was able to expand secretly in contravention of the Treaty of Versailles. It was given the opportunity to obtain artillery from
25208-596: The new government was confirmed by the Berlin Workers' and Soldiers' Council, it was opposed by the Spartacus League. On 11 November 1918, an armistice was signed at Compiègne by German representatives. It effectively ended military operations between the Allies and Germany. It amounted to a German capitulation, without any concessions by the Allies; the naval blockade was to continue until complete peace terms were agreed on. The Executive Council of
25392-565: The next five years; this period, sometimes known as the Golden Twenties , was characterised by significant cultural flourishing, social progress, and gradual improvement in foreign relations. Under the Locarno Treaties of 1925, Germany moved toward normalising relations with its neighbours, recognising most territorial changes under the 1919 Treaty of Versailles and committing never to go to war. The following year, it joined
25576-400: The next morning and then have them meet in the afternoon to elect a provisional government. In an attempt to put themselves in a position to control the newly elected councils, the MSPD relented on its earlier stand and accepted the USPD's conditions for joining the government. The workers' and soldiers' councils were to be given "political power" and meet "as soon as possible", as called for by
25760-399: The officer corps, while Groener pledged that the military would be loyal to the government and that it would help it in its fight against left-wing revolutionaries. The agreement marked the acceptance of the new government by the military, but the new Reichswehr armed forces, limited by the Treaty of Versailles to 100,000 army soldiers and 15,000 sailors, remained fully under the control of
25944-462: The old Imperial Army. Those admitted came almost exclusively from circles traditionally close to the military. In 1926, 96% of the officer candidates came from the upper social classes and nearly 50% from officer families. The homogeneity of the Reichswehr officer corps was in fact greater than it had been during the Empire. In 1912/13 only 24% of officers had come from families of active or former officers. By assuring Friedrich Ebert of its loyalty in
26128-427: The orders of the Reich government, and maintain domestic peace and order." A similarly worded law on the formation of a provisional navy dated 16 April 1919 authorised it to "secure the German coasts, enable safe maritime traffic by clearing mines, acting as maritime police and otherwise assisting merchant shipping, ensure the undisturbed exercise of fishing, enforce the orders of the Reich government in conjunction with
26312-678: The political spectrum, from the far right to the moderate governing parties to the KPD. After the treaty came into force, the Foreign Office continued the state's control of the debate over war guilt. The War Guilt Department financed and directed the Centre for the Study of the Causes of the War , which was to provide "scientific" support for the "campaign of innocence" abroad. For war-innocence propaganda at home,
26496-478: The population had begun to crumble in 1916, and by mid-1918 many Germans wanted an end to the war. Increasing numbers of them began to associate with the political left, such as the Social Democratic Party and the more radical Independent Social Democratic Party , which demanded an end to the war. When it became obvious to the generals that defeat was at hand, General Erich Ludendorff convinced
26680-523: The possibility of a coup Hitler sided with conservative leaders and the military. In the Night of the Long Knives (30 June–2 July 1934) Röhm and the leadership of the SA were murdered along with many other political adversaries of the Nazis, including Reichswehr generals Schleicher and Ferdinand von Bredow . The Reichswehr officer corps acknowledged the murders without objection. During 1933 and 1934
26864-496: The pretense that all the extraordinary measures and laws they implemented were constitutional; notably, there was never an attempt to replace or substantially amend the Weimar constitution . Nevertheless, Hitler's seizure of power ( Machtergreifung ) had effectively ended the republic, replacing its constitutional framework with Führerprinzip , the principle that "the Führer's word is above all written law". The Weimar Republic
27048-465: The professional officer corps (see Ebert–Groener pact ). In return, the army command promised to support the new republican government. The general elections to the Weimar National Assembly took place on 19 January 1919. On 10 February, it passed the Reich Law on Provisional Power, a kind of interim constitution, which stated in its first article that "The constituent German National Assembly has
27232-516: The purest image of the State." The outward situation changed in 1928 when the Reichswehr created the Ministeramt , or Office of Ministerial Affairs, under Kurt von Schleicher to lobby the government. In the late 1920s, the parliamentary system was beginning to break down and move towards the presidential cabinets of Brüning, Papen and Schleicher. The military had strengthened itself during its period of isolation, and through President Hindenburg
27416-427: The regular army dead. The USPD leaders were angered by what they believed was treachery by the MSPD, which in their view had joined with the anti-communist military to suppress the revolution. As a result, the USPD left the Council of the People's Deputies after only seven weeks. On 30 December, the split deepened when the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) was formed out of a number of radical left-wing groups, including
27600-559: The regular army. The fall of the Munich Soviet Republic to these units, many of which were on the extreme right, resulted in the growth of far-right, antisemitic movements and organisations in Bavaria , including Organisation Consul , the Nazi Party , and societies of exiled Russian monarchists. Revolutionary sentiment also arose in the eastern states where interethnic discontent between Germans and minority Poles led to
27784-424: The revolutionary workers and soldiers. Although the USPD did not have the masses of workers in Berlin and elsewhere under its control either, the MSPD's position was tenable only in alliance with the USPD. The revolutionary workers' and soldiers' councils that had formed throughout the country following the sailors' uprising were in any case made up primarily of supporters of the MSPD and USPD and wanted unity between
27968-423: The right of the spectrum, the politically engaged rejected the new democratic model and were appalled to see the honour of the traditional word Reich associated with it. The Catholic Centre Party favoured the term Deutscher Volksstaat (German People's State), while on the moderate left, Chancellor Friedrich Ebert 's Social Democratic Party of Germany preferred Deutsche Republik (German Republic). By
28152-416: The rule of the two socialist parties." The basic configuration did not change in the following weeks and months. To the disappointment of the radical Left, the council organisation did not develop into a body that took the road to a council state and a dictatorship of the proletariat . The Reich Congress of Workers' and Soldiers' Councils , which met in Berlin from 16 to 21 December and was also dominated by
28336-653: The same act, the Reichswehr was renamed the Wehrmacht . On 1 June 1935, the Reichsheer (the army contingent of the Reichswehr ) was renamed ' Heer ' ('army') and the Reichsmarine became the Kriegsmarine ('war navy'). Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic , officially known as the German Reich , was a historical period of Germany from 9 November 1918 to 23 March 1933, during which it
28520-404: The size of a corps headquarters on 1 October 1934. These divisions used cover names to hide their divisional size, but during October 1935 they were dropped. Also during October 1934, the officers who had been forced to retire in 1919 were recalled. Those who were no longer fit for combat were assigned to administrative positions, thus releasing fit officers for front-line duties. On 2 August 1934,
28704-598: The socialist movement, which represented mostly labourers, was split among two major left-wing parties: the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD), which called for immediate peace negotiations and favoured a soviet-style command economy, and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), also known as the Majority Social Democratic Party of Germany (MSPD), which had supported the war and favoured
28888-456: The task of adopting the future Reich constitution as well as other urgent Reich laws." In accordance with the Reich Law, the National Assembly was to elect the interim Reich president, and it chose Friedrich Ebert on 11 February. He in turn selected Philipp Scheidemann to form a government. The Scheidemann cabinet , which was a coalition of three centre-left parties because the SPD had won only 38% of
29072-417: The task of writing a democratic constitution for a parliamentary government. To ensure that the fledgling government maintained control over the country, Ebert and General Wilhelm Groener , Ludendorff's successor as leader of the Supreme Army Command (OHL), concluded the secret Ebert–Groener pact on 10 November. Over the telephone, Ebert promised that he would allow sole command of the troops to remain with
29256-410: The terms of the Treaty of Versailles , the rebuilt German Army was subject to severe limitations in size, structure and armament. The official formation of the Reichswehr took place on 1 January 1921 after the limitations had been met. The German armed forces kept the name Reichswehr until Adolf Hitler's 1935 proclamation of the "restoration of military sovereignty", at which point it became part of
29440-461: The territorial losses especially angered the Germans. The treaty was reviled as a dictated rather than a negotiated peace. Philipp Scheidemann , then minister president of Germany, said to the Weimar National Assembly on 12 May 1919, "What hand should not wither that puts this fetter on itself and on us?" He resigned rather than accept the terms, but after the Allies threatened to resume hostilities,
29624-404: The two workers' parties. The moderate wing of the USPD around Hugo Haase was also interested in an alliance because otherwise power in the big cities was in danger of falling to the USPD's left wing around Rosa Luxemburg , Karl Liebknecht and the Spartacists. The two parties differed above all on the question of whether the new government should move forward at once to create the conditions for
29808-464: The uniform of the old Imperial 1st Foot Guards . It created a storm when the republican press publicised the transgression. Gessler told Hindenburg that Seeckt had to resign or he would do so himself. He was supported by the cabinet, so Hindenburg asked for and received Seeckt's resignation on 9 October. Seeckt was succeeded by General Wilhelm Heye , although it was primarily General Kurt von Schleicher who gained additional power. Under his leadership,
29992-401: The votes, was introduced on 13 February. Germany then had both a parliament and a government that were democratically legitimised, and the Council of the People's Deputies was dissolved. The Assembly went on to draft and approve the Weimar constitution , which established Germany as a parliamentary republic on 14 August 1919. There has been considerable discussion about whether the Council of
30176-852: The war because the reality contrasted so starkly with their expectations. Immediate post-war industrial production fell to the levels of the 1880s, or 57 percent of its value in 1913. The 1919 per capita GDP was only 73 percent of the comparable 1913 figure. Controlled demobilisation kept unemployment initially at around one million. By January 1922, the unemployment rate had sunk to just 0.9%, but inflation caused most workers' real wages to be significantly lower than they were in 1913. The hyperinflation that peaked in late 1923 had its worst effects on government workers, whose wages did not keep pace with private sector workers, and on middle class Germans who had invested in war bonds or who relied on savings, investments or pensions for their living. What had once been substantial savings became essentially worthless due to
30360-416: The war, the Reichswehr took on only a few, as these front-line officers were seen as alien to officer life in the mess hall, barracks, and society. Democratically-minded officers were not accepted into the force. Radical nationalist officers were with few exceptions removed, especially after the Kapp Putsch. The political attitude of the officer corps was monarchist, although outwardly they posed as loyal to
30544-491: The working day, sick leaves, paid vacations, "and other aspects of labour relations within the German economy". A decree of the Office for Economic Demobilisation made on 9 December provided that the state governments "should require the communes and communal unions to establish departments for general vocational guidance and for placement of apprentices". In December, the income limit for entitlement to health insurance coverage
30728-481: The world, the final Allied offensive began in August 1918, and the position of Germany and the Central Powers deteriorated, leading them to sue for peace. After initial offers were rejected by the Allied Powers, the hunger and privation of the war years came together with the awareness of an impending military defeat to help spark the German Revolution . On 9 November 1918, a republic was proclaimed , and
30912-522: Was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclaimed itself, as the German Republic . The period's informal name is derived from the city of Weimar , which hosted the constituent assembly that established its government. In English, the republic was usually simply called "Germany", with "Weimar Republic" (a term introduced by Adolf Hitler in 1929) not commonly used until
31096-424: Was able as a state within the state to exert significant control over the choice of chancellor and the political direction of the Reich. Those on the other side of the issue argue that the subordination of the military to the constitutional institutions of the Republic prevented the creation of a state within a state. Articles 46 and 47 of the Weimar Constitution gave the president of the Reich "supreme command over
31280-595: Was announced, a decree established the Reich Office for Economic Demobilisation, with the purpose of carrying the German economy over "to peace conditions". On 22 November, a regulation was issued by the Reich Food Office for election to "peasants' and workers' councils" which were subscribed to "by all agricultural associations". On 23 November, the Reich Office for Economic Demobilisation issued twelve regulations which set forth rules governing duration of
31464-651: Was ceded to the Allied powers, and Danzig went to the League of Nations as the Free City of Danzig . The Polish Corridor left East Prussia physically separated from the rest of Germany. Under the terms of both the Armistice of 1918 and of the Treaty of Versailles, French, British, Belgian and American troops occupied the Rhineland , the area of Germany on the west bank of the Rhine river , together with bridgeheads on
31648-410: Was divided into seven military districts. There were two group commands, No. 1 in Berlin and No. 2 in Kassel . The navy was allowed a limited number of certain types of ships and boats, with no submarines. It was divided into Naval Station Baltic Sea and Naval Station North Sea. Under the terms of the Versailles Treaty, the service period for enlisted men and non-commissioned officers in both the army and
31832-419: Was done at previously designated demobilisation sites, usually the respective home garrisons. For the regiments with garrisons on the west bank of the Rhine, demobilisation sites were designated in the interior of the Reich. The Council of the People's Deputies – the de facto government of Germany from November 1918 until February 1919 – and the Supreme Army Command intended to transfer the remaining units to
32016-400: Was embraced as a former soldier by the Reichswehr . Franz von Papen and Kurt Schleicher, the two chancellors who followed Brüning, considered using the Reichswehr as part of their plans to abolish democracy. In addition, one of the presidential cabinets' main objectives was a revision of the Treaty of Versailles that would do away with the military limitations it imposed. In 1931 and 1932,
32200-474: Was in command of the Reichswehr troops in Bavaria, refused to act on Gessler's order to ban the Nazi newspaper Völkischer Beobachter , the Reich government had few options to enforce the subsequent order to relieve Lossow of his command. Seeckt's dictum that Reichswehr would not fire on Reichswehr still stood. When news of Adolf Hitler's Beer Hall Putsch reached Berlin on 8 November, Ebert transferred executive power from Gessler to Seeckt, even though there
32384-587: Was issued that same month in support of youth welfare. In December , the government provisionally granted the continuation of a maternity allowance introduced during the Great War, while a decree issued in January mandated the employment of disabled veterans. A Settlement Decree was issued by the government on 29 January "concerning the acquisition of land for the settlement of workers on the land" that foresaw "the possibility of expropriating estates over 100 hectares to facilitate settlement". However, only just over 500,000 hectares were freed by 1928, benefiting 2.4% of
32568-464: Was no assurance that he would act in the interests of the Republic. Given the way events in Munich unfolded, there was no need for Seeckt to take direct action. Kahr turned against Hitler, and the Reichswehr division in Bavaria did not support the putsch. In February 1924 Seeckt relinquished the executive powers he had received through Ebert. The 1925 Locarno Treaties ruled out any forcible change in Germany's western borders, and in 1926 Germany joined
32752-408: Was point to an officer corps that opposed the parliamentary republic and to General von Seeckt's insistence that the Reichswehr be apolitical, a position that was supported by the laws of the Reich, which denied members of the Reichswehr the right to vote and subjected them to internal Reichswehr jurisdiction. By distancing itself from politics and the government, the Reichswehr's relationship to
32936-430: Was put under the control of the League of Nations for 15 years, and the output of the area's coal mines went to France. Alsace–Lorraine , which Prussia had annexed following the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71, once again became French. The northern part of Schleswig-Holstein went to Denmark following a plebiscite. In the east, a significant amount of territory was lost to a restored Poland . The Memel Territory
33120-809: Was raised from 2,500 to 5,000 marks . Protections for homeworkers were improved and housing provision was increased. A decree of 23 December regulated wage agreements, laying down that a wage agreement that had been concluded in any branch of employment between the competent trade union authority and the competent employers' authority had absolute validity, meaning that no employer could enter into any other agreement of his own initiative. In addition, arbitral courts were set up to decide all disputes. A decree of 4 January 1919 compelled employers to reinstate their former labourers on demobilisation, while measures were devised to safeguard workers from arbitrary dismissal. Workers who felt that they had been treated unfairly could appeal to an arbitration court, and in case of necessity,
33304-437: Was spread by the Right throughout the 1920s and ensured that many monarchists and conservatives would refuse to support the government of what they called the "November criminals". The destabilising effect of the stab-in-the-back myth on the Weimar democracy was an important factor in the rise of National Socialism . On 29 October 1918, a rebellion broke out among sailors at Wilhelmshaven ; similar unrest then spread to become
33488-439: Was succeeded by Werner von Fritsch . Given the limited size of the army, careful selection of personnel was possible. Experienced leaders came from the 'Old Army' of the Empire. In 1927, 20% of the officers were from the former nobility, down from 30% in 1913. This continued the long-term trend of a reduction in the percentage of noble officers. Large parts of the officer corps held a conservative, monarchist worldview and rejected
33672-449: Was the unified armed forces of the Nazi regime. Germany and the Central Powers fought the Allies of WWI between 28 July 1914 and 11 November 1918. The war ended with 20 million military and civilian deaths, including 2,037,000 German soldiers and from 424,000 to 763,000 civilians, many of them from disease and starvation as a result of the Allied blockade of Germany . After four years of war on multiple fronts in Europe and around
33856-407: Was used until being replaced by the Nazi Reichsadler in 1935, and readopted by the Federal Republic of Germany in 1950. Following Germany's defeat in World War I, several million soldiers of the Imperial German Army either simply dispersed on their own or were formally demobilized. The provisional civilian government and the Supreme Army Command (OHL) planned to transfer the remaining units to
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