Birth of the Weimar Republic

Hitler, his Propaganda Minister Goebbels and his entire family committed suicide collectively in April 1945 in his Berlin bunker. In May 1945, Germany surrendered to the Allies.

An International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg prosecuted Nazi war criminals for crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Nuremberg Tribunal sentenced only eleven leading Nazis to death. Many others were imprisoned for life. The Allies did not want to be as harsh on defeated Germany as they had been after the First World War.

Birth of the Weimar Republic: Germany was a powerful empire in the early years of the 20th century. It fought the First World War (1914—1918) alongside the Austrian empire and against the Allies (England, France and Russia).

The Weimar Republic was a period of time after World War I that replaced the Imperial form of government. The Weimar Republic was a short era of peace between the Germans and Europe. Some of this was because of the effects of the Treaty of Versailles, which had significantly reduced the power of Germany. This parliamentary democracy was formed after the fall of Germany in WWI and was the beginning of an interesting time for Germans.

The Weimar Republic technically lasted from 1918 until 1945, but most people believe that its power ended in 1933 when Hitlers Third Reich (Reich means Kingdom) took over the country.

There is some problem faced by the Weimer Republic after the defeat of the Germany in the First world War , King Kaiser William II fled to Holland ( November 10, 1918) to save his life . soon a national assembly met at Weimer , established a republic there on August 10,1919.This republic had to face many problems , some which are the following:

This republic had to sign the degrading Treaty of versaillies ( june 1919 ) where she had to cede many territories and had to agree to the payment of a large war idemnity.

As no party had majority in the legislation so a coalition government was set up. but the party strife in the coalition government made the Republic weak from the very beginning

Knowing the weak position of the republic , the royalists or who were still faithful to the German ruler , captured Berlin in March 1920 and brought an end to the Republic

The young Weimer Republic was crippled financially when being defeated, Germany was asked to pay a huge war idemnity amounting to 6 billion pounds.

As a result of the defeat, there was a devastation , starvation, unemployment, humiliation everywhere.

The tutorial readjustments with the neighbouring countries , especially with the France and Poland, posed a tough problem for the new Republic France was bent upon occupying the rich territory of Ruhr, which was the industrial hub of Germany.

Because of the opposition of the allied powers, Germany could not become a member of the league of nations till 1925. such a thing created most resentment in Germany and as a result , the Weimer Republic had to spent restless times.

NOTE : The history of the nation-state known as the German Reich is commonly divided into three periods: German Empire (1871 - 1918) , Weimar Republic (1918 - 1933) and Nazi Germany (1933 - 1945) .

In its short period of time, Germany went through many problems, the largest ones being hyperinflation, an enormous economic inflation that caused the German currency's value to soar, political extremists, including the Nazi party, and issues with foreign relations. A graph of the Mark during Germany's hyperinflation.

The decline of the Weimar Republic began in 1930 when the countries parliament began to fall apart. In the 1932 German elections, the Nazi party won 32% of the vote, replacing the democrats as the most popular party in Germany. This lead to the start of Hitlers Third Reich in 1933, which began World War II.

Sample Questions

(More Questions for each concept available in Login)

Question : 1

During first world war, against whom Germany did not fight ?
A. Austria	B. England	C. France	D. Belgium
Right Option : A
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Question : 2

The International War Tribunal was set up in _________ .
A. Vienna	B. Munich	C. Nuremberg	D. Venice
Right Option : C
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Question : 3

When did Nazism develop in Germany ?
A. Before the first world war		B. During the first world war
C. After the first world war		D. After the second world war
Right Option : C
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