1
Unit 1
Aftermath of WW1
Failure of the Weimar
By the end of the unit Learners should be familiar with
1. The effects of WW1 and Treaty of Versailles on the political and economic life of
Germany
2. why the Weimar Republic failed
3. The rise of power of Hitler and the Nazi Party
Grade 9
The Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre is pleased to offer a series of eight (8)
units covering the following Grade 9 CAPS topic:
Failure of the Weimar, the rise of Nazi Germany, outbreak of WW2 in Europe, the
Holocaust, people’s experiences and resistance
Our first unit deals with why the
Weimar Republic failed as a
democracy
We are going to look at the aftermath
(results) of World War 1 which was
covered in the Grade 8 curriculum.
Germany was forced to sign the Treaty
of Versailles, which had quite onerous,
(difficult) terms.
They had to accept full responsibility
for the war, they had to give up land,
they had to pay reparations. Paying
reparations means paying back the
costs of the war to other countries, and
they had to substantially reduce their
army and navy.
How do you think the people of
Germany felt about this?
World War 1 1914-1918
Treaty of Versailles
Some of the conditions
imposed on Germany
Accept responsibility for
the war
Give up land
Pay crippling
reparations
Reduce Army and Navy
2
Clemenceau was the prime minister of France. Have a look at what he's doing.
Think about who the woman on the bed might be. Look at how she is depicted
(shown) as opposed to how Clemenceau is depicted.
Think about the old man who's sucking her blood
Think about who the bats at the window might be. What do you think they
represent and what do you think they are waiting for?
You can learn a lot from cartoons. Think about what the cartoonist and the readers
of this newspaper might have been thinking about the Treaty of Versailles.
From the German Newspaper
Kladderadatsch. It was printed
in 1919 and entitled
Clemenceau, The Vampire
(Clemenceau is pronounced
Kle-men-so)
The Treaty of Versailles commanded that there be political changes in Germany.
Germany had been a constitutional monarchy. In other words, it was ruled by a
king who was not voted into power, but came through the royal line. The king's
powers were limited by a constitution.
The Treaty of Versailles said that Germany had to be a democracy. This meant
that the government would be elected by the people and they would elect the
president and the president would choose a chancellor (similar to a prime
minister). Because this system was seen as part of the treaty, it was never popular.
People didn’t look at the system and considered it under its own merits. They were
just angry that it was forced on them.
This democracy was known as the Weimar Republic of Germany.
3
It had a constitution and the
Constitution had very good articles or
laws. For example,
members of parliament are to be
elected in a general, equal, immediate
and secret election.
Think about why votes should be
secret.
Why should voters not share who
they’re voting for with other people?
Also, that the voters are men and
women older than 20 years, similar to
South Africa except we vote at the
age of eighteen.
What is really interesting is that
women were allowed to vote and this
was really unheard of a hundred and
one years ago. Also, everyone was
equal before the law. Whether you
were male or female, you had the
same rights, but you also had the
same responsibilities and obligations
to behave yourself within the law.
Individuals’ rights were inviolable.
They could not be violated or
destroyed. Youth was to be protected
in all spheres of their lives, and
religion could be practiced freely and
under the protection of the state.
This was a really advanced
constitution and a reasonable
constitution, not unlike our own. If you
look at some of these articles and you
look at articles in our South African
Constitution, they are very similar.
The T.O.V said
that Germany
had to be a De
Article 22
Members of parliament are
elected in a general, equal,
immediate and secret election.
Voters are men and women older
than 20 years
Article 109
All Germans are equal in front of
the law.
In principle, men and women
have the same rights and
obligations.
Article 114
The rights of the individual are
inviolable
Article 122
Youth is to be protected against
exploitation as well as against
moral and spiritual dissipation,
bodily neglect
Article 135
Undisturbed practice of religion
is guaranteed by the
constitution and is placed under
the protection of the state
4
Germany was in a state of political upheaval, people couldn't come to an
agreement about things. There were many parties that were for the democracy. But
there were many of parties that were anti the democracy for different reasons. Some
wanted a single leader, one autocratic leader (a leader who has total control) who
would tell them what to do. Other anti - democracy parties wanted a communist
system.
So Germany was not in a good state politically and Germany was not in a good state
economically.
Germany was in a state of economic upheaval, Germany was suffering not only
from inflation which is when your money loses its value from year to year, prices go
up, the money stays the same i.e. salaries don't go up at the same rate the prices do
and this is called inflation.
In Germany, there was something called hyper- inflation this meant that money lost its
value to such an extent that it was used for children to play with .They played with
piles of banknotes or people used it in ovens to warm their houses.
Price of a
loaf of
bread in
Deutsche
Marks –DM
(the
German
currency)
Pro-Democracy Parties e.g. Social Democratic party, Bavarian People’s Party,
Centre Party….
Anti-Democracy German Nationalist peoples party, Nazi party, German peoples
party …these parties did not want the democracy they wanted an autocratic
leader – many of these people were ex-soldiers
Anti-Democracy (very different from the anti-democracy parties listed above)The
communist party… was the main left wing party and many of these members
were also ex-soldiers
Children playing with
money
Adults burning
money for fuel to
keep warm
November 1918 1 DM
November 1922 163 DM
September 1923 1,500,000 DM
November 1923 200,000,000,000
DM
5
The Dawes Plan 1924
Gustav Stresemann - German
Foreign Minister and Charles Dawes
the
Vice President USA reach a deal
whereby America lends Germany
money to help repay debt and rebuild
its economy. Stresemann creates a
new German currency called the
Rentenmark
1928 Election
Economic Recovery!!
Looking at the
percentage of seats in
parliament in 1928, you
will notice that the
Social Democratic Party
had the most seats and
the Nazi Party, had a
very small percentage
of the vote because
people didn’t want
them.
People thought their
platforms, their
ideologies, their
worldviews were
extreme.
6
With the crash of the stock
market in America there
were no more loans from
America for Germany. This
plunged Germany into a
worse economic situation
than it had been in before.
Looking at the second pie chart just two years after the first, the Nazi Party had
18,3% and other parties were shrinking. People started to listen to fringe parties
because they made promises and people need promises when they are desperate,
when they feel that things just are not getting better for them. When someone says, “I
will make it better. Vote for me! You will get free housing, you will get a job, you will get
free electricity, I will make sure that you get everything you need,” as Hitler did, people
tend to vote for the person or party who makes those promises.
Hitler’s Ascent to Power and the end of German Democracy
1930 Election
1929
Stock Market Crash in America
July 1932 General Election: Nazi Party 37.27%
November 1932 General Election: Nazi Party 33%
The Nazis were not gaining a majority by Democratic means, they formed
coalitions with the Conservative Parties
January 30th 1933 Paul Von Hindenberg President of Germany appointed Hitler
Chancellor of Germany
March 23rd 1933 Law to Remedy The Distress of the People and the Reich was
passed. It is known as the Enabling Act
7
QUESTIONS
1. Looking at the cartoon on Page 2 answer the following:
a)Who is the woman on the bed meant to represent?
b) Who are the bats at the window why are they there?
c)Who is the old man?
d) What is the cartoonist’s attitude towards the Treaty of Versailles?
2. Look at the articles in Germany’s Weimar Constitution of 1919 and find 3
similar articles that we have today in 2021 in our South African Constitution.
3. Look at the two pie charts showing the elections of 1928 and 1930 and give a
reason for the rise in popularity of the Nazi party.
4. Was Hitler voted into power with a majority? Give a reason for your answer.
5. Do you think Democracy (government by the people) should be protected?
Give a reason for your answer.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre:
http://ctholocaust.co.za/
Cape Town Holocaust & Genocide Centre YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwVBUs5VqvsumuwDdzYIAaQ
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/hitler-comes-to-power
Facing History and Ourselves
https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/video/hitlers-rise-power-1918-1933