Weimar Germany The Constitution (democratic principals) allowed small parties to gain seats easily. – The president was permitted to rule by decree in an emergency, permitting presidential dictatorship Friedrich Ebert, a moderate socialist  first president The republic also lacked broad popular support. – massive inflation, due to the reparations imposed by the allies  11 trillion marks to dollar – The invasion of the Ruhr by the French caused the German people to resent the Weimar government even more.

Unstable Germany Marxist rebellions threatened the new republic Ebert turned to the old imperial officer corps and “Free Corps” to crush the Marxists “Free Corps” right-wing military group  attempts the Kapp Putsch in 1920 in hope of creating a military run government – Fails due to workers lack of support of the overthrow By 1920, Marxist threat eliminated, but the far right threat dangerous

Factors of Doom for the Weimar German people unfamiliar with democracy  allegiance had been to the Kaiser Wrongly blamed for the humiliation Germany faced under the Treaty of Versailles Insurmountable economic problems  destroyed infrastructure and huge war reparations to pay

In 1923, Germany suffered from cataclysmic inflation. Paper money became worthless and children used packets of it as building blocks. Bettmann/Hulton Deutsch/CORBIS/Bettmann

The Stresemann Years 1923 Gustav Stresemann  became Chancellor of Germany – To repair inflation  a new German currency introduced helping Germany to get the economy back on its feet – agreed to a new system of reparation payments in 1924, which helped to lower inflation. – In 1925, right after the French left the Ruhr, Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg became president. Locarno – 1925 Locarno Agreements helped to integrate Germany back into the European system. – However, its conciliatory outlook continued to alienate the German nationalist public – 1926, Germany joined the League of Nations

Hitler Denounces the Versailles Treaty P Topic sentence 3 detail sentences Most important sentence

During a Nazi Party rally in Nuremberg in 1927, Adolf Hitler stops his motorcade to receive the applause of the surrounding crowd. In the late 1920s, the Nazi movement was only one of many bringing strife to the Weimar Republic. Heinrich Hoffman/Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz