Weimar

Being forced to sign an armistice and later the Treaty of Versailles was both a shock and a national humiliation for Germany

THE PROBLEMS OF THE REPUBLIC

Problem Two: Defeat and the Treaty of Versailles

Germany had only expected a short war and had expected to win it.
At the start of 1918 Germany was finally winning the First World War, General Ludendorff launched a massive offensive that pushed the allies back. Once it had run out of steam, however, it became clear that Germany had sacrificed the remainder of her resources in one last gamble which had not worked. By October the Kaiser was informed that the war was lost and if he didnt agree to an armistice, allied troops would soon be on German soil. By agreeing to a ceasefire before the British, French and Americans invaded, the Kaiser created the illusion in the minds of many Germans that they had not lost the war. If they were not invaded, surely they had not been defeated. Germanys two generals, Ludendorff and Hindenburg had no intention of taking the blame for the defeat, even though they were chiefly responsible, so, following the abdication of the Kaiser, they allowed the new democratic government to sign the armistice instead. Both men had no desire to see a strong democracy emerge in Germany and they knew that if the Weimar Government was forced to sign the treaty, then it would never be forgiven by the German people. For men like Hitler, a corporal in the German Army, who had been a failed artist and a drifter before the war, defeat was a catastrophe. Not only was in inexplicable to many soldiers who believed Germany was winning but the explanation they eventually came up with was one of betrayal. Hitler latched on to the idea that Germany was stabbed in the back and that traitors, communists and the Jews that controlled them were to blame. The real explanation is far more simple. Germany had never intended to fight a war on two fronts and was unable to take the strain of fighting so many enemies at the same time. Her armies were able to win many battles in Belgium and France, but her economy and society could not take the strain. The Kaiser decided to end the war because it had pushed Germany to the point of revolution, as had happened in Russia. The treaty that followed in 1919 was seen as punitive, unjust and the result of a betrayal by an unpatriotic government.

Things to remember
* Most German soldiers believed they were winning. * * Weimar was deliberately given the job of signing the treaty to discredit it. * * Germany was not stabbed in the back it was simply pushed to the brink of revolution by the pressures of World War One.

Three Quick Questions

uestion One: Why would it be hard for German soldiers and civilians to believe that Germany had been defeated? (Knowledge) Question Two: Why was the stab in the back myth appealing for many Germans? (Judgement) Question Three: How important was the war and defeat in determining the fate of Weimar? (Evaluation)