The Spartakist Uprising, 1919
- Began by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg
- Turned a socialist group, Spartakists League into German Communist Party
- Tried to take over Berlin in January 1919
- Brutally put down by the Freikorps
- Luxemburg and Liebknecht murdered
The Kapp Putsch, 1920
- In German Putsch stands Coup d'etat
- Freikorps are asked to disband
- Treaty of Versailles (100,000 army)
- Wolfgang Kapp march on Berlin in March 1920
- German workers save Weimar Republic - General strike
The Freikorps
- An anti-revolutionary volunteer force
- Army officers set it up as the army demobilized after WWI
- Instrumental in putting down Spartakists and attacking Berlin a year later
The Weimar Republic
- Democratic Gov't formed after WWI
- First Chancellor is Friedrich Ebert until 1925
- Many people feel the Government's constitution was its downfall
- People mad that they followed Treaty of Versailles.
Hyper Inflation
- Caused by:
- Need to pay reparations
- Unemployment
- Refusal of workers to work in Ruhr region
- Leads to:
- French Occupation of region in 1923
- New Reichsmark
Summary
The Weimar Republic faced many challenges, one of which was two uprisings against it, both from the left and the right. They managed to successfully put down these two uprisings, but their downfall was soon to come. The knife to the heart, was Hyperinflation, which in turn created the new Reichsmark.