Why was there political unrest in Germany in 1919-23?

Learning objective – to be able to understand why there was so much political unrest in Germany.

I can describe the reasons why there was so much political unrest in Germany between 1919 and 1923.

Grade D

I can explain why there was so much political unrest in Germany between 1919 and 1923.

Grade B

I can explain and assess the extent of political unrest in Germany between 1919 and 1923.

Grade A

What political parties existed in Germany in the early 1920s?

What did the right wing political parties in Germany want?

Right wing parties in Germany tended to be conservative in their values and wanted –

• A stable society.• Strong government and leadership.• Capitalism.• Nationalist – placing the needs of the

country over the needs of the individual.• Uphold traditional values in law and order

and society structures.

What did the right wing nationalist parties in Germany want?

Extreme right wing parties in Germany tended to be nationalist in their values and they –

• Resented how the army was abandoned by the Social Democratic Party.

• Hated the Communists who had rebelled against the Kaiser in 1918.

• Feared the Communists who threatened German values of strong leadership and private ownership.

• Wanted to reverse the Treaty of Versailles.• Supported by law and military who

opposed the democratic Weimar Republic.

What did the left wing political parties in Germany want?

Left wing parties in Germany tended to be radical in their values and wanted –

• A rapid change in society.• An equal society with power in the hands

of the workers.• Oppose capitalism – abolish private

ownership of land and business and place it in the hands of the people .

• Internationalist – stress the co-operation of countries.

What did the left wing communist parties in Germany want?

Extreme left wing parties in Germany were dominated by the Communist Party and they –

• Wanted a revolution like the one in Russia in 1917.

• Felt the Weimar Republic gave too little power to the workers.

• Abolish the power of the landowning class and the army.

Why were the extreme political parties popular in Germany during the early 1920s?

Many Germans felt that the Weimar Republic was not doing enough about –

• The end of the First World War – many felt that Germany should have fought on.

• Felt the Weimar Republic should never have signed the Treaty of Versailles.

• Rising unemployment and falling living conditions.

All of these factors led to people looking to the extreme parties for answers.

Which groups used political violence in Germany between 1919 and 1923?

Why was politics becoming more violent in Germany during the 1920s?

A key development in German politics after the First World War was the fact that political parties built their own private armies, which ranks were swelled when soldiers returned home from the front with no employment opportunities with the bitter taste of defeat.

Initially, these private armies were for protection but they developed into antagonistic groups ready and open for a fight at any given opportunity.

The main political private armies were –

• Rotfrontkämpfer – Red Front Fighters for the communists.

• The Freikorps – unofficial army units of demobilised soldiers who kept their arms and hated communism.

TaskCopy and complete the Carroll diagram below using the table of political parties to help you.

Right wing Left wing

Supported the Weimar Republic

Opposed the Weimar Republic

TaskCopy and complete the table below and record what right and left wing political parties wanted on each issue listed in the table.

Nationalist parties

Right wing parties

Left wing parties

Communist party

Change in society

Leadership

Position of the nation

Values and ownership

Plenary

Stick a copy of this visual representation of the key issues relating the political parties in Germany in the early 1920s into your exercise book.

Beside each image write how it can contribute to answering the central question – ‘What did Germany’s political parties argue over in the early 1920s?’