Weimar Republic facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
German Reich
Deutsches Reich
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| 1918–1933 | |||||||||
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Motto: "Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit"
"Unity and Justice and Freedom" |
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Anthem:
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Germany in 1930
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German states in 1920s (Free State of Prussia with its provinces shown in blue)
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| Capital | Berlin Weimar (de facto) | ||||||||
| Common languages | Official: German Unofficial:
Danish, French, Polish, Czech, Dutch, Sorbian, Low German, Frisian, Lithuanian, Yiddish |
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| Religion | 1925 census 64.1% Protestant (Lutheran, Reformed, United) 32.4% Roman Catholic 0.9% Jewish 2.6% Other |
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| Government | 1919–30 Federal semi-presidential constitutional republic 1930–33 De facto authoritarian presidential republic |
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| President | |||||||||
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• 1919–25
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Friedrich Ebert | ||||||||
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• 1925–33
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Paul von Hindenburg | ||||||||
| Chancellor | |||||||||
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• 1919 (first)
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Philipp Scheidemann | ||||||||
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• 1933 (last)
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Adolf Hitler | ||||||||
| Legislature | Reichstag | ||||||||
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• State Council
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Reichsrat | ||||||||
| Historical era | Interwar period | ||||||||
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• Established
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9 November 1918 | ||||||||
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• Government by decree begins
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29 March 1930 | ||||||||
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• Hitler appointed Chancellor
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30 January 1933 | ||||||||
| 27 February 1933 | |||||||||
| 23 March 1933 | |||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
| 1925 | 468,787 km2 (181,000 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
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• 1925
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62,411,000 | ||||||||
| Currency |
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The Weimar Republic (German: Weimarer Republik), officially the German Reich (German: Deutsches Reich), also referred to as the German People's State (German: Deutscher Volksstaat) or simply the German Republic (German: Deutsche Republik), is the name now used for the republic that governed Germany from 1919 to 1933.
Origin
After the German Empire was defeated in World War I, Germany became a republic, but it was still called "Deutsches Reich" (German Empire). Today it is called the Weimar Republic and this period is called the Weimar period, because the constitution was made in the city of Weimar.
Beginning
On November 9, 1918, the Republic was proclaimed by Philipp Scheidemann at the Reichstag building in Berlin and two hours later a socialist republic was proclaimed around the corner at the Berlin Castle by Karl Liebknecht.
The Emperor, or Kaiser, Wilhelm II, went into exile in the Netherlands. The new Republic was declared even before the end of World War I.
Problems
The Weimar Republic had a lot of problems. The Treaty of Versailles made things very difficult for the economy. Inflation got completely out of hand. There were political problems because governments ruled only for a very short time, not long enough to be able to make important decisions. There were a lot of radical right and left extremists, for example monarchists (people who wanted back the monarchy) and communists, who believed that all things, especially property, land and money, should be shared. Political parties had their own militias to fight each other.
One of the paramilitary organizations that arose after World War I was the German: Stahlhelm, Bund der Frontsoldaten meaning "Steel Helmet, League of Front Soldiers". They operated as the armed branch of the national conservative German National People's Party (DNVP). they were placed at party gatherings in the position of armed security guards (Saalschutz). In 1935 they became part of the Nazi Party.
Positives
The Weimar period is also known for its culture. Artists tried out modern ideas and used new things like film. The Bauhaus began in the 1920s too.
End
What we now call The Weimar Republic came to an end on 23 March 1933, when Chancellor Adolf Hitler installed the Enabling Act, which established the Third Reich.
Images for kids
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Sailors during the mutiny in Kiel, November 1918
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Philipp Scheidemann addresses a crowd from a window of the Reich Chancellery, 9 November 1918
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Official postcard of the National Assembly
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One-million mark notes used as notepaper, October 1923
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A 50 million mark banknote issued in 1923, worth approximately one U.S. dollar when issued, would have been worth approximately 12 million U.S. dollars nine years earlier, but within a few weeks inflation made the banknote practically worthless.
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A disabled war veteran in Berlin, 1923
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Wilhelm Marx's Christmas broadcast, December 1923
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The "Golden Twenties" in Berlin: a jazz band plays for a tea dance at the hotel Esplanade, 1926
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The Elephant Celebes by Max Ernst (1921)
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Troops of the German Army feeding the poor in Berlin, 1931
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Unemployment rate in Germany between 1928 and 1935 as during Brüning's policy of deflation (marked in purple), the unemployment rate soared from 15.7% in 1930 to 30.8% in 1932.
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The SA had nearly two million members at the end of 1932.
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Poster for the nationalist "Black–White–Red" coalition of Alfred Hugenberg (DNVP leader), Franz von Papen, and Franz Seldte
