Weimar Republic

The Weimar Republic is the name of the administration which governed Germany from 1919 to 1933 after its defeat in World War I and the stepping down of Kaiser Wilhelm II. The name Weimar Republic is given because the constitution had been drafted in the city of Weimar as the capital, Berlin, was considered too dangerous the period immediately following the end of World War I. The republic experienced many problems.

This government was already disliked by the German people for having signed the humiliating Treaty of Versailles, and this was especially humiliating because most German civilians were taken by surprise by their nation's surrender in the war, seeing as they had no idea that they were losing the war.Template:Fact-history (In truth Germany had no choice. They were not allowed to give input, and were only told to sign.) The huge reparations required by that Treaty caused an even bigger problem. Germany simply could not pay. In fact, the original plan was that Germany would not be able to have its war debts paid off until 1988; 70 years after the signing of the treaty.

A wheelbarrow full of printed currency

One reason were the harsh terms of Versailles treaty. Although the terms of the treaty were never fully enforced, the psychological damage was immense, since they were perceived as a grave injustice.

The republic was also struggling with the rejection by monarchist, who were still occupying important position in the state. Many WWI veterans believed that the German forces in WW I were not defeated, but that the social democratic leaders, who founded the Weimar republic to thwart a communist revolution, surrendered to the allies for political gains. It was know is known as the "stab-in-the-back myth", and was used to discredit the republic[1]. In truth Germany had no choice. They were not allowed to give input, and were only told to sign.

The early years were characterized by hyper-inflation, which was caused when the government started printing money since it was low on cash, in part due to reparation payments. The value of the German mark went from 4 to the dollar to over 1 trillion to the dollar at the peak of the inflation in 1923. Although the Weimar Republic enjoyed a time of economic resurgence after the early years of hyper-inflation it failed to gain deep public support. The Weimar Republic was famously called a democracy without democrats.