November Revolution: Economic Hardship And Civil Conflict In The Weimar Republic

‘German Revolution’ or ‘November Revolution’ was the beginning of economic hardship and civil conflict within the German Empire. The Revolution beginning in November of 1918, saw Germany forced to replace their federal constitutional monarchy with a democratic parliamentary republic, resulting from defeat in World War 1 and a requirement from the Treaty Of Versailles. The democratic republic later became known as the Weimar Republic. The Great Depression shadowed these events until 1939, displaying unemployment rates at its highest and severe financial debt. These complex events are contributing factors towards the uprising of Hitler and his Nazis, where he determined unlimited power over the German people to a significant extent. Hitler was able to capitalize quite substantially on Germany’s struggles and propose solutions towards these economic problems, where he was given the support of the German citizens.

After four years (1914-1918), the first World War finally concluded with the German Army marching home

Pressures of defeat from the lose of WW1, plunged Germany to chaos resulting in the Treaty of Versailles, containing dictated terms of Allies victory (History, 2016). Negotiated among the Allied powers (USA, Britain, France, Italy and Russia) with minimal participation from Germany, its 440 articles and 15 parts, reassigned German boundaries and assigned liability for reparations. These peace terms included prohibiting German Troops in the Rhineland, Severe reductions on German Solders (max 100,000), a complete ban on German Air forces, Submarines and Tanks and detrimental reparations costs paid to the Allied Powers. Germans perceived the treaty as humiliating and unjust. The signing of the Treaty began this instability described by foreign minister Gustav Stresemann as a “moral, political and economic death sentence” (Stresemann in Llewellyn. J et al,