- The First World War opposed the Triple Alliance, made up of the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy, to the Triple Entente (France, Great Britain, Russia joined by Italy and the States).
- This war is bogged down in the trenches, leaving nations bloodless, especially Germany. Indeed, affected by a major economic crisis, the empire of William II was also decimated by shortages. However, not having fought on its territory, the German population thinks of emerging victorious from this conflict.
November 11, 1918
Characters
William II
Maximilian of Baden
Philipp Scheidemann
Paul von Hindenburg
Erich Ludendorff
Friedrich Ebert
Gustav Bauer
Mattias Erzberger
Walther von Lüttwitz
Gustav Noske
Wolfgang Kapp
Rosa Luxemburg
Karl Liebknecht
Adolf Hitler
Procedure
In July 1918, the Germans launched a final offensive, the second battle of the Marne. But the Villers-Cotterêts counter-attack and then the battle of August 8, 1918 left no doubt as to the outcome of the fight. On November 9, forced by the crowd and the new Chancellor, Prince Max of Baden, Kaiser Guillaume abdicated. Fearing a revolution, Philipp Scheidemann, Social Democratic leader SPD, proclaims the birth of the Republic from the balcony of the Reichstag, followed by Karl Liebknecht of the Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD). It was therefore the young Republic of Weimar, with the civilian Matthias Erzberger, which signed the armistice in the heart of the forest of Compiègne, not far from Rethondes, on November 11, 1918.
The defeat is not understood by the people who are rising up. The “stab in the back” theory was spread by high German dignitaries, such as Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff, to excuse the German army from its failure. It was in this climate of unpopularity that the Weimar Republic was born, officially voted on at a constituent assembly on January 19, 1919, shortly after the bloody week of January. Friedrich Ebert is the president, Scheidemann directs the first government. For the German people, it is this new regime which is responsible for the “treaty of shame”, signed in Versailles on June 28, 1919, by Gustav Bauer, the new chancellor. A revolutionary wind, coming from Russia, is blowing. From its creation, the KPD, the first communist party in Germany, multiplied demonstrations and other workers' councils, while the Freikorps (militias) and the army (in particular Walther von Lüttwitz and Gustav Noske), used violence to repress riots. The Weimar Republic remains marked by political instability (Bloody Christmas, revolt of the Spartacists, Kapp putsch, uprising in the Ruhr, beer hall putsch in Munich, etc.), economic misery (hyperinflation), and above all by a unpopularity from which she will never stand out.
Consequences
- Born out of defeat, the Weimar Republic found itself, from its birth, torn between extreme left-wing worker revolts and the rise of nationalism, its inconsistency favoring right/left bipolarization.
- Doomed before she even lived, she could only make room for extremes and favor the rise of a strong, dictatorial power. It will be overthrown by Adolf Hitler on March 15, 1933, with the creation of the III th Reich.