History of germany

Extremes of chaos: 1920-1923

The coalition government of the Weimar republic, which in June 1919 reluctantly accepts the terms of the treaty of Versailles, is centrist in its politics, being led by the Social Democrats. Its leaders have little option, for it is made all too plain that the alternative is an Allied invasion of Germany. But these events leave a poisonous legacy in the theory, held in right-wing circles, that the German army was never defeated. Instead it was stabbed in the back, first in the armisticeand then in the treaty, by republicans and socialists - a group to which rabble-rousers glibly add the Jews.

From the start, therefore, the new republic is strongly opposed by enemies on the right. Indeed a military putsch seizes control in Berlin for a few days in March 1920. 

The Berlin putsch fails in the face of determined resistance from the left. The trade unions call a general strike, after which lawful authority is restored. But the extreme left is no more inclined that the extreme right to support the new republic.

It appears evident toMarxists that Germany is the most likely nation to follow Russia into a communist future, and postwar discontent seems to give them cause for optimism. In the Ruhr, in the spring of 1920, Communists lead a workers' rising which is only suppressed after ferocious encounters with German army units and volunteer militias, mainly recruited from the right. Both right and left see themselves as competing, in a struggle to the death, for Germany's future. 
The ability of both sides to recruit support is much enhanced by the behaviour of the Allies - particularly France, which on three occasions marches troops into German cities on the grounds that Germany is failing to meet her treaty obligations.

The most serious intrusion by France, and the one with the most disastrous consequences, is the occupation of Germany's industrial base in the Ruhr in January 1923 (on the grounds that Germany is failing to deliver the amounts of timber, coal and coke specified in the treaty). The result is an immediate escalation of political and economic chaos. 

The German government orders passive resistance to the French (and to their Belgian partners in this invasion), so as to prevent them benefiting from the mines and factories of the region. The occupying forces respond with mass arrests. Meanwhile the German economy collapses, both from the removal of its industrial base and from the resulting loss of confidence. The government takes the disastrous short-term option of printing money. Inflation is already a major problem in postwar Germany. It now reaches levels which beggar the imagination.

One of the most pervasive images of the 20th century is of banknotes being pushed along the street in a wheelbarrow in Germany in 1923. But the bare statistics tell the story even more starkly. 

At the start of the year the German mark is already at the very depressed level of 7000 to the dollar. Six months later, on July 1, it stands at 160,000 to the dollar. By October 1 a dollar buys 242 million marks. On November 20 it purchases 42,000 billion. But these are fantasy figures, of interest only to speculators. In everyday life people lose their savings and resort to barter. And extremists seize their chance, amid the fear and unrest.

In October 1923 there are Communist uprisings in Saxony, Thuringia and Hamburg. In early November there is an attempted putsch in Munich, capital of Bavaria, the most resolutely right-wing of German states. This failed putsch would be little more than a footnote in history, were it not also an ominous prologue.