Post-War Unrest and Struggles Following Treaties

Aftermath Aftermath: the immediate consequences of the treaties: Germany: Was in chaos. The Weimar Republic: Set up in 1919 in the town of Weimar. Was attacked repeatedly throughout 1919 to 1923: January 1919, Spartacists (communist revolutionaries) staged a revolution in Berlin. April 1919, Communists tried to seize power in Munich. Both of the above were quashed by armed and violent ex-servicemen known as the Freikorps (free corps) they were right wing. 1920, Freikorps force attempted to seize Berlin in the Kapp Putsch. The army sympathized with them and so did not fight them. They were eventually stopped by a strike by left-wing workers. Reparations: Attempts to pay the reparations bill after 1921 in conjunction with other economic issues (war debts) caused a huge level of inflation. This was further compounded by the French invasion of the Ruhr in January 1923: This was done because the French needed the Germans to pay and the Germans simply did not have the money to. The Ruhr area was the heartland of Germany’s industry and the Germans responded with strikes but in doing so did more damage to themselves then to the French. Economic deterioration: Hyperinflation started in 1923. Pensioners lost their savings. Banknotes became virtually worthless and were treated as children’s playthings (source A) 20th November, 1923 1 American dollar was worth 4 billion German marks. Hitler: Adolf Hitler (extreme right wing militant and nationalist) led a fascist rebellion on the 8th November 1923 in Munich. The rebellion (Beer Hall Putsch) was flattened the next day: A number of Hitler’s followers had been shot. Hitler was caught. Hitler was dealt with leniently and given a short term in prison because the jury sympathized with his views. Germany was beginning to recover by late November 1923. Anger in Hungary: Huge political unrest. 1919, Béla Kun set up a Soviet-style government. He was overthrown by Admiral Horthy who was a right wing dictator and who remained in power until the Second World War. Huge bitterness as a result of the peace treaties. Hungary was horrified by the Trianon treaty: It lost 2/3 of its multi-national empire based in Europe to Romania, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia. In Romania, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia its people were in the minority. Foreign policy was dominated by the wish to get back all lost territory after 1920: This frightened Romania, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia who formed the Little Entente to protect themselves against a potential Hungarian invasion. Ethnic tension in Czechoslovakia: Only new nation which allowed democracy and free speech: As a result there was a lot of tension between different ethnic groups. Czechs of the west were richer than the Slovaks of the east and the 3 million Sudeten Germans who made up 35% of the populace. The Slovaks and Germans felt that they were being treated unfairly as 2nd class citizens. The Germans in many border areas were in the majority. War and revolution in Poland: Poland was the largest new state and was not content with the borders laid down for her by the peace treaties. It had a population of 30 million people. Poland warred with Germany, the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, and Lithuania between 1918 and 1921: 1920, Poles conquered the Lithuanian city of Vilna. 1921, they had conquered much of Belarus and Ukraine from the USSR. These emphasized how hard it was to impose the terms of the peace treaties and is evidence for how the 1920s were a period of unrest and conflict. Polish politics were chaotic until May 1926 when Marshal Pilsudski seized power and ended democracy.