11 Oct

Tonight I would like to discuss the end of the first World War, and the beginnings of the Weimar Republic. Just to start off, I think it is very interesting that the 1918 revolution came well before the Treaty of Versailles. That point in itself shows how frustrated Germans were with their government as well as their almost universal disbelief in their government. They just wanted a change and a government that would take care of them, not starve them to death and destroy their money, which is a fair judgement. Germany, its generals, and the kaiser should have been wise enough to see that victory, especially on the western front was going to be an impossible task, especially after blindly invading neutral Belgium and bringing the British into the fight as well. However, this blunder was perpetuated and Germany was put into a stranglehold, starting in 1917. Well, things obviously get worse for the German war effort, and by 1918 after immense food and essential goods shortages, the German people seem to have lost all faith in its government, though they hadn't lost all faith in the war effort (they were told as well, things were going good for them). Then comes the fall of 1918, and it is revolution time, and the kaiser is offered an honorable exit to abdicate. However, yet predictably, Wilhelm II refuses, and in early November, abdication is no longer an option for the kaiser, he is booted. Yet, importantly, this revolution has an extremely difficult task ahead of itself. Immediately, the SPD, who take it upon themselves to direct the revolution, try to slow it down after the abdication to prevent chaos from breaking out as well as letting it become a bolshevik-style revolution. Coupling with the fact that Germany had lost the war, and the Treaty of Versailles was in the making, as well as citizens' high expectations, the new republic really had its work cut out for itself. To skip a little bit, much of the early Weimar was plagued by social division, increasingly polarized politics, and almost routine strikes, putsches, assassinations, and continual violence. But these negative characteristics are not so unlikely following a disastrous defeat in WWI, and almost a complete failure of the kaiser's reich to maintain the confidence of its people, by the end of the war. Further, it was time to move into the future, of the promotion of the german nation and its people; as well as to be done with the seemingly choreographed court-life of the kaiser's reich.