Political Impact of WWI on Germany: 3D Gallery

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November revolution in berlin (1918)

Coinciding with the end of World War I, a socialist revolution broke out in Germany. The German Revolution of 1918-1919 resulted in the creation of the left-leaning Weimar Republic, which lasted until Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party seized power in the early 1930s. Many historians believe Germany's defeat in World War I and the harsh terms imposed by the Treaty of Versailles led directly to the rise of Hitler and the Nazi Party.

First assembly in weimar

There was a change of rule from the Weimar Republic to the military rule and this was due to the strong militarism values that remained even after World War I. These values undermined the Weimar democracy and were backed up by military organisations like the Reichswehr, the Freikorps and vaiours ex-soldiers’ leagues. Military leaders like Paul von Hindenburg and Lunderdoff, remained as heroes and important political figures, spurring the movement for change to military rule.

Auxiliary service act (1916)

-Those who are obligated to serve but who were engaged in agriculture or forestry before August 1, 1916, may not be removed from this occupation for purposes of transfer to another form of national service.

The leaders of the German women’s movement demanded to be included in this law, but the trade unions, the employers and the government prevented it from happening. According to the German government, women’s job consisted in being good wives and mothers.

Hindenburg programme

“This maximum performance can, however, be achieved only if the German people in its entirety puts itself at the service of the Fatherland. All other considerations have to take a back seat to this effort; they can play no role in a struggle that is about the existence or non-existence of the state – about the independence, welfare, and future of our people”… “Every man must be put into service according to his skills, be it at the lathe, in the office, or in any other occupation where he best serves the state.” -von Hindenburg, Generalfeldmarschall and statesman who commanded the German military during the second half of World War I.

fatherland party

This election poster stems from the campaign for the Reichstag elections of May 20, 1928.

The poster shows an African colonial soldier with his bayonet at the ready, his eyes gleaming in a dark, threatening cloud that hovers above the sunlit Rhine. It is clear that the poster was intended to incite nationalist resentment against France while stoking racist fears of occupation by a foreign, “uncivilized” force.

During the Weimar years, the party divided into two factions: a moderate wing that grudgingly accepted the republican constitution and was willing to cooperate with other parties in the German parliament and a reactionary wing that sought to replace democracy with an authoritarian form of government.

On September 2, 1917, militarist conservatives within Germany formally launch a new political party, the Vaterlandspartei or Fatherland Party, a move that reflects the growing hold of the army over all aspects of German society during the First World War. (RIGHT WING)

Its founders were two military conservatives with relatively aggressive war aims, Wolfgang Kapp and Alfred von Tirpitz, the former naval minister. They were mostly supported by voters from the upper echelons of society, by the military, industrialists and businessmen, and the Protestant Church.

Fatherland Party aimed to reignite the “spirit of 1914″ and rededicate the country to the cause of a German victory in the war. Its short-term goal was to oppose the revolutionary struggle for democracy; its long-term goal was the reestablishment of the German monarchy.

The DNVP also campaigned against the Locarno Treaty and the Young Plan.

The DNVP remained the second strongest party in the Reichstag, winning roughly 14% of the votes. Still, it lost a significant number of votes compared to the 1924 elections, whereas both the SPD and the KPD managed to increase their mandates

uspd: independent social democratic party of germany

Divisions over ideology and policy in the ranks of the SPD gave birth to two Weimar left wing parties: the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD) and the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). Both emerged in 1917, in response to the SPD’s support for the war effort. The USPD was comparatively shorted lived, lasting until 1922, however the fracture between the SPD and KPD would continue until the last days of the Weimar Republic.

(communist party)

GERMAN WARTIME PROPAGANDA

War-themed postcards often contained a combination of patriotic, educative or humorous images and a memorable slogan. Such visual propaganda evoked stronger emotions and was more easily accessible than written wartime rhetoric, and thus reached a larger audience.

The constant repetition of certain slogans such as “Jeder Schuss ein Russ. Jeder Stoß ein Franzos. Jeder Tritt ein Brit” (“Every shot: a Russian. Every dig: a Frenchmen. Every kick: a Brit”)

implied the inferiority of enemy soldiers. It functioned as an assurance of a secure German victory, suggesting that well-disciplined German soldiers would fight spiritedly and effectively.

became evident that war would’nt end by christmas, Military and civilian authorities attributed great significance to this deterioration of public morale, because war weariness was perceived as a threat to the social order, a danger to the soldiers’ resolve and a sign of weakness towards the enemy

Ophelia

Ophelia is a painting by British artist Sir John Everett Millais, completed between 1851 and 1852. It depicts Ophelia, a character from Hamlet, singing before she drowns in a river in Denmark. [more]

The Music Lesson

The Music Lesson or Lady at the Virginals with a Gentleman by Jan Vermeer, is a painting of young female pupil receiving the titular music lesson. [more]

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Political Impact of WWI on Germany