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Revolution
in Germany:
Revolutionaries
overthrew their ruler, Kaiser Wilhelm.
Aim
of revolutionaries to set up a democratic government in Germany.
However,
everyone disagreed how this democracy was meant to be achieved.
For
three months a bloody civil war was waged which left thousands dead before
a democratic government was set up in 1919.
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The
Kapp Putsch:
In
March 1920, 5,000 soldiers known as Free Corps marched into Berlin. When
the government heard this, they fled from the city. Doctor Kapp, an
extreme German nationalist set himself up as head of the new government.
His aims were to recover the land taken from Germany by the Treaty of
Versailles, and to re-build Germany’s military strength.
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Free
Corps Disbanded:
After
using Free Corps units to crush the Red rising in the Ruhr, the government
decided to disband them. Some ex-service men formed hit squads to carry on
their fight against Socialists and Communists.
Between
1921 and 1923 they murdered 356 people, including several leading
politicians.
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The reparations became an
impossible burden on the economy.
In January 1923 Germany refused to
pay.
Within days, the French General Degoutte, at the head of 60,000 troops was
sent by the French Prime Minister Poincaré to occupy the Ruhr. In that
industrial heartland of Germany was concentrated 80 per cent of her steel
and 71 per cent of her coal production.
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