Timeline of the Weimar Republic

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Template:Short description The timeline of the Weimar Republic lists in chronological order the major events of the Weimar Republic, beginning with the final month of the German Empire and ending with the Enabling Act of 1933 that concentrated all power in the hands of Adolf Hitler. A second chronological section lists important cultural, scientific and commercial events during the Weimar era.

For a chronology focusing on the rise of Nazism, see Early timeline of Nazism.

Politics and world affairs

1918: end of the German Empire

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Prince Max von Baden, the last chancellor of the German Empire

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  • 4 October: Germany asks U.S. president Woodrow Wilson to mediate an armistice based on his Fourteen Points peace proposals.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • 23 October: In a diplomatic note, President Wilson implies that in order for an armistice to be negotiated, Emperor Wilhelm II must be stripped of power and Germany become more democratic.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • 24 October: The naval order of 24 October 1918 commands the German fleet to sail into the North Sea and attack the British fleet.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • 28 October: Ships of the German navy off Wilhelmshaven mutiny against the 24 October naval order.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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1918: beginning of the Weimar Republic

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Emperor Wilhelm II in 1902. He fled Germany to the Netherlands and abdicated in November 1918.

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  • 11 November: Emperor Wilhelm II goes into exile in the Netherlands.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • 28 November: Emperor Wilhelm II formally abdicates.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • 30 November: The Council of People's Deputies announces elections for a constituent national assembly that will write a constitution for the new republic.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • 24 December: The fighting between the socialist revolutionary Volksmarinedivision and the German army during the Christmas crisis results in 67 deaths.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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1919

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  • 19 January: Elections for the National Assembly that will draw up a new constitution for Germany take place. For the first time in a national German election women can vote.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> The top 3 parties are the Social Democrats (SPD), the radical left Independent Social Democrats, and the right-wing German National People's Party.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

File:SPD 1919 leadership.jpg
Friedrich Ebert (left) and Philipp Scheidemann, first president and minister president (chancellor) of a democratic Germany
  • 6 February: The first meeting of the National Assembly takes place in Weimar, the city associated with Goethe and Schiller that will give the new republic its informal name. Berlin is considered too politically unstable to be the meeting place.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • 11 February: The Weimar National Assembly elects Friedrich Ebert of the SPD as president of Germany.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • 13 February: President Friedrich Ebert appoints Philipp Scheidemann of the SPD minister president (similar to chancellor).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • 21 February: Bavarian minister president Kurt Eisner is murdered in Munich by right-wing student Anton Arco-Valley.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • 3–13 March: In the Berlin March Battles, supporters of the Communist Party of Germany expand a general strike into an armed uprising intended to set up a council republic. The revolt is put down by government and Freikorps troops.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • 7 April: The Bavarian Soviet Republic is proclaimed in Munich. It lasts until 1 May 1919.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • 7 May: The German delegation at Versailles receives the Allies' peace conditions.<ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • 16 June: The German government receives an ultimatum from the Allied Powers demanding that they accept the Treaty of Versailles or risk being invaded.<ref name=":2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • 20 June: After Minister President Philipp Scheidemann refuses to accept the Treaty of Versailles, he and his cabinet step down.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> On the following day, Gustav Bauer, also of the SPD, takes Scheidemann's place.<ref name=":4">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

  • 23 June: Confronted with another Allied ultimatum, the Weimar National Assembly approves the Treaty of Versailles with no conditions.<ref name=":2" />
  • 28 June: The Treaty of Versailles is formally approved in the Hall of Mirrors.<ref name=":1" />
  • 12 July: The Allied blockade of Germany that had begun in 1914 ends.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • 31 July: The Weimar National Assembly approves the Weimar Constitution, 262 to 75.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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1920

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File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R16976, Kapp-Putsch, Berlin.jpg
Members of a Freikorps unit with swastikas on their helmets distributing leaflets during the Kapp Putsch
  • 13–17 March: The Kapp Putsch, an attempt by a group of right-wing extremists to take power in Berlin, forces the government to flee the city but then quickly fails.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • 13 March–12 April: An uprising of workers in the Ruhr industrial district leads to battles with Freikorps and regular troops in a failed attempt to set up a council republic. Other workers' uprisings take place across central Germany.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • 1 October: Germany completes its withdrawal from the demilitarized zone stretching 50 kilometres east of the Rhine as required by the Treaty of Versailles.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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1921

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Matthias Erzberger, who was murdered by members of a right-wing terrorist group
  • 24–29 January: The Paris Conference establishes German reparations obligations at 226 billion gold marks.<ref name=":3">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • 1–7 March: At the London Conference on reparations, Germany refuses to accept the terms of the Paris Conference and walks out.<ref name=":3" />
  • 8 March: French troops occupy Ruhrort, Duisburg and Düsseldorf in response to the German walkout at the London Conference.<ref name=":3" />
  • 20 March: The Upper Silesia plebiscite is held to determine whether the ethnically mixed region will stay part of Germany or join Poland. Sixty percent of the vote favours Germany.<ref name=":5">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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1922

  • 16 April: Germany and Russia sign the Treaty of Rapallo that mutually renounces all territorial and financial claims and normalizes relations between
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    Walther Rathenau, the German foreign minister who was assassinated in June 1922
    the two countries.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • 24 June: Walther Rathenau, Germany's Jewish foreign minister, is assassinated in Berlin by members of the extreme right-wing Organisation Consul.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • 18 July: The Law for the Protection of the Republic, written in response to the assassination of Walther Rathenau, is approved by the Reichstag. It allows the banning anti-republican printed material, gatherings and associations.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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1923

  • 2 January: In a sign of growing inflation, it costs 7,525 marks to buy one U.S. dollar.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • 11 January: The Occupation of the Ruhr by French and Belgian troops begins after Germany is declared to be in default on its reparations payments. Two days later the German government reacts with a call for passive resistance.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Participants in the Beer Hall Putsch, in front of the New Town Hall in Munich

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1924

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  • 11 October: The Reichsmark replaces the temporary Rentenmark, which had been introduced on 15 November 1923.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • 20 December: Adolf Hitler is released from prison after being pardoned by the Bavarian Supreme Court. He had served less than 8 months of his 5-year sentence for his part in the Beer Hall Putsch.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

1925

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Paul von Hindenburg, second president of the Weimar Republic.

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  • 26 April: Paul von Hindenburg is elected president of Germany.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • 14 July: French and Belgian troops start their evacuation of the Ruhr, marking the beginning of the end of the occupation of the Ruhr that had begun on 11 January 1923.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • 1 December: The Treaty of Locarno, which guaranteed Germany's western border but allowed for negotiations on the eastern, is formally ratified.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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1926

  • 24 April: Germany and the Soviet Union sign the Treaty of Berlin, which guarantees Germany's neutrality in any war between the Soviet Union and a third country.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • 12 May: The Luther government falls as a result of its support for a modified imperial flag for use at the Republic's foreign missions.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> Wilhelm Marx of the Centre Party again becomes chancellor.<ref name=":4" />

  • 20 June: A popular referendum to expropriate the property of the former German princes without compensation fails due to low voter turnout.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • 10 September: Germany is admitted to the League of Nations with a permanent seat on its council.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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1927

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1928

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Gustav Stresemann, the German foreign minister who won a Nobel Peace Prize

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1929

  • 1 May: In the May Day Blutmai (Blood May), the Berlin police try to prevent Communist Party of Germany demonstrators from marching into the city centre. About 30 are killed and 200 hurt.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • 7 June: The Young Plan proposes reducing Germany's total reparations payments to 121 billion Reichsmarks, with the final payment due in 1988.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • 3 October: Foreign Minister Gustav Stresemann dies.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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1930

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Heinrich Brüning, chancellor of the first of Germany's undemocratic presidential cabinets

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  • 16–18 July: After the Reichstag rejects Chancellor Brüning's budget bill, he enacts it by emergency decree, then dissolves the Reichstag when they vote to rescind his decree.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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1931

  • 15 January: Almost 4.8 million workers in Germany are unemployed.Template:Sfn
  • 11 May: Austria's largest bank, the Creditanstalt, fails and sends financial shockwaves throughout Europe.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • 13 July: Germany's second largest bank, the Danat-Bank, fails and causes a nationwide banking crisis.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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1932

File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-B0527-0001-020, Kurt von Schleicher (cropped).jpg
Kurt von Schleicher, who was chancellor immediately before Adolf Hitler
  • February: Germany's number of unemployed peaks at 6.13 million.Template:Sfn
  • 10 April: Paul von Hindenburg is re-elected president of Germany on a second ballot. Adolf Hitler comes in second.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • 13 April: The Nazi SA and SS are banned.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • 12 September: The Reichstag is again dissolved.Template:Sfn
  • 6 November: In the second Reichstag election of the year, the Nazis, Social Democrats, and Communists are again the top three vote winners, although the Nazi's share dropped by 4%.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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1933

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The burning Reichstag building on the night of 27 to 28 February 1933

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  • 1 February: At Hitler's request, President Hindenburg dissolves the Reichstag.<ref name=":6">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • 23 March: The Enabling Act of 1933 passes the Reichstag. It gives the chancellor and cabinet the power to write and enforce laws without the involvement of the Reichstag or the German president. It essentially marked the end of the Weimar Republic.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Cultural, scientific and commercial

1919

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Max Planck, the first of fifteen Germans to win a Nobel Prize during the Weimar Republic

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  • 10 December: Max Planck<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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1920

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1921

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1922

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  • 10 December: Otto Meyerhof is awarded the Nobel Prize for his research in the field of medicine.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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1924

  • 30 May: Mercedes-Benz Automobil GmbH is established.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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1925

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  • 14 June: The New Objectivity ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) art exhibition opens in Mannheim.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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1926

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  • 14 January: Dancer Josephine Baker performs in Berlin.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • 22 October: Frank Wedekind's play Lulu premiers in Berlin.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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1927

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1928

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1929


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1930

1931

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1932

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See also

References

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