hi there and welcome to the history teacher this revision video covers weimar and nazi germany from the gcse edexcel nine to one course hopefully you'll also find it useful if you're studying any of the other exam boards or if like me you just love history i'm 100 self-funded so if you like my content please consider buying me a coffee to keep me going hi there guys today we're going to be looking at germany at the end of world war one and the impact it had on the early years of the weimar republic first of all we need to understand some of the key facts about world war one and the effect it had on germany you'll remember from key stage three that germany had to face the combined might of the allies britain france russia and later the usa the war lasted four years from 1914 to 1918 and during that time two million german troops were killed and four million were wounded the war was extremely expensive for all of the sides but for the germans it caused spiraling debt which by 1918 was three times the debt they had in 1914 in 1918 the british navy blocked german trade routes which prevented german supply ships from delivering food to the ports this led to severe food shortages and it is estimated that 750 000 people died from hunger as a result of this in stuttgart and hanover people protested and rioted in the streets in munich the people declared a general strike and the communist ideas of workers and soldiers councils became popular remember the russian revolution had only taken place the year before so leaders of all countries in the west were afraid the same could happen in their own country this is really what led to germany losing the war unable to feed its people or troops resistance at the front began to collapse by november 1918 the country was in uproar with protest strikes and riots spreading throughout the country the final nail in the coffin for the kaiser was the navy rebellions in kiel and hamburg sailors refused to follow orders supported by workers in both towns they refused to set sail and fight the british shouting for freedom and brought peace and bread the unrest spread throughout germany kaiser and his ministers had lost control of germany and there were now calls for his abdication on the 9th of november 1918 kaiser wilhelm ii's ministers told him that the only way to restore order would be for him to abdicate at first he refused but he was losing the support of senior military leaders as well as the general population and by the evening of the night he saw that he had no choice late on the 9th of november the kaiser abdicated and on the 10th of november wilhelm ii escaped the country and went into exile in holland meanwhile on the streets of berlin people were calling for the abdication of the kaiser and the establishment of a communist government in his place alarmed by this turn of events one of the leading members of the social democratic party the sdp philip scheidermann gave a hurried speech to the gathered crowds to announce the abdication of the kaiser and told them a republic would be set up in his place he asked for calm while this was established the sdp had to be quick in setting up the republic as the crowds were angry and anxious for change as soon as the kaiser abdicated on the nine the role of chancellor was passed to frederick ebert the leader of the sdp moving quickly the following day evac contacted the leader of the army to agree to work together and then eva suspended the old reichstag and formed a council of people's representatives the plan was for six leading politicians to leave the country until a formal constitution could be written these quick actions and the use of terms like people's representatives calmed the crowds who could see the action was now being taken and thus they were able to avoid a communist revolution the leaders of the council of people's representatives were forced to accept that germany could not continue to fight in a war that no longer had to support the people not to mention the fact that they could no longer supply the troops therefore on the 11th of november 1918 mathias erzberger a representative of the new government met with the leaders of the allied nations in a train carriage in france there he signed the armistice the agreement to end the war and at 11 am on the 11th of november 1918 the great war ended for many germans this was seen as a portrayal of the men who had sacrificed their lives but many more this was seen as a betrayal of a germany that had not lost the war in battle the following nine months was dangerous for the republic ebert had to keep the people on side as well as the leaders of industry and the army there were some groups especially extreme political parties who were openly hostile to the new republic and angry at germany's defeat to keep order and prevent another uprising ebert took several steps firstly he kept all the existing civil servants who had run germany under the kaiser this was because the civil servants knew what they were doing and understood germany's needs they were ordered to work with the workers and soldiers councils to keep things like schools taxes and public services going secondly he kept up communication with the leaders of the army so they would help ebert keep control he met with the leaders of industry such as coal and shipping to reassure them and to encourage them to continue to supply germany and finally he met with the leaders of trade unions and agreed to certain changes to working conditions to keep them on side ultimately eva managed to get control of germany in the month following the armistice but his control was weak as we will see the threats from extreme political parties and the risk of public unrest remained ever-present throughout the years of the weimar republic as it came to be known okay that's everything for today don't forget to like and subscribe and leave me a comment i love to hear from you and i always reply as quickly as i can i'm 100 self-funded so please don't forget if you like my content i really appreciate it if you buy me a coffee to keep me going the link is in the description that is everything for today and i will see you next time