History

ser i es coal i t i on gover nm en t s, destab i l i sed by ever y cr i si s and unab l e to of f er st r ong l eader sh i p .?3 T he T r eat y cer tai n l y added to th i s destab i l i sat i on by causi ng a num ber of these cr i ses. O ne of these cr i ses was i n m i d - 1919, when Chan cel l or Schei dem ann r esi gned af ter the r eject i on of the T r eat y by the Germ an cab i net and Pr esi den t Eber t of f er ed to r esi gn . Another was i n 1920 w i th the at tem p ted pu t sch by Wo l f gang Kapp , caused by an at tem p t to r educe the arm y as r equ i r ed by the T r eat y. Chan cel l or Bauer and D ef en ce M i n i ster Noske both r esi gned as a r esu l t . Yet another exam p l e occu r r ed w i th the i nvasi on of the Ruh r i n 1923 by Fr en ch and Bel gi an t r oops af ter Germ any ?s f ai l u r e to pay the r epar at i on s r equ i r ed by the T r eat y. T hese even t s al l destab i l i sed weak gover nm en t s. T he T r eat y was not al one i n add i ng to the destab i l i sat i on of Germ an gover nm en t s. T he f ar - l ef t and f ar - r i gh t al so added to i t by act i ng of weak

ou t si de the Germ an con si tu t i on . T he Spar taci st up r i si ng of 1919 i s an exam p l e of the f ar - l ef t do i ng th i s, as was the Bavar i an up r i si ng of 1919. T he f ar - r i gh t d i d the sam e w i th the Kapp Pu t sch and the ?W h i te Ter r or ? wh i ch f o l l owed . T he f orm at i on of p r i vate arm i es by both the f ar - l ef t and the f ar - r i gh t ar e other exam p l es. O ne cou l d ar gue that the T r eat y underm i ned the l egi t im acy of the Weim ar Repub l i c. Ever yone i n Germ any was angr y at the term s of the T r eat y and the way i n wh i ch i t was im posed upon Germ any? a d i k tat , as they saw i t . Cr ai g tal ks abou t Germ an s bei ng ?aghast ,?4 wh i l st Key nes r ef er r ed to i t as bei ng a ?Car thagi n i an peace.?T h i s anger at the term s of the T r eat y sp r ead to anger at those who negot i ated and agr eed to the Arm i st i ce, cal l i ng them the ?Novem ber Cr im i nal s.? Because these peop l e wer e al so beh i nd the f orm at i on of the Weim ar Repub l i c, the anger and unw i l l i ngness of the peop l e to accep t the T r eat y becam e an

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