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abhatia · Joined: 26 Jan 2011 Posts: 37

Where was the order amidst the chaos of post-war Germany and Berlin?

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Maddy King · Joined: 28 Mar 2012 Posts: 9

Where was the order amidst the chaos of post-war Germany and Berlin?

In 1918 order was found in Soviet embassy amidst the chaos of post-war Germany and Berlin. Because of the Soviet mission,"the embassy was a permanent jamming station for the German powers-that-be, producing a constant flow of agitprop both open and covert." (74) Since the Soviet influence in Berlin was quite strong, everything that was happening in the Soviet Union were happening in Berlin as well, but on a much smaller scale.
During the riots that over took Berlin hyper inflation consumed Germany as well as violence. The riots were terrible, people were being murdered, horses were being slaughtered, it sounds terrifying. The turning point for all of this was November 15, 1923 when Gustav Stresermann took over as the new chancellor he fixed the economy in a matter of months.

kscrimshawhall12 · Joined: 27 Mar 2012 Posts: 6

As Maddy implied, the government was definitely not the glue that held everything together. It was the definition of chaos, not one of order that the country desperately needed after the war.

There were a few leaders that worked really hard to restore order in such an ever-changing, unstable government. Gustav Stresseman, as Maddy mentioned, was one such leader. When he became chancellor in 1923, he turned the economy around by establishing a new currency. This sudden success was more of an illusion however. The German people believed their country was on the mend, which mantained a certain amount of order.

That is another thing that kept the country together: misconceptions. Just as the citizens had lived in blissful ignorance during WWWI, believing their country would prevail, whenever they believed something positive about their government (whether it was true or not) this boosted their moral and made the country more complacent.

msingh2012 · Joined: 27 Mar 2012 Posts: 7 Location: United States

Immediately after WW1 Germany was in ruins and needed a strong leader to carry them out of the post war mess. In 1919 Berlin and Munich was governed by a Soviet type of government, "For three months, Munich was governed by a Soviet-style republic." And it was only after 1920 that they managed to bring peace to the riots that were happening in the nation.

And in 1923 there was a man by the name of Gustav Stressmann of the Weimar Republic that governed Germany as chancellor and foreign minister that managed to drag the nation out of thier slump.
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zozomp · Joined: 03 Apr 2012 Posts: 5

Similarly to Maddy and Kate, I believe that the order in post WWI Germany and Berlin was in the ordering of chaos. That which the swastica symbol brought together. For instance although the people who wore it, wanted/caused their own kind of chaos to throw off the balance of the Republic, they needed too order their group in order to make their aim of destruction effective. It is very ironic.

Then came Gustav Stresemann, who became the new chancellor and got Germany back on its feet in an instant. "the value of new currency was supposedly based on collateral consisting of Germany's total gold reserve, ground and other property. In reality none of that was true, but the fact that the German's believed it turned out to be enough" (83). As this quote points to, order of thoughts played a major role in keeping the country back on its feet and continuing to enact order, although it was not the actual source of the order.

fbeaubrun2012 · Joined: 27 Mar 2012 Posts: 9

I agree with all that has been said. I would also add that it was also a matter of perspective as to what was "Order" and what was "Chaos." Everyone in the revolution obviously believed that it was their government that was chaotic and that they sought to restore order within their chaotic government. The government in Germany believed that it was the revolution that was chaotic and lacking in order and they wanted to eradicate it so that "order" could be restored. So was there ever really order? Yes, I think there was order within organized riots and strategies to combat these riots. Was there chaos? Of couse, the government had no control over their own people because they couldn't meet their demands. So I guess in short, no, there was no order.

echalmers2012 · Joined: 27 Mar 2012 Posts: 7

I'm not quite sure where the order was, or whether that is necessarily an important part of what was happening at thime. I'd say that besides the traditional sense of government being a means for order, there was very little to no real order. Because chaos showed itself in many forms during this time: riots, political organizations, resistance groups, the order was within those chaotic groups, as they all had ideas and means of progressing their cause.

mikaelajoyce · Joined: 28 Mar 2012 Posts: 6

Like others have said, the German government was not effectively creating order or structure in post-war Berlin. Different leaders and political ideologies helped recreate order in Germany after a long, brutal war. Gustav Stressman was one of these leaders, who became chancellor in 1923 and inspired and helped unite the German people.

Gustav Stresseman was from the German People’s Party, which promoted family values, education, and fighting Marxism/Communism. He helped redefine/reestablish the German identity and inspired hope and pride in the German citizens.

dkim2012 · Joined: 27 Mar 2012 Posts: 9

As few students mentioned above, government did not really importantly help the Germany get together but the leader of the Germany did contribute to get it together. Gustav Stressmen who served as Chancellor in 1923 is considered as a person who tranquilize the chaos in Germany politically and economically. He established new currency, contributed to lower the reparation, made Germany to join the League of Nation, and improved the relationship with the France in order to make Germany better country.

shawks · Joined: 14 Feb 2012 Posts: 13

The aggressors right after World War 1 had the most power in Germany. The navy was causing uprisings and acting violently even after the fighting was supposed to be over. The Communists and the Social Democrats had to rule by force, but neither of them were strong enough against the angry citizens, and both stepped down after a year or so at most. Even intelligent leaders like Walter Rathenau, who persuaded other countries to reduce Germany's debt, could not convince the people to calm down and got assassinated after pointing out how uncivilized people were acting. It was hard for the Germans to handle such a big depression after being convinced that they would win World War 1. They all realized how much trouble they were in, but they had different ideas of how to solve their problems. That's why the Weimar Constitution got created.

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