Weimar and Nazi Germany (1918-1939): Origins of the Weimar Republic - the First World War

The First World War clearly played a crucial part in creating the circumstances that led to the creation of the Weimar Republic.

The First World War was a global conflict in which Germany fought alongside Austria-Hungary against the allied powers which included Britain, the United States, France, Italy, and Russia. Despite defeating Russia in 1917, Germany ultimately lost a war which drained and exhausted it financially and in terms of population. Germany lost 2 million soldiers with more than double that injured.

The people of Germany were equally war weary. A British naval blockade cut food supplies forcing many in Germany into starvation. Germany lost the war of attrition at home and then subsequently lost the war in the trenches.

The war caused significant problems for the German government as unrest spread across the country with strikes and rebellions taking hold.