One of the first challenges that Weimar republic faced ⇒ announcement of the terms of the TOV in may 1919. German people ⇒ not told that if war carried on ⇒ Germany would have eventually been invaded by its enemies ⇒ vast majority though → German army had ended the war undefeated and even celebrated return of the troops
Without knowing truth ⇒ German people were expecting a negotiated treaty ⇒ in which they would be treated with respect as equals. ⇒ were shocked and angry when the terms were announced. → called the treaty a ‘diktat’ or a dictated peace forced upon Germans. Ebert himself ⇒ very reluctant to sign treaty ⇒ but he had no choice but to do so on 28th June 1919
Treaty ⇒ undermined Weimar republic + poisoned attitudes of many Germans towards it ⇒ in such a way that it eventually brought the Republic down. Minds of many Germans ⇒ Ebert and Weimar politicians ⇒ were forever to blame for the treaty ⇒ were often called ‘November criminals’ Most Germans⇒ also chose to believe in the Dolchstoss Theory > or that German army had been stabbed in the back by the socialist and liberal politicians ⇒ that agreed to the armistice in November 1918. → as unpopularity grew ⇒ extremist ideas, violence, voices ⇒ took root in the country