![]() ![]() General Ludendorff admitting they could not win the war was significant because the entire blame of defeat would be placed on the three men. The lack of a representative government meant the people placed the blame on a much smaller group of people being the Kaiser as he ruled by military dictatorship along with the two generals, Ludendorff and Hindenburg. War profiteers accelerated social conflict as the factory managers earned a large sum of money aggravating tension among the struggling people. Agricultural production fell linking in too the shortage of food along with the deaths of 2 million Germans and 6.3million where wounded. Germany financed the war that had cost them 8,294 million between 19, by printing money and borrowing, which lead to heavy debts and developed long term economic problems. Economic issues intensified as wages fell 20-30% while taxes increased and the market lost 75% of its value between 19 due to inflation. All of these issues had a negative effect on morale and with the lack of cinema people had nothing to distract them away from the problems around them meaning they had more time to start building opposition groups. Spanish influenza killed 400,000 German citizens and 186,000 soldiers in less than a year. This shortage of food led to a poor immune system and linked with the lack of hygiene and medication, disease spread quickly. ![]() The British blockaded the German ports provoking additional social problems including the home front suffering shortages of food and other goods including coal, candles, soup and many other items. The war exacerbated many of these social, economic and political problems producing increased tensions and unrest among the people. These complications gave a reason for revolution but they did not create a revolutionary situation. The Reichstag was simply a debating chamber, which held no real power, signifying the government was unrepresentative of the people. The Kaiser could dismiss the Reichstag and call for a re-election and he appointed personal that proposed and held the ultimate decision on passing laws. The Kaiser who was unelected by the people held the most power and the Reichstag, which was the only democratically elected part of the government held the least. The state encouraged division by passing anti-socialist laws triggering civil unrest, which led to the people realising their situation would not change with the political structure that was in place. Economic progress sparked tension between the middle class and the elites as they wanted more power and felt threatened by the masses below. They feared if the great mass made a stand united against the government then the system would crash and bring them down along with their power and wealth. Increasing conflict due to a growing working class demanding more rights as well as joining trade unions and the socialist party because the elites, the Junkers and industrialists feared the loss of status so resisted change. The accommodation was cramped, as conditions remained low for the poorer Germans instigating social tension. These problems caused unrest among the working class as they were unhappy with their position in society. There was an existence of poverty as wages were low and working conditions were often hazardous as well as over disciplined including long hours. Agriculture was in decline as a result of urbanisation and industrialisation, which can be seen though the drop in the share of agriculture in the CNP as in the 1880s it was 35-40% but by 1914 it had fallen to 25%. Long term economic, social and political problems provoked grievances among the people of Germany. The war was a major factor as it aggravated many of these issues along with adding three major catalysts to the web of causation. This caused tension between all classes and the elite, as they did not want to get rid of that power in the possibility of loosing their fortune. The workers suffered from poor working conditions, low wages and the middle classes wanted more power. Revolution broke out in Germany in 1918 due to many longer-term economic, social and political problems, which had fashioned many feelings of injustice among the German people. ![]()
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