By 1918, Germany was in a state of chaos – the war was crippling its economy and the citizens of Germany were suffering. Its army had been overpowered by the Allies, many men were killed and by the 8th August, the Allies had broken through the ‘impregnable’ Hindenburg Line. The German population was also suffering a national bout of Spanish influenza and this, combined with the lack of food and hygiene, caused a fatal blow for many of Germany’s citizens with millions of deaths.

The war had left Germany bankrupt with nearly all of its money being used in the war effort. With the war coming to a close, Germany had to begin restarting a non-wartime procedure for the returning soldiers and its citizens. With so many men lost in the war, a third of the states budget was being used by widowed families and soldiers no longer fit to serve in the army. Whilst this allowed families to recuperate after the war, it put the country’s budget into a dilemma. The state could not afford to pay all of its workers and so many Germans were dismissed and many of the remaining Germans had a pay-cut. This, in turn, meant that there was not a lot of money to be spent on the industry and other parts of the citizen’s lifestyle. The German industry was suffering as with a low population and no money remaining in the country’s budget, many factories, which brought money into Germany, were forced to shut down due to debt and a lack of funding. The Treaty of Versailles was introduced at a chaotic time and the reparations forced on Germany were not advisable for a country in a major economic plunge.

The war had made a deep divide in the country, which made people either extremely rich, having benefitted from war, or extremely poor. The country did not care properly for its citizens and many of them were living on the streets, not being able to afford to run a house. Meanwhile, the rich industrialists had become exceedingly rich and could live in luxury. At this time, many people were converted to the Communism party, wanting a country where everyone was equal and their amassed riches split equally between everyone. 

The average German factory worker had had limits put on their wages during the war whilst the factory owners had no limits and, because Germany was in a crisis, could charge large amounts for necessary items that they could not get elsewhere. This helped deepen the divide described above, as workers could see their employers getting richer, whilst they got poorer. Women were also asked to work in the factories as men were fighting. This shocked many Germans who had strict, core values about what women’s rights were. As women went to work, some Germans saw this as destroying the values which had made their country greater, since the separate German kingdoms were united in 1871. When the men returned from the war, many women did not want to give up their independence and stop working.

By the end of the war, many Germans had lost faith in the country. On the 29th October, the German navy, believed the war was unwinnable, and so mutinied whilst other revolutions took place in Munich and Berlin. Kaiser Wilhelm II, the royal head-of-state, feared for his life and fled to the Netherland to avoid prosecution or injury at the hands of the many Germans who had believed that the war was an easy victory in 1914. When the Weimar Republic was set up, Friederich Ebert took control of the country in the new ‘Free Socialist Republic’ of Germany. He signed an armistice with the Allies, to prevent Germany from being completely annihilated. However, many citizens believed that Germany could still win the war and felt betrayed by Ebert. The soldiers on the front line believed that they were holding their territory and they would gain more land swiftly. They believed that Germany was not betrayed by military leaders and bad planning, but politicians. Many called for the army leader Hindenburg to take Germany by force and restart the war.

When Ebert was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, the German people never forgot and remained resentful of his leadership and that of the Republic of Germany.

Overall, the war had a large impact on Germany in 1918 with the country being crippled. With many Germans forced onto the streets and the reparations and war pensions being demanded of the state, the Weimar Republic had many issues to contend with before Germany would be seen as a powerful European country again.