The timeline of the Weimar Republic lists in chronological order the major events of the Weimar Republic, beginning with the final month of the German Empire and ending with the Enabling Act of 1933 that concentrated all power in the hands of Adolf Hitler. A second chronological section lists important cultural, scientific and commercial events during the Weimar era.
For a chronology focusing on the rise of Nazism, see Early timeline of Nazism.
Politics and world affairs
1918: end of the German Empire
3 October: Prince Maximilian von Baden is appointed the last chancellor of the German Empire. 4 October: Germany asks U.S. president Woodrow Wilson to mediate an armistice based on his Fourteen Points peace proposals. 23 October: In a diplomatic note, President Wilson implies that in order for an armistice to be negotiated, Emperor Wilhelm II must be stripped of power and Germany become more democratic. 24 October: The naval order of 24 October 1918 commands the German fleet to sail into the North Sea and attack the British fleet. 28 October: Ships of the German navy off Wilhelmshaven mutiny against the 24 October naval order. 28 October: In line with U.S. president Wilson's demands for a more democratic Germany, the constitution of the German Empire is amended to make it a parliamentary monarchy. 3 November: The mutiny of sailors at Kiel marks the start of the German Revolution of 1918–1919 that brought down the German Empire and led to the founding of the Weimar Republic. 8 November: Kurt Eisner proclaims the Free People's State of Bavaria in Munich. King Ludwig III had fled the city the day before. He was the first of the German royalty to be deposed.
1918: beginning of the Weimar Republic
9 November: Maximilian von Baden prematurely announces the abdication of Emperor Wilhelm II and hands the chancellorship to Friedrich Ebert of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). 9 November: Philipp Scheidemann of the SPD proclaims the German Republic; a few hours later, Karl Liebknecht of the Marxist Spartacus League, proclaims the “Free Socialist Republic” of Germany. 10 November: The Council of the People's Deputies becomes Germany's revolutionary government. 11 November: The Armistice of Compiègne, which ended the fighting in World War I, is finalized. Matthias Erzberger signs for the new German government. 11 November: Emperor Wilhelm II goes into exile in the Netherlands. 28 November: Emperor Wilhelm II formally abdicates. 30 November: The Council of People's Deputies announces elections for a constituent national assembly that will write a constitution for the new republic. 24 December: The fighting between the socialist revolutionary Volksmarinedivision and the German army during the Christmas crisis results in 67 deaths. 31 December: The Communist Party of Germany (KPD) is founded in Berlin.
1919 5 January: Anton Drexler founds the German Workers' Party, the predecessor of the Nazi Party. 5–12 January: The Spartacist uprising between far-left groups and forces of the Council of the People's Deputies, with support from Freikorps units, breaks out in Berlin and is defeated. 15 January: Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, leaders of the Communist Party of Germany, are murdered by Freikorps members in Berlin. 19 January: Elections for the National Assembly that will draw up a new constitution for Germany take place. For the first time in a national German election women can vote. The top 3 parties are the Social Democrats (SPD), the radical left Independent Social Democrats, and the right-wing German National People's Party.
6 February: The first meeting of the National Assembly takes place in Weimar, the city associated with Goethe and Schiller that will give the new republic its informal name. Berlin is considered too politically unstable to be the meeting place. 11 February: The Weimar National Assembly elects Friedrich Ebert of the SPD as president of Germany. 13 February: President Friedrich Ebert appoints Philipp Scheidemann of the SPD minister president (similar to chancellor). 21 February: Bavarian minister president Kurt Eisner is murdered in Munich by right-wing student Anton Arco-Valley. 3–13 March: In the Berlin March Battles, supporters of the Communist Party of Germany expand a general strike into an armed uprising intended to set up a council republic. The revolt is put down by government and Freikorps troops. 7 April: The Bavarian Soviet Republic is proclaimed in Munich. It lasts until 1 May 1919. 7 May: The German delegation at Versailles receives the Allies' peace conditions. 16 June: The German government receives an ultimatum from the Allied Powers demanding that they accept the Treaty of Versailles or risk being invaded. 20 June: After Minister President Philipp Scheidemann refuses to accept the Treaty of Versailles, he and his cabinet step down. On the following day, Gustav Bauer, also of the SPD, takes Scheidemann's place. 23 June: Confronted with another Allied ultimatum, the Weimar National Assembly approves the Treaty of Versailles with no conditions. 28 June: The Treaty of Versailles is formally approved in the Hall of Mirrors. 12 July: The Allied blockade of Germany that had begun in 1914 ends. 31 July: The Weimar National Assembly approves the Weimar Constitution, 262 to 75. 14 August: The Weimar Constitution, which had been signed by President Friedrich Ebert three days previously, becomes effective. 18 November: In front of a parliamentary committee, Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg implies that it was the failure of the home front that cost Germany victory in World War I. The statement helped give rise to the stab-in-the-back myth.
1920 10 January: The Treaty of Versailles becomes effective.
13–17 March: The Kapp Putsch, an attempt by a group of right-wing extremists to take power in Berlin, forces the government to flee the city but then quickly fails. 13 March–12 April: An uprising of workers in the Ruhr industrial district leads to battles with Freikorps and regular troops in a failed attempt to set up a council republic. Other workers' uprisings take place across central Germany. 26 March: The Bauer cabinet falls as a result of the Kapp Putsch. A new government is formed by Hermann Müller of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). 6 June: In the first election to the new Reichstag, the SPD again has the highest percentage of votes at 22%, followed by the right-wing German National People's Party and the Catholic Centre Party. 25 June: Constantin Fehrenbach of the Centre Party becomes chancellor after the fall of the Müller government. 11 July: In the East Prussian plebiscite, voters in parts of West Prussia and East Prussia return large majorities in favour of remaining with Germany rather than becoming part of Poland (92.4 percent and 97.9 percent respectively). 19 August: The Second Silesian Uprising breaks out among the dissatisfied Polish population in the mixed German and Polish region of Upper Silesia. 1 October: Germany completes its withdrawal from the demilitarized zone stretching 50 kilometres east of the Rhine as required by the Treaty of Versailles.
1921
24–29 January: The Paris Conference establishes German reparations obligations at 226 billion gold marks. 1–7 March: At the London Conference on reparations, Germany refuses to accept the terms of the Paris Conference and walks out. 8 March: French troops occupy Ruhrort, Duisburg and Düsseldorf in response to the German walkout at the London Conference. 20 March: The Upper Silesia plebiscite is held to determine whether the ethnically mixed region will stay part of Germany or join Poland. Sixty percent of the vote favours Germany. 22–29 March: In the March Action, the Communist Party of Germany tries to start a general rebellion in central Germany. The Reichswehr violently suppresses the uprising. 3 May: In the Third Silesian Uprising, Polish irregulars reacting to the outcome of the Upper Silesia plebiscite of 20 March begin an armed uprising to force union with Poland. The League of Nations resolves the issue by dividing the region between Germany and Poland on 15 May 1922. 4 May: The cabinet of Constantin Fehrenbach resigns as a result of the London ultimatum on reparations. He is replaced by Joseph Wirth, also of the Centre Party. 5 May: The London Schedule of Payments reduces total reparations to 132 billion gold marks. It is approved by the Reichstag on 11 May. 29 July: Adolf Hitler becomes chairman of the Nazi Party (NSDAP). 26 August: Matthias Erzberger, former German minister of finance and one of the signers of the Armistice of November 11, is murdered by members of the extreme right-wing group Organisation Consul.
1922 16 April: Germany and Russia sign the Treaty of Rapallo that mutually renounces all territorial and financial claims and normalizes relations between the two countries. 24 June: Walther Rathenau, Germany's Jewish foreign minister, is assassinated in Berlin by members of the extreme right-wing Organisation Consul. 18 July: The Law for the Protection of the Republic, written in response to the assassination of Walther Rathenau, is approved by the Reichstag. It allows the banning anti-republican printed material, gatherings and associations. 18 November: The Nazi Party is banned in Prussia. Similar bans follow in Thuringia, Saxony and Hamburg. 22 November: The independent Wilhelm Cuno forms a new government, replacing Joseph Wirth's cabinet.
1923 2 January: In a sign of growing inflation, it costs 7,525 marks to buy one U.S. dollar. 11 January: The Occupation of the Ruhr by French and Belgian troops begins after Germany is declared to be in default on its reparations payments. Two days later the German government reacts with a call for passive resistance.
1 July: It costs 160,400 marks to buy one U.S. dollar. 12 August: As a result of the Ruhr occupation crisis, the Cuno government resigns. It is replaced by a grand coalition led by Gustav Stresemann of the German People's Party. 26 September: The German government ends passive resistance. 27 September: Gustav Ritter von Kahr is declared General State Commissioner for Bavaria with executive power. In response, Berlin declares a nationwide state of emergency. 1 October: The Küstrin Putsch, a failed attempt by the Black Reichswehr to overthrow the Weimar Republic, takes place in Küstrin, on the border with Poland. 29 October: In the "German October", the Berlin government orders the forcible replacement the state governments of Saxony and Thuringia after the Communist Party of Germany joins their ruling coalitions. 8–9 November: The Beer Hall Putsch, an attempt led by Adolf Hitler and Erich Ludendorff to overthrow the Weimar Republic, fails in Munich. 15 November: Germany's period of hyperinflation ends with the introduction of the Rentenmark. 23 November: The Stresemann government falls on a vote of no confidence. The new chancellor is Wilhelm Marx of the Centre Party.
1924 28 February: President Friedrich Ebert ends the state of emergency that he had declared on 27 September 1923. It remains in effect only in Bavaria. 1 April: Adolf Hitler is sentenced to five years in prison for his role in the Beer Hall Putsch. 4 May: In the first of two 1924 Reichstag elections, the Social Democratic Party, the right-wing German National People's Party and the Catholic Centre Party are the top three vote getters. 1 September: The Dawes Plan to lower and reschedule Germany's reparations payments comes into force. 11 October: The Reichsmark replaces the temporary Rentenmark, which had been introduced on 15 November 1923. 7 December: The second Reichstag election of 1924 ends with the same parties in the top three places as after the 4 May vote.