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====Background====
After the failure of the last great German offensive in the western front in 1918, it was clear that Germany would lose the war. Because of the war and the Allied blockade, many Germans were on the verge of starvation. There were waves of strikes and communists and socialists were actively demonstrating against the government. The German Field Marshal Ludendorff, who had effectively been the military dictator of Germany was dismissed, and the Imperial government sought to make peace with the allies. As the government was negotiating peace terms with the Allies, a revolution broke out in German. Workers went on strike and established committees that seized control of many urban centers. In response, the Social Democrat leader Erbert demanded to become Chancellor of Germany. He and others declared the Weimar Republic in November 1918. Soon after elections were held and the Social Democrats formed the first government. The Constitution of the Weimar Republic established it as a ‘presidential republic.<ref>,Weitz, Eric D. (2007). ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0691157960/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0691157960&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=46921ce8ca0d7bc29fbb239b1349b82e Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy]''. Princeton: Princeton University Press, p.17.</ref>
The Weimar Republic had to negotiate the Treaty of Versailles with the victorious allied and implement its perceived harsh conditions, such as the payment of war reparations to France and other countries, loss of territories and colonies and the limits sets on Germany’s army.<ref> Weitz, ''Weimar Germany'' p. 19.</ref> These negotiations made the government extremely unpopular with many in the traditional elite and the army. The first government of the Weimar Republic was effectively coerced into signing the Treaty of Versailles. One of the chief goals of successive Weimar governments was to renegotiate or to alleviate the terms of what many Germans saw as an ‘unjust and infamous treaty’.<ref> Nicholls, Anthony James (2000). ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312233515/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0312233515&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=c73d8de75e0efebecb8d0388f55c8f79 Weimar And The Rise Of Hitler]''. New York: St. Martin's Press, p. 111.</ref>
