Shot in front of his children, attacked with hard water, killed while walking, the Weimar Republic in Germany is a dangerous place for politicians and government officials.
ScienceLovers - Shot in front of his children, attacked with hard water, killed while walking, the Weimar Republic in Germany is a dangerous place for politicians and government officials.
Between 1918 and the mid-1920s, Germany was rocked by murder. All the victims were interconnected and they were killed for political reasons.
Their killings were allegedly carried out by right-wing extremist groups who played issues of racism, nationalism and economic vigor, to spark fear and hatred.
In 1922, at least 354 members of the government and politicians were killed - providing a platform for the Nazi Party, World War II, and the Holocaust.
This wave of politically motivated murder by a paramilitary terrorist group has its roots in Germany's defeat in World War I.
About two million Germans - including 13% of village men - died during the war.
Efforts to survive in the war have also absorbed the German economy. And with the Versailles Treaty in mind, Germany is responsible not only for war, but also for new government and border structures, plans for disarmament, and massive reparations.
After that, the condition of Germany was getting worse. When Germany hobbled towards the constitution and formed new political bodies, the country's economic conditions were increasingly precarious.
Prices begin to rise and inflation occurs. Food shortages hit Germany, soldiers returning from World War I were traumatized and had difficulty joining the community.
Freikorps
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| The Freikorps tried to overthrow the government of the Weimar Republic. |
Under these circumstances, Germany must immediately create a new government, and re-establish law and order. However, the ministers and politicians of the newly founded Weimar Republic have strong enemies: that is, their own people.
The new Republic witnessed fierce fighting between increasingly left and right groups polarized. At the beginning of the government, the republic was controlled by left-wing revolutionaries. Communist uprisings occur everywhere.
In response to this, a private army called Freikorps, tried to fight back. This group is funded by former members of the German military.
Freikorps were getting stronger and stronger because angry war soldiers joined them. In the end, there were as many as 1.5 million German men who entered there. They represented a wave of right-wing nationalism and extremism that exploded into political chaos and led to the rise of the Nazi Party.
Because the new government had no authority, they became dependent on the Freikorps to deal with the crisis. Indirectly, a weak government gives Freikorps the freedom to terrorize anyone who becomes their enemy.
Politicians be murdered
When the Republican government stabilized, the Freikorps increasingly disappeared. However, this is not the end. The core people involved in the Freikorps continued to fight against the government through the Organization Consul - a right-wing paramilitary organization that courageously killed its political enemies.
Formed in 1920, the Organization Consul has members throughout Germany who vow to uphold nationalism, fight Jews and leftist groups, fight new government, and disarm state-owned weapons.
The group's activities were funded by money set aside by the government of the previous Freikorps supporters. The Organization Consul is also openly supported by those who reject the president in the Weimar Republic. In fact, the judge who should have given a sentence also turned a blind eye to the violence committed by the Organization Consul. In fact, they have killed government officials.
With this, the Organization of the Consul quickly became one of the most powerful and dangerous groups of the era. The main target is Matthias Erzberger, Minister of Finance of Germany.
The right-wing group was very angry because Erzberger signed the Versailles Agreement and they were disappointed by strict tax reforms in order to stabilize the country's shaky economy.
Erzberger was walking near the German spa in 1921, when he was shot by two members of the Organization Consul.
The group again attacked in 1922. At that time, the target was Walther Rathenau, German Foreign Minister.
Because he was very smart in the economic field, Rathenau was assigned to restore the country's finances and handle German foreign relations.
However, the right wing rejected its economic policies and slandered Rathenau's work - including the issue of giving money to war-winning countries.
Rathenau himself is a Jew and he is aware of his beliefs and this makes him a target. In June 1922, he was shot at close range by the assassin Organization Consul.
The murder was welcomed by an open celebration by right-wing groups while singing antisemitic songs. However, other Germans were very surprised because members of the government were just killed because he was a Jew.
Although the Weimar Republic finally banned the Organization Consul, it was too late. Between 1918 and 1922, the group and other paramilitary groups committed 354 murders of politicians.
After the dissolution, such as the Freikorps, the Consul Organization only changed its name and continued to carry out terror, until it finally came to power with the Nazis.
