Question

What problems did Germany experience after World War I?

Answer 1

Besides enduring the psychological consequences of defeat, Germany in 1919-20 endured continuing shortages of food, a violent ideological civil conflict, the loss of terrority and other problems.

Explanation:

Defeat, especially in a major war, can have profound psychological consequences -- all of the effort, treasure, material and lives invested in the conflict appear to have been pointless, thus compounding the tragedy. The national psyche is scarred, while confidence in institutions and the economy is sapped. No economy, even those of victors, can likewise easily handle the transition from war back to peace.

In Germany, the Kaiser's government collapsed and all of the authority and sense of legitimacy that attended it was likewise lost. The new government did not command much respect, and was immediately challenged by Marxists (somewhat inspired by the Russian Revolution) and hard-right nationalists and monarchists... who also despised each other. Many returning soldiers rallied to the Freikorps or to revolutionary parties and thousands died as these paramilitaries fought in the streets.

During the war, the Allies had imposed a blockade in Germany, and severe food shortages had haunted Germany since the autumn of 1916. Until the Peace Treaty at Versailles was signed, the blockade remained in place and those food shortages continued. Prolonged malnutrition has consequences that disease and the psychological malaise of defeat can exploit... there were hundreds of thousands of deaths.

Germany had been an Imperial power that arose out of Feudal arrangements, but the First World War was also about encouraging national identity and aspirations. The Poles pryed themselves loose in a sudden insurrection in 1918-19, as did the Baltic States. The Polish War ended quickly, but the border war in the edge of Prussia persisted for some time.

Until Germany signed a peace treaty (at Versailles), British and French troops occupied Germany west of the Rhine; and many countries were demanding reparations from Germany for the costs of the War... Not only would the German economy have to sustain the costs of the war it had lost, it would be saddled with new debts .