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Question 1

What happened on 3rd October 1918?

Answer 1

Prince Max asked the Allies for an armistice.

Question 2

Who was Prince Max?

Answer 2

Max von Baden, was a German prince and politician. He was heir presumptive to the grand ducal throne of Baden, and in October and November 1918 briefly served as Chancellor of the German Empire.

Question 3

What did the government of Prince Max achieve?

Answer 3

It made some constitutional reforms - the vote was extended to all men and ministers and the army were made responsible to the government rather than the kaiser.

Question 4

Why did Prince Max sue for peace?

Answer 4

He sued for peace on Germany’s behalf at the end of World War I based on U.S. President Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points, which included immediately transforming the government into a parliamentary system and proclaiming the abdication of Emperor Wilhelm II.

Question 5

How were the reforms of Prince Max greeted by the German public?

Answer 5

Unrest and talk of revolution continued. Some saw the reforms as a cynical fake, others focused on what remained unchanged: the country was still at war, the kaiser still ruled.

Question 6

What happened on 28th October 1918?

Answer 6

This was the new government’s official inauguration day - the navy refused to set sail against the British fleet. This set off strikes and mutinies across Germany.

Question 7

Who were the Spartacists?

Answer 7

The Spartacists, led by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, were a group of radical socialists who found ‘fame’ in the first few months after the November Armistice when Germany experienced its so-called ‘Revolution’. The Spartacists were named after Spartacus who led a revolt by slaves against the might of the Romans in 73 B.C.

Question 8

What did the Spartacists do before the Spartacist Revolt?

Answer 8

Workers’ and soldiers’ councils were set up. Some shared the communist ideals of the Russian soviets. Others were less radical, but all wanted change.

Question 9

What did Prince Max do about the kaiser?

Answer 9

He was urged to press the kaiser to abdicate, but the kaiser refused.

Question 10

What happened on the 8th November 1918?

Answer 10

Bavaria broke from Germany, declaring itself a republic.

Question 11

What effect did Bavaria’s break from Germany have on the kaiser and Prince Max’s government?

Answer 11

The kaiser could not ignore his empire breaking up; he abdicated and fled to Holland. Prince Max’s government had to resign; it had lasted less than a month.

Question 12

What replaced the government of Prince Max?

Answer 12

On the 10th November 1918, a new government was set up - the Council of People’s Representatives. This was led by the socialist groups that held power in the Reichstag.

Question 13

What were the most influential socialist groups in the CPR?

Answer 13

The Social Democrats (SPD), led by Friedrich Ebert and the Independent Social Democrats (USPD) led by Hugo Haase.

Question 14

Who became chancellor?

Answer 14

Ebert, with a cabinet of SPD and USPD members.

Question 15

What problems did the CPR face?

Answer 15

All the same ones as the previous government, only made worse by a month of disruption and unrest.

Question 16

What did Ebert do when he became chancellor?

Answer 16

He formed the Ebert-Groener Pact with the army whereby the army would support the government as long as the government opposed the more left-wing ideas of parties in the Reichstag.

Question 17

Did the coalition between the SPD and USPD work?

Answer 17

Not really. They couldn’t agree, let alone gain the wholehearted support of the smaller parties. For example, Ebert wanted to arrange elections asap and leave any major reforms to the newly-elected National Assembly (which was due to write the new constitution) whereas Haase wanted to start social and economic reforms at once and wanted nothing to do with the army until it was reformed.

Question 18

What steps did the CPR take?

Answer 18

Their first move was to stop the war. On 11th November, a representative signed the armistice on behalf of the government.

Question 19

How was the CPR humiliated by the Allied powers?

Answer 19

They were told they could not take part in treaty negotiations.

Question 20

What reforms did the CPR introduce?

Answer 20

They set an eight-hour working day, allowed independent trade unions, started help for ex soldiers to find work and widened health and unemployment benefit.

Question 21

When were elections to be held?

Answer 21

On 19th December, they set elections for the 19th January.

Question 22

What happened between the SPD and USPD?

Answer 22

The rift widened so far about how radical their policies should be that USPD council members resigned and many of them joined the German Communist Party (KPD).

Question 23

What was the Sparticist Revolt?

Answer 23

In January 1919, 50,000 workers went on strike and demonstrated in the centre of Berlin. This demonstration was taken over by the Spartacist leadership. Newspaper and communication buildings were seized and the demonstrators armed themselves. However, many protesters returned home frustrated at the lack of planning by the Spartacists.

Question 24

Who were the Freikorps?

Answer 24

In the aftermath of World War I and during the German Revolution of 1918–19, Freikorps consisting largely of World War I veterans were raised as right-wing paramilitary militias, ostensibly to fight on behalf of the government against the Soviet-backed German Communists attempting to overthrow the Weimar Republic. However, the Freikorps also despised the Republic and were involved in assassinations of its supporters. The Freikorps were widely seen as a precursor to Nazism, and many of their volunteers ended up joining the Nazi militia, the Sturmabteilung (SA).

Question 25

What were the effects of the Spartacist Revolt?

Answer 25

The Government, which had moved to Weimar to avoid the violence, employed the Freikorps to put down the rising. The Freikorps were ex-army soldiers who hated the communists. Over 100 workers were killed during what became known as ‘Bloody Week’.

Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg were arrested, beaten and executed.

The communists and many of Germany’s working class developed a hatred of the Social Democrats.

Question 26

Was the brutal treatment of the Spartacists unusual?

Answer 26

No! Many political parties had their own private armies. Also, returning soldiers, unemployed and bitter about the signing of the armistice, refused to return their military equipment. The Freikorps was the biggest private army, but even the SPD had its own group - the Sozi. Electioneering was a violent business: between 1919 and 1922, there were 376 political murders in Germany, 356 of them by right-wing extremists.

Some very high-profile figures were assassinated, including Hugo Haase, the USPD leader and Erzberger and Walter Rathenau, who were both closely associated with the Treaty of Versailles.

Question 27

Why was the new government known as the Weimar Constitution?

Answer 27

Because they were still in Weimar when the election was held on the 19th January, 1919.

Question 28

Was the election a success?

Answer 28

To an extent: 82.7 percent voted so clearly wanted to choose their government. However, the SPD did not get a majority and so had to form a coalition.

Question 29

Who was in the new Weimar coalition government from 1919?

Answer 29

The SPD formed a coalition with the Centre Party and the German Democratic Party (DDP).

Question 30

Who were the German National People’s Party and what did they want?

Answer 30

The DNVP - they were the most right wing of the major parties, created from older conservative parties. They were conservative, nationalist and monarchist. They did not want reform and only grudgingly accepted the idea of a republic. The anti-Semitic DNVP supported the army and a large number of its members were wealthy landowners.

Question 31

Who were the German People’s Party and what did they want?

Answer 31

The DVP was the other significant right-wing group. They were moderately conservative, restructured from the older National Liberals in 1919 under the leadership of Stresemann. It accepted, without really supporting, the republic. Members were mostly wealthy industrial middle class who were not in favour of social reform but wanted the economy to be fixed quickly. The DVP was nationalist and supported the army.