1.1 - The origins of the Weimar Republic and revolution of 1918-19

Question 1

What is the kaiser?

Answer 1

The emperor of Germany.

Question 2

What is a chancellor?

Answer 2

Chief Minister (equivalent of prime minister in Britain)

Question 3

What is a constitution?

Answer 3

An agreement method of governing a country, with the details usually written down and agreed on by those being governed.

Question 4

What is the Weimar Republic?

Answer 4

a republic is a country without a hereditary ruler, such as a king or an emperor. The new government first met in weimar.

Question 5

What is proportional representation?

Answer 5

the number of representatives from a given party is determined by the share or proportion of votes that party gains nationally.

Question 6

What is a putsch?

Answer 6

a revolt, rebellion or uprising aimed at overthrowing the current government.

Question 7

Why did kaiser Wilhelm II abdicate Germany?

Answer 7

because it became clear that Germany was losing world war 1.

Question 8

Who was the new chancellor after the kaiser abdicated?

Answer 8

Friedrich Ebert.

Question 9

When was the Weimar Republic formed?

Answer 9

November 9, 1918

Question 10

What was the new German republic called?

Answer 10

the weimar republic

Question 11

How was the Reichstag (lower house) elected?

Answer 11

it was elected by proportional representation. The vote was by secret ballot and universal suffrage. Elections were to be held at least every 4 years.

Question 12

What is universal suffrage?

Answer 12

the right of all adults to vote in political elections

Question 13

What was the Reichsrat (upper house) made up of?

Answer 13

it was made up of representatives from each of the German states. It could delay new laws.

Question 14

What was the president in weimar Germany?

Answer 14

The president was the head of state and was elected every 7 years. The president appointed a chancellor to form a government. (the chancellor is similar to the prime minister in Britain)

Question 15

How was the chancellor usually decided?

Answer 15

it was usually the head of the largest party in the Reichstag.

Question 16

In weimar Germany, why was it difficult to get one party into power?

Answer 16

because governments were usually coalitions of different parties which tended not to last too long.

Question 17

What is a coalition?

Answer 17

A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate, reducing the dominance of any one party within that coalition. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament.

Question 18

In the years immediately after the first world war, what was the weimar constantly under threat from?

Answer 18

extreme political groups

Question 19

When was the spartacist revolt?

Answer 19

January 5, 1919

Question 20

What was the spartacist revolt?

Answer 20

• In November 1918 a independent socialist state was created in Bavaria under the leadership of Kurt Eisner.
• Communists in Germany wanted a revolution similar to the one in Russian in 1917.
• In January 1919, Communist activists led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg seized power in Berlin and the Baltic ports.
• Within weeks, however, all the revolts had been crushed by regular troops and the Freikorps.
• The communist leaders were assassinated,

Question 21

What were Freikorps?

Answer 21

Freikorps were German volunteer units that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries, the members of which effectively fought as mercenaries, many who had fought in world war 1.

Question 22

When was the Kapp Putsch?

Answer 22

March 1920

Question 23

What was the Kapp Putsch?

Answer 23

• In March 1920, Wolfgang Kapp, an extreme nationalist, and a group of Freikorps units seized power in Berlin.
• Kapp was not supported by the workers in the factories. The workers organised a strike in Berlin in support of the government. Within hours, the German capital came to a halt and supplies of gas, water and coal stopped.
• After 4 days, Kapp and his supporters gave up and fled Berlin. Ebert and the Weimar government returned to power.

Question 24

What did many Germans see the new Weimar Republic as?

Answer 24

They saw it as a symbol of Germany’s defeat in the war. They were furious with the Government signing the hated Treaty of Versailles. German Nationalists saw democracy as weak.

Question 25

Was the weimar government a democracy or a autocracy?

Answer 25

democracy

Question 26

What is a democracy?

Answer 26

a system of government in which all the people of a state are involved in making decisions about its affairs, typically by voting to elect representatives to a parliament.

Question 27

What is a nationalist?

Answer 27

a person who advocates political independence for a country.