1.4 Political Instability And Extremism 1919-24 Flashcards
What did proportional representation create?
No party ever in position to form a government by itself, so there was coalitions
What were a large amount of small and large parties dedicated to?
Overthrowing the republic
Why did the Scheidemann cabinet resign in1919?
Disagreements on wether to accept the allied proposal or the reparations ultimatum brought it down
Why was it difficult to form stable coalitions?
-times of social,economic and political crisis society became more polarised and support for moderate parties decreased
-this meant the extremist parties of the left and right gradually gained support and they refused to join governments-thus making it hard to form a coalition with a majority
What brought down Gustav Bauer’s government?(appointed June 1919)SPD
Kapp putsch
What brought down Müller’s government?(appointed March 1920)SPD
Election result
What brought down Wirth’s government(appointed in May 1921) centre?
Cabinet resigned over partition of upper selesia
What brought down cuno’s government(appointed nov 1922)?
Economic crisis
What brought down srressmann’s coalition?
SDP left the coalition
How many coalition govs existed between Feb 1919 and Nov 1923?
10
Who benefited most from the frequent unstable coalition govs?
Extremist parties
When is the spartacist rising in Berlin?
Jan 1919
When is the second sparcacist uprising in Berlin?
March 1919
When are the strikes in Halle and the Ruhr?
April 1919
When is the assassination of Hugo Hasse?
October 1919
When is the Kapp Putsch?
March 1920
When is the beer hall putsch?
November 1923
Who led the spartacist uprising?
LW
-Karl Liebknecht
-Rosa Luxemburg
Describe what happened with the spartacist uprising in 1919?
Staged an armed uprising in Berlin to overthrow Ebert’s government and set up a revolutionary communist government. They occupied newspaper offices and some public buildings (however the revolt was poorly prepared-not secured majority of Berlin working class)
-by Jan 13th Freikorps had put the revolution down with heavy street fighting
What happened to the leaders of the sparcacist revolt?
They were executed
Who were the Freikorps?
Former army officers and volunteers but also attracted student, adventurers and drifters
-supplied with weapons and uniforms from army stores but not officially part of the army (less disciplined than the army)
Was the end of the sparcacist revolt the end of the rebellion from the left?
No the KPD was still motivated to do despite being in the minority
Why were the right wing against the Weimar government?
They did not believe in democracy and accused the politicians of having betrayed Germany with the treaty of Versailles
What happened in the Kapp Putsch of 1920?
This was an attempt to overthrow the Weimar government by Wolfgana Kapp and Freikorps leaders. The putsch had the support of Eric Ludendorff, who had been a military general during the First World War.
• They took over Berlin on March 12, 1920, causing the Weimar government to flee. The leaders proclaimed themselves the new government and said the Weimar Constitution was no longer in force.
How did the Weimar government overcome the Kapp Putsch?
On November 15, 1918, Friedrich Ebert agreed the Stinnes- Legien Agreement with the leader of Germany’s trade unions. For the unions support, Ebert offered legislation (laws) on hours of work and union representation in the workplace. The majority of soldiers in the German army did not join in on Kapp’s putsch attempt. However, they would not fight the right-wing rebels. Kapp’s opposition movement failed after the trade unions called a general strike, demanding an end to the putsch attempt and a government under the leadership of the SPD. The general strike was widespread and brought Berlin to a standstill. After four days of strike action, the Kapp government fell.
How many assassinations were there in Germany from Jan 1919-June 1922?
376 political associations
How many assassinations did right wing groups carry out from Jan 1919-June 1920
354 including foreign minister ratenau
What is evidence of the judges being right wing
In political assassinations the 326 right wing murderers went unpunished
Who was outraged by the French occupation of the Ruhr in 1923?
The whole of Weimar society
What did the Nazi party alone argue about the French occupation of the Ruhr?
November criminals should first be removed from gov before dealing with the French
What needed to occur for the Beer hall putsch to succeed?
Needed the support of powerful figures (e.g Ludendorff)
Describe what happened in the beer hall putsch of 1923?
8th November burst into a Munich beer hall where Otto Von Lossow and Gustav Ritter Von Kahr were and surrounded it with 2,000 SA announcing the start of the revolution
-sa were unable to gain control of army barracks and it was clear the plan failed but Hitler continued and marched through munch.
Gun battle occurred, Hitler arrested plan fails
