2.1 Germany And The First World War

Question 1

When did WW1 begin?

Answer 1

August 1914

Question 2

Patriotic definition

Question 3

Mutiny definition

Question 4

Abdicate definition

Question 5

Who fought against who in WW1

Answer 5

Germany, Austria
Vs
France, UK, Russia, Belgium, Serbia

Question 6

What were the German attitudes towards the war in the beginning and end?

Answer 6

Beginning: young, patriotic Germans thought the war would end quickly
End: Soldiers were worn down by bombs, poisonous gas and machine gun fire. German citizens at home suffered too.

Question 7

Home front definition

Answer 7

the civilian population and activities of a nation whose armed forces are engaged in war abroad

Question 8

How did Germans suffer during WW1?

Answer 8

• Britain used large navy to stop supply ships getting to Germany
• As a result, there were terrible shortages of food, medicine and clothing
• People grew weary and tired of the war , this is known as war fatigue

Question 9

How did people express their feelings about the war and what did the people in power do?

Answer 9

• 1915 — 500 women gathered in front of the German parliament buildings, saying they wanted their men back from the trenches
• 1916 — 10,000 workers assembled in Berlin to shout ‘Down with war, down with the government!’
• Police made arrests and calmed the situation

Question 10

Why was Germany close to collapse by 1918?

Answer 10

• German people were surviving on turnips and bread
• Spanish flu was killing thousands already weak from poor diet
• On the battlefields, Germany was close to defeat

Question 11

Who was General Ludendorff and what did he do?

Answer 11

• he was a leading German general and war hero
• he advised the Kaiser to share more of his power with the Reichstag

Question 12

Did the Kaiser make the changes Ludendorff suggested and did they work

Answer 12

• He did: he allowed the main political parties to form a new government
• German people thought it was too little, too late
• There were talks that the Kaiser should abdicate and plans of overthrowing him in a revolution

Question 13

When did the Kaiser abdicate?

Answer 13

9 November 1918

Question 14

What happened during the mutiny on 28 October 1918?

Answer 14

• Germany navy was ordered out to sea form Kiel, northern Germany to attack British ships
• Sailors refused to follow orders, they no longer wanted to fight
• News spread, other sailors refused to follow orders, supported by workers in the towns
• Soldiers sent to deal with the protests joined the sailors and workers
• in 6 days, workers’ and soldiers’ councils were governing cities
• Kaiser no longer supported by army generals
• On 9 November 1918, Kaiser abidcated

Question 15

Who became leader after Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated?

Answer 15

Friedrich Ebert the leader of the SPD (Social Democratic Party)

Question 16

What did Ebert do?

Answer 16

• promised to hold elections soon
• he surrendered to World War 1

Question 17

When did Germany surrender/WW1 end?

Answer 17

11th November 1918

Question 18

What are the three main sub points about the impact of the war on Germany by 1918?

Answer 18

• Germany was virtually bankrupt
• The war had divided German society further
• Germany had become more politically unstable

Question 19

Germany was virtually bankrupt

Answer 19

• Germany had borrowed money from abroad to pay for the war. This would need paying back.
• Germany had lent some of its own money to its allies. Would they get it back?
• The war had left 600,000 widows and **two million children without fathers. War pensions would cost the government a fortune in the future
• German factories were exhausted by the war. They had been producing guns, bullets and shells, not goods abroad to sell abroad and make money

Question 20

The war had divided Germany further

Answer 20

• some factory owners made a fortune during the war, while German workers had restrictions placed on their wages
• Women worked in the factories during the war. Some thought this damaged traditional family values

Question 21

Germany had become more politically unstable

Answer 21

• before the war, Germany had been a stable, rich nation. Now, there was mutiny and revolution
• many ex-soldiers and civilians felt Germany could have won the war. They felt they had been betrayed by the politicians who had ended it, and refused to support them