4 - instability and extremism

Question 1

what did times of crisis mean?

Answer 1

people turned to extreme parties (who wouldn’t join coalitions)

Question 2

how many coalition governments were there?

Answer 2

10 between February 1919 and November 1923

Question 3

what was the challenge from the left?

Answer 3

5th Jan 1919 - Spartacist uprising in Berlin (poorly prepared and supported), crushed by 13th Jan
March 1919 - Spartacist rising in Berlin and Communist gov. established in Bavaria
April 1919 - wave of strikes in industrial areas
1920 - Kapp Putsch (virtual civil war)
March 1921 - KPD revolution
1923 - Strikes

Never seriously threatened

Question 4

what was the challenge from the right?

Answer 4

many competing right wing groups (didn’t agree)

Kapp Putsch

Question 5

what was the political impact of the Ruhr invasion?

Answer 5

all Germans outraged

anti-French feeling

Question 6

key political assassinations

Answer 6

Erzberger - former finance minister

Rathenau - foreign minister