4 - Political instability and extremism, 1919-24

Question 1

What were the problems with coalition governments?

Answer 1

Because of system of proportional representation no party could ever form a government all by itself so it was always coalitions, so didn’t all have the same views
Many parties dedicated to overthrowing the Republic - so moderate centre parties pressured to work together to form stable coalitions
In times of crisis society become more polarised and support extreme parties more, and these parties wouldn’t join coalitions making it more difficult

Question 2

How many coalitions were there from 1919-1923?

Answer 2

ten

Question 3

What was the main challenge from the left?

Answer 3

The Spartacist uprising

Question 4

When did the Spartacist uprising start?

Answer 4

5th January 1919

Question 5

Who led the Spartacists?

Answer 5

Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg

Question 6

Where was the Sparticist uprising?

Answer 6

Berlin

Question 7

What was the aim of the Sparticist uprising?

Answer 7

To overthrow Ebert’s government and set up a revolutionary communist regime

Question 8

What was the leadership and support like of the Sparticist uprising?

Answer 8

Poorly prepared
Poorly supported - Sparticists hadn’t secured the support of the majority of the working class in Berlin, in whose name they claimed to be acting

Question 9

How was the Spartacist uprising suppressed?

Answer 9

Ebert relied on the army but General Groener had few reliable military units at his command so had to rely on Friekorps
By 13th of January, Spartacist rising crushed after brutal street fighting
Leaders executed

Question 10

Who were the Friekorps?

Answer 10

Field Marshal Hindenburg and General Groener encouraged former officers to recruit volunteer forces into new Friekorps units
Majority of recruits came from demobilised junior army officers and NCOs
Also attracted students, adventurers, and drifters
Under overall command of General Walter Luttwitz
Supplied with uniforms and weapons from army stores but not officially part of the army
Less disciplined

Question 11

Examples of further left-wing risings

Answer 11

March 1919 - Spartacists in Berlin, communist government in Bavaria - both suppressed
April 1919 - strikes in industrial Halle and Ruhr
1920 - workers showed power in defeating right-wing Kapp Putsch, communists formed ‘Red Army’ of 50,000 workers and seized control of Ruhr, virtual civil war followed, troubles Halle and Dresden
March 1921 - KPD tried to force a revolution, crushed by police and 145 killed
1923 - further strike activity, suppressed

Question 12

Was the government threatened by left-wing revolts?

Answer 12

not seriously, but did damage Republic as fear of a ‘red revolution’ frightened law-abiding middle classes into supporting right-wing

Question 13

What weakened the right-wing ability to overthrow the Republic?

Answer 13

divisions- some wanted monarchy, some wanted dictatorship, some wanted united Germany, some wanted independent Bavaria

Question 14

Where were right-wing ideas strong?

Answer 14

Friekorps, army, large landowners, industrialists, civil servants, police, judges

Question 15

Why did the Kapp Putsch happen?

Answer 15

As of the Treaty of Versailles, the army needed to be reduced and some Freikorps units had to be disbanded
General Walther von Luttwitz refused to disbanded on of his Freikorps units - the government ordered his arrest
He decided to march his troops in Berlin in protest

Question 16

When was the Kapp Putsch?

Answer 16

February 1920

Question 17

Who supported Luttwitz?

Answer 17

sympathetic officers

right-wing civil servant and politician Wolfgang Kapp (who was intent on organising a putsch)

Question 18

Who didn’t support Luttwitz and why?

Answer 18

Generals Hans von Seeckt and Ludendorff

Sympathised but were aware of the dangers of voicing open support

Question 19

What was Ebert’s government forced to do?

Answer 19

withdraw to Dresden

Question 20

What did Ebert and his chancellor do to try and stop the rising?

Answer 20

called on the regular army to crush the rising
Seeckt told Ebert ‘Troops do not fire on troops: when Reichswehr fires on Reichswehr, all comradeship within the officer corps has vanished’

Question 21

Did the Kapp Putsch gather support?

Answer 21

failed to gain widespread support even from right-wing
civil servants and bankers remained lukewarm
trade unions (encouraged by Ebert’s government) called general strike

Question 22

What ended the Kapp Putsch?

Answer 22

After the strike Berlin was brought to a standstill and within four days the putsch collapsed
Kapp and Luttwitz forced to flee
Ebert’s government returned

Question 23

What lessons did the Kapp Putsch teach?

Answer 23

army not to be trusted
civil servants could be disloyal
workers as a group could show their power
without the armys support, the Weimar government was weak

Question 24

What was the treatment like in the trial following the Kapp Putsch?

Answer 24

right-wing judges were lenient to those brought to trial
contrasting strongly with the harsh treatment suffered by the left wing
showing the government wasn’t really in control

Question 25

When was Erzberger assassinated and what happened?

Answer 25

August 1921
former finance minister
assassinated in Black Forest by two member of the terrorist league Organisation Consul
already shot in January and left wounded
Erzberger had led German delegation for signing of the armistice and had signed the Treaty of Versailles
Germanys representative on reparations committee
widow received abusive letters after his death

Question 26

When was Rathenau assassinated and what happened?

Answer 26

24th of June 1922
foreign minister
driving to work in open top car, four assassins from Organisation Consul shot and him and hurled a grenade
Jewish
leading minister in republican government
participated in signing of armistice and had negotiated with Allies to try to improve the Treaty of Versailles
popular figure - following day over 700,000 protestors lined the streets of Berlin
value of mark fell as other countries feared repercussions

Question 27

How many political assassinations were there between 1919 and 1923? How many carried out by the left, how many carried out by the right?

Answer 27

376 in total
22 left
354 right

Question 28

How did the Reichstag try to deal with this?

Answer 28

Passed a law in July 1922 ‘for the protection of the Republic’
severe penalties on those involved in conspiracy to murder and banned extremist organisations
Organisation Consul forced to disband
not effective law as judges who had to enforce it were right-wing sympathisers
In Bavaria, conservative government refused to implement it

Question 29

What were the punishments for the assassins?

Answer 29

Rathenaus killers and their accomplices received an average of only four years each in prison
326 right-wing murdered unpunished, only one convicted and sentenced to severe punishment until 1921
10 left-wing murdered sentenced to death

Question 30

Was the government threatened by the right-wing?

Answer 30

failed to destroy the Republic
developments in 1919-21 bolstered the arrogance of anti-republican nationalists, who showed they could get away with murder
Weimar politicians would exaggerate the threat from the left and underestimate that from the right

Question 31

What was the political impact of the Ruhr invasion?

Answer 31

Germans of all classes and political allegiances outraged
everyone in the country anti-French
many blamed the government and middle-class support for the Republic was damaged
Organisations representing the Mittelstand accused government of failing responsibility to protect independent small traders and artisans
Communists used to stage uprisings
after the ending of passive resistance nationalist right accused government of betrayal

Question 32

When and where was the Beer Hall Putsch?

Answer 32

November 1923

Munich

Question 33

When did Hitler burst into a Munich Beer Hall and who was there?

Answer 33

8th November 1923

Gustav Ritter von Kahr and Otto von Lossow were addressing a meeting of 2000

Question 34

Why did Hitler burst into the Beer Hall?

Answer 34

He wanted to win over Gustav Ritter von Kahr and Otto Von Lossow

Question 35

Did Hitler get their support?

Answer 35

At gunpoint in a side room, Kahr and von Lossow were persuaded to agree to his plan to march on Berlin and to install Ludendorff as the new Commander-in-Chief
However support went overnight

Question 36

Why did Hitler’s original plan fail?

Answer 36

the Stormtroopers were unable to gain control of the Munich army barracks

Question 37

What did Hitler do regardless of his failed plan?

Answer 37

march through Munich

Question 38

What happened at the march?

Answer 38

Nazis marched fearlessly through the streets into the arms of a police cordon
Hitler fell and dislocated his shoulder
Hitler fled, captured the next day
Ludendorff walked straight up to the police and allowed himself to be arrested

Question 39

What did the Beer Hall Putsch show?

Answer 39

the importance of the army to the political survival of the regime

Question 40

How were they punished after the Beer Hall Putsch?

Answer 40

Nazis banned

Hitler imprisoned - only served nine months of his five-year sentence