Chapter 1: The establishment or the Weimar Republic Flashcards
Why was the Kaiser abdicted from his role in 1918?
The British Empire, France and the USA had offered Germany peace that included him abdicting his throne. He originally refused but the country turned in him and he was forced to abdict.
What happened after the Kaiser abdicted his throne?
A constitution was approved by the Reichstag (German government) and the terms to end the war (treaty of versailles) were approved by the allies and sent to Germany
What were the German people’s reaction’?
Many believed Germans believed they had been stabbed in the back by German politicians who signed the treaty which led to protests against the treaty and a myth of the ‘November Criminals’ began circulating that Germany could’ve won the war without the politicians signing the Treaty
Who were the Spartacist’s?
A left wing group who were communists led by Liebknecht and Luxembourg who wanted a Germany by workers council
What was the Spartacist uprising and what were the results?
In 1919, the Spartacists set up Soviets to try to win power but some anti-communist former soldiers had formed a group called the Freikorps who agreed to fight after an agreement with President Ebert. Luxembourg and Liebknecht were both murdered
What led the Kapp Putsch to happen?
The right wing parties deeply resented the treaty of versailles and opposed to the new democracy. They looked back fondly at the rule of the Kaiser
What was the Kapp Putsch?
In March 1920, Dr Wolfgang Kapp led 5000 Freikorps into Berlin planning to overthrow the Weimar republic and to make it more of an authorisation system
What happened in the Kapp Putsch?
It was looking bad for Ebert’s government as his army refused to fire at the Freikorps. However, Evert was saved by the German people who declared a general strike and refused to co-operate with Kapp leading to him fleeing the country
Why did the French take over occupation of the Ruhr from Germany?
The Germans had failed to pay their first reparation from the Treaty of Versailles of £50 million so they took over occupation of the Ruhr which was Germany’s most important industrial region and began to take what was owed in the forms of material and goods
What were the causes of hyperinflation?
Due to the government having no goods to trade, it began to print more money to pay off debts to Germans who had loaned money to the Government during the war and which led to prices and wages rocketing
What were the effects of hyperinflation?
The middle class lost out massively as their savings were now effectively worthless from 1923. A new government was formed in August 1923 under Gustav Stresemann to fix the economic government. And finally hyperinflation had done great political damage to the Weimar Republic
