defeat of germany in ww1/weimar stuff

Question 1

how many germans had fought in the war?

Answer 1

• 11 million
• 2 million german troops had died
• over 4 million were wounded
• 55% of german troops became casualties

Question 2

germanys debts trebled between ____ and ____ from _____________ marks to ___________ marks

Answer 2

1914
1918
50 billion
150 billion

Question 3

___________ germans died because of food shortages during ww1

Answer 3

750,000

Question 4

who set up a new german republic and when?

Answer 4

• frederich ebert
• 10th november 1918
• the next day ebert signed the armistice

Question 5

when was the weimar constitution drawn up?

Answer 5

january 1919

Question 6

what key points did the weimar constitution outline?

Answer 6

• a Bill of Rights guaranteed every german citizen freedom of speech & religion, and equality under the law
• all men & women over 20 given the vote, even better than britain (only women over 30 could)
• there was an elected president & an elected Reichstag (parliament)
• the Reichstag made the laws & appointed the government, which had to do what the Reichstag wanted

Question 7

when was the weimar constitution completed?

Answer 7

august 1919 - at the time it made germany the most democratic country in europe

Question 8

what were strengths of the weimar constitution?

Answer 8

• established most advanced democracy in europe - men & women had vote at 20, for britain was 21 (men) & 30 (women)
• president elected every 7 yrs & had power to appoint the chancellor (head of government)
• the reichstag (parliament) had power to pass/reject changes in the law, members of it elected by proportional representation every 4 yrs
• established the right of free speech & freedom of religious belief
• clear system of checks and balances - not one person/group could have too much power, president had power to choose chancellor & dismiss the reichstag. the electorate (people) could change the president

Question 9

what were the weaknesses of the weimar constitution?

Answer 9

• article 48 said in emergency, president could make laws without going to reichstag - gave president too much power. by 1930, chancellor regularly relied on president to pass laws
• proportional representation often led to many small parties gaining seats, including extremist groups like nazis. no one part big enough to form a majority & therefore there were lots of coalition governments that were weak and short lived
• army generals & judges were same men who’d served kaiser, many didn’t like weimar republic
• weimar republic not really choice of the people - the republic created out of violence without real public enthusiasm

Question 10

what was the weimar republic always linked to and why?

Answer 10

• surrender and harsh peace treaty terms
• because the politicians who set up & ran it were same ones who surrendered at end of ww1 and accepted unpopular peace treaty