Depth Study: Germany Flashcards
Impact of WW1 on Germany
2 million German troops died & 4 million wounded
Germany increase in debt from 50 billion marks to 150 billion
750,000 Germans died of food shortages
Revolution and declaration of the Republic
Ebert suspended the old Reichstag and formed the Council of People’s Representatives (temporarily)
Armed people crowed the streets hoping to take over the country
Scheidemann announced republic to crowd to try and prevent communism
August 1919, republic established
Signing the Armistice
November 1918
First major decision taken by Ebert government
Treaty of Versailles became big burden for the country
Head of State
Head of Weimar Republic
Elected by the people every 7 years
The president chose the chancellor
The Chancellor
Head of the government
Chose all government ministers
Cabinet
Main decision making body of the government
Electorate
Consisted of all men and women over 21 years old
The Parliament
Made up of two houses: the Reichstag and Reichsrat
All laws had to pass through both houses
Proportional Representation
Reichstag
The more powerful house
Controlled taxation
Directly elected by the people every for 4 years
Reichsrat
Elected every 4 years
Represented the regions of Germany
Strengths Weimar
Proportional Representation made sure small parties had fair share of seats
Women and Men able to vote
Voting age reduced from 25 to 21
No one group or person could have too much power
Election for president every 7 years
Central government was more powerful than before but local government still retained power of regions
The Reichsrat would regulate the power of the Reichstag by delaying new laws
Weaknesses Weimar
Proportional Representation lead to alliances that were unstable found it difficult to have strong policies and often fell apart
Lack of strong government lead weaknesses in a crisis which lead the president to pass laws without consent of the Reichstag. Article 48 allowed him to do this
Not the choice of the people so was not popular.
The Spartacists
Left wing
Came from independent Socialist Party
Had soviet backing
Lead by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht
The Freikorps
Right wing
Made up of ex soldiers that kept their weapons
Organised by regular army
Spartacists revolt
January 1919
Took over the government’s newspaper and telegraph bureau and tried to organise a general strike in Berlin
Government sent Freikorps to stop revolt
Spartacists leaders shot
The Kapp Putsch
March 2020
Freikorps troops marched on Berlin because they feared unemployment
The Weimar Government fled
They ordered trade unions to go on strike
The kapp couldn’t rule and fled
The ministers returned
Political attacks on Weimar Germany
Left Wing parties in the Reichstag Right Wing parties in the Reichstag The Kapp Putsch Right Wing bias in court Political assassinations The Spartacists Revolt Left & Right Wing political armies
Negatives Hyperinflation
Some people could not afford essentials like bread
Wages rose but not as quickly as prices
Some people went bankrupt (rich people)
People with fixed or monthly income suffered most
Savings became worthless (affected middle class)
People blamed the Weimar government which made it more unpopular