Early Weimar government Flashcards
What was a revolt from the left ?
Spartacist uprising
Problems with coalition governments?
No real major changes between each cabinet - just a reshuffle
No continuity ever able to be achieved because of constant turnover
Main beneficiaries of all this turmoil was the extreme right and light wing parties
Democracy not shown to be a success and they could exploit it
When was the Spartacist uprising?
5th January, 1919
What was the goal of the Spartacist uprising?
Staged and armed uprising in Berlin to overthrow Ebert’s government and set up a revolutionary communist regime
What did the Spartacist revolt do and why was it not successful?
Newspaper offices and buildings occupied
Poorly supported and poorly prepared- not secured the majority of the working class in Berlin.
Groener used Freikorps units to put them down
What was the result of the Spartacist revolt?
All over by 13th January after brutal street fighting
Resulted in the execution of the ringleaders (Liebknecht & Luxemburg)
Cleared the way for elections to the Constituent Assembly: The brutality to which the revolt had been suppressed, and Ebert’s reliance on the army and the Freikorps, deepened the divisions on the Left for many years to come.
What kind of reaction would there have been from those on the left wing?
why?
Spartacist revolt
Workers disillusioned with the ‘revolution’ to establish the republic (which they believed was too right-wing)
What would their main issues be with the current government and how they are running the country?
Spartacist
Economic conditions also bred disorder which demobilised soldiers found it hard to adjust to civilian life.
How much of a threat is the left wing to the Government?
KPD has strong support in industrial centres: the Ruhr, Saxony
Influenced by 1917 Russian Revolution and the Comitern, tried to promote a communist revolution in Germany
Lacked the proper support or determination
What were some controversies regarding Bavaria?
Bavaria- groups that fought for separation from the rest of Germany, whilst others wanted a united Germany so that it could become a great power again
Reichscwher
German army
in January 1920 what was the the government forced to do regarding the treaty of versaiiles?
and reduce the size of its army and to disband some Freikorps units.
In Feb 1920, defence minister Gustav Noske, ordered 2 freikorps units, comprising 12,000 men to disband.
General Walther Von Luttwitz, the commanding general refused to disband one of them, when the government ordered his arrest.
What was the mane of the civil servant that supported the putsch
wolfgang kapp
Why was it the kapp putsch successful
Supported by right-wing civil servant Wolfgang Kapp, who was intent on organising a Putsch.
“Troops do not fire on troops; when Reichswehr fires on Reichswehr all comradeship within the officer corps has vanished’.
What are the lessons that can be learned from the kapp putsch ?
Army not to be trusted
Civil servants could be disloyal
Workers as a group could be a great force of power
Weimar was weak without the army
Governmental control shown as weak due to judges being lenient towards right-wingers
