Establishment and Early Years of Weimar 1918-24 Flashcards
Chapter 1
1
Q
When did the Kaiser abdicate?
A
9th Nov 1918
2
Q
When was the armistice signed?
A
11th Nov 1918
3
Q
What were Wilson’s Fourteen points?
A
Was a negotiated peace settlement
- Return Alsace-Lorraine to France
- Established League of Nations
- General disarmament
4
Q
What were the October reforms?
A
Was a revolution from above / Kaiser began reforms to end his autocratic rule
- Max Baden appointed Chancellor
- Armed forces under control of civil gov
- Chancellor responsible for Reichstag and established new gov based on the majority party (including SPD)
5
Q
What was the Peace note?
A
- Prince Max wrote to Wilson on Oct 3rd asking for armistice
- Wilson demanded Germany evacuate all occupied territory, end submarine warfare and democratise its political system
- Was too much for Ludendorff to accept / failed to gather support for last military resistance so resigned / fled to Sweden
6
Q
What was the impact of the armistice and peace note?
A
- Shattering blow to the morale of civilians as it was an admission that they had lost the war
- Lost faith in Kaiser and soldiers lost respect for officers
- 28th Oct 1919 Naval mutiny when crews refused orders to attack British ships in Eng channel
7
Q
What was the November revolution of 1918?
A
- 3rd Nov - sailors in Kiel mutinied against officers / took control of base
- Led to workers’ and soldiers’ councils being established (like Soviets in 1917 Rev)
- Most council members were patriotic Germans who wanted Kaiser to abdicate and democratic republic established
- 8th Nov - A republic was declared in Bavaria
- 9th Nov - SPD workers called general strike to force Kaiser to abdicate and threatened to withdraw support for Max’s gov
- When Kaiser refused, Max released press statement that Kaiser had abdicated, he resigned as Chancellor and handed position to Ebert (SPD leader)
- Scheidemann (SPD figure) declared Germany a Republic even though Kaiser had still not yet abdicated
- General Groener told Kaiser army wouldn’t fight for him so forced to abdicate
8
Q
What was Ebert’s priority during the struggle for power?
A
- To organise elections for a Constituent Assembly (elected members to draw up new constitution)
- Ebert’s power only extended to Berlin where there was growing violence and disorder due to the demobilised army and workless ex-soldiers roaming streets
9
Q
Who were the political parties in 1918?
(7)
A
- KPD / Spartacists - Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemborg
- USPD - Hugo Hasse
- SPD - Ebert and Scheidemann
- Centre - support in Cath Bavaria/Rhineland, supported democracy
- DDP - left-leaning, supported democracy
- DNVP - nationalist/conservative, rejected democracy
- DVP - right-leaning, opposed to new republic
10
Q
What pressure was there from the left?
A
- Pressure for radical change (early stages of revolution seen through councils and Spartacists)
- Agreement between gov and soldiers/workers councils that gov only exercised power in the name of the councils
- Many USPD believed councils showed revolutionary will of the people and that the autocratic gov couldn’t be abolished unless autocratic states were broken up, army/civil service/judiciary democratised and industries were nationalised
11
Q
What pressure was there from the army?
Ebert-Groener Pact
A
- Army didn’t want republic
- Fear for Bolshevik-style rev and civil war
- 10th Nov - Groener called Ebert to assure that army would support gov, in return, demanded that Ebert resisted the demands of soldiers’ councils to democratise the army and to defend Germany against a Communist rev
12
Q
What happened in the Elections to the Constituent Assembly?
A
- Jan 1919
- Women allowed to vote for first time
- SPD had largest share of vote but not overall majority so had to compromise with other parties to establish new constitution
- Weimar Republic established with Ebert elected President and gov led by Scheidemann
- SPD in coalition with Centre and DDP
- Constitution designed to guarantee rights and powers of the people
13
Q
What were the strengths of the Constitution?
A
- More democratic than other countries, women could vote and become deputies
- Proportional representation let smaller parties win seats in the Reichstag
- Full democracy in local and central gov
- “All Germans are equal before the law” - clearly set out rights of the individual
- Referendums called by President, Reichsrat or people’s request
14
Q
What were the weaknesses of the Weimar Constitution?
A
- Proportional representation led to smaller, sometimes extremist parties gaining representation
- No larger party could gain overall majority so all govs were coalitions
9 coalitions between 1919-1923 - Article 48 - President had rule by decree in emergency but powers often abused, e.g Ebert used 136 times to override opposition in Reichstag
15
Q
The Constitution of the German Republic
A
- President could dissolve Reichstag, call new elections, rule by decree (Article 48)
- Chancellor proposed new laws
- Reichsrat - second chamber of Parl, gave advice on laws
- Reichstag - elected every 4 years, new laws required approval of a majority deputy
16
Q
Army
A
- Determined to preserve independence in Weimar republic
- van Seeckt believed army owed loyalty not to republic but nationalistic Reich
- Army could intervene in politics when Seeckt saw fit
