Establishment and early years of Weimar Republic.

Question 1

When was Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated?

Answer 1

9 November 1918

Question 2

Where did Kaiser Wilhelm II set off to to escape?

Answer 2

Berlin

Question 3

When/Why did General Ludendorff realise Germany was defeated in WW1?

Answer 3

September 1918, German forces were in retreat along the western front.

Question 4

Key term- Republic

Answer 4

A system of government in which the Head of State, or President, is elected into office.

Question 5

Key term- Armistice

Answer 5

An agreement to suspend fighting in order to allow a peace treaty to be negotiated.

Question 6

Who was the Kaiser following Wilhelm II?

Answer 6

Friedrich Ebert.

Question 7

What reforms did the Kaiser make in October on recommendation of Ludendorff?

Answer 7

-He appointed Prince Max of Baden as the new Chancellor
- The Chancellor was responsible for the Reichstag and he established a new government based on the majority parties in the Reichstag, including the SPD
-The armed forces were put under the control of the civil government.

Question 8

Key term- autocratic rule.

Answer 8

Ruler with absolute power

Question 9

Key term- Constitutional

Answer 9

Any established set of principles governing a state.

Question 10

When and why did Prince Max write to President Wilson?

Answer 10

3 October, asking for an armistice.

Question 11

Why was President Wilson suspicious of the armistice request from Prince Max?

Answer 11

He was concerned the German High Command were using the request as a means of buying time to regroup and prepare for a new offensive attack.

Question 12

What was the demand President Wilson made to Prince Max called?

Answer 12

The peace note

Question 13

What did Wilson demand that Germany must do for the armistice to be considered?

Answer 13

Evacuate all occupied territory, call an end to submarine warfare and fully democratise its political system (practically surrender and Kaisers abdication)

Question 14

What did Ludendorff do in reaction to Wilson’s demands?

Answer 14

Tried to gather support for a last ditch military effort to resist, where he resigned and fled to Sweden.

Question 15

What effect did the ‘Peace Note’ have on the German people?

Answer 15

it was a blow to the morale of the German people and their armed forces, this was the first time the Germans learned the truth that they were losing. It underminded their respect for the Kaiser and his military/ political leaders.

Question 16

Why did workers strike in Friedrichshafen on 22 October?

Answer 16

Workers shouted ‘The Kaiser is a scoundrel.’ and ‘Up with the German Republic.’ this is because the Kaiser was seen as an obstacle to peace yet refused to abdicate.

Question 17

What started the November Revolution of 1918?

Answer 17

The German navy’s high command ordered ships to attack British ships in the English Channel, sailors mutinied against their officers and took control of the base. The next day the revolt spread to the city and workers’ and soldiers’ councils were established.

Question 18

What happened to the revolution by November 6 1918?

Answer 18

There were workers and soldiers councils all of Germany. Radical socialists did not lead these revolts. Most members of the councils wanted the Kaiser to abdicated and a democratic republic to be established.

Question 19

Key words- Mutiny

Answer 19

A revolt by soldiers or sailors against their officers.

Question 20

Key words- Soviets

Answer 20

The workers’ and soldiers’ councils established in the Russia Revolution of 1917.

Question 21

What is seen as the decisive moment in the German Revolution?

Answer 21

On november 8th a republic was proclaimed in Bavaria and the Bavarian monarchy were desposed. This showed Prince Max he had lost control of the situation

Question 22

What happened on November 9th 1918?

Answer 22

The SPD called on workers in Berlin to join a general strike to force the Kaiser to abdicate.
Prince Max took matters into his own hands and released a press statement saying the Emperor had abdicated. Prince Max resigned as chancellor the same day the position was handed to Friedrich Ebert.

Question 23

Who was Friedrich Ebert?

Answer 23

Leader of the SPD

Question 24

At what point did the Kaiser agree to sign his abdication?

Answer 24

After General Groener told him the army would no longer fight for him.

Question 25

Key word- Constituent Assembly

Answer 25

An elected body with the specific task of drawing up a new constitution, usually in the aftermath of a revolution.

Question 26

What was Friedrich Ebert’s priority after the armistice on 11/11?

Answer 26

Organise elections for a Constituent Assembly as he was aware his government lacked legitimacy.

Question 27

What was Ebert’s problem with his authority over the revolution?

Answer 27

His authority did not extend beyond Berlin where disorder and violence were becoming the norm.

Question 28

Who did Ebert’s government depend on to survive?

Answer 28

The Army

Question 29

What was the Ebert- Groener pact?

Answer 29

Ebert got full support from army leadership and Groener demanded Ebert resist the demands of the soldiers’ councils to democratise the army and defend Germany from a communist revolution.

Question 30

What revolutions/ demonstrations were happening in 1918 while Ebert prepared his Constituent Assembly? (there is 3)

Answer 30

-6 December a Spartacist demonstration in Berlin was fired on by soldiers killing 16.
-23-24 December a sailors’ revolt against the government in Berlin was put down by the Army, in protest three USPD ministers in the government resigned.
-6 January, the spartacists launched an armed revolt against the government in what is known as the January Revolution, or the Spartacists Uprising. After a week the revolt was crushed.

Question 31

When were the elections for the Constituent assembly held? Who could vote?

Answer 31

19 January 1919, Women could vote for the first time.

Question 32

What was the result of the elections for the Constituent assembly?

Answer 32

The SPD secured the largest share of the vote and the largest number of seats in the Assembly but did not have the majority so have to compromise with other parties.

Question 33

How did the Weimar republic get its name?

Answer 33

The Assembly met in small town Weimar instead of Berlin due to the unstable political situation there.

Question 34

What was the outcome of the Assembly meeting?

Answer 34

Ebert was elected by the assembly as the first president of the Republic and a new government led by Philipp Scheidermann, was formed by the SPD in coalition with the Center and German democratic parties.

Question 35

Strengths of the Weimar Constitution:

Answer 35

• Provided a wider right to vote than other countries (allowed women)
  -Proportional representation enabled even the smaller parties to win seats in the Reichstag and influence government decisions.
  -Full democracy in local government as well as central government.
  -Set out clearly the rights of the individual (pg 8)
  -Referendums can be called for by the president, the Reichstrat or by peoples’ request if 1/10 of the electorate applied for one.

Question 36

Weaknesses of the Weimar Constitution:

Answer 36

-The proliferation of small parties: this allowed smaller parties, many of which were anti-republican, to exploit the parliamentary system for publicity.
-Coalition governments: Since governments had to have an overall majority in the Reichstag, and this was impossible due to the proliferation of smaller parties, all governments in the Weimar republic were coalitions, many of which were very short-lived.

Question 37

What does article 48 allow?

Answer 37

Gives the president the power to rule by decree in exceptional circumstances.

Question 38

How many times did Ebert use article 4?

Answer 38

on 136 occasions, some of these occasions could be deemed genuine emergencies but Ebert also used this power to get what he wants by overriding the decision in the Reichstag.

Question 39

Key word- Autocracy

Answer 39

A system of government in which power is concentrated in the hands of one person.

Question 40

Who were the second empire?

Answer 40

The army, the civil service and the judiciary.

Question 41

Why was it an issue that the Second Empire did not support the new democratic republic?

Answer 41

Because they held influence over the people.

Question 42

The army with the new Weimar Republic:

Answer 42

They were determined to preserve as much independence as they could. The full force of military power would be used against left-wing revolts whilst conspirators from the Right were often supported by elements in the army. General Hans Von Seekt believed the army owed loyalty to a ‘timeless Reich’. He would not allow his officers to meddle in politics but would let the army under his command when he saw fit.

Question 43

The civil service with the Weimar Republic:

Answer 43

Civil servants were given a guarantee of their ‘well-earned rights’ and their freedom of political opinion, as long as it did not interfere with their loyalty to the state. Top civil servants could wield enormous power, especially when ministers in coalition governments were frequently changing.

Question 44

The judiciary with the Weimar Republic:

Answer 44

Article 54 of the constitution guaranteed the independence of the judges. The judges who served the Second Empire remained in their posts. They were staunchly, monarchist and anti-democratic. Anyone who attempted to overthrow the constitution by force would be sentenced to life imprisonment, the judges gave left-wing groups great punishment yet right-wing conspirators were treated very leniently.