Frontsheet 1 Flashcards
Reasons for WW1 defeat
Forces on retreat Western Front
British naval blockades
↳food/fuel shortages
Germany allies on brink of defeat
↳seeking peace terms
Failed offensive
USA entrance 1917
Causes for October Revolution
Victory impossible
↳needed armistice
↳Wilson talk fair negotiated terms
Ludendorff persuades Kaiser
transform into parliamentary democracy
↳hoped end autocratic rule - more lenient
↳hoped shift blame to democratic politicians
October reforms
Kaiser appoints
Max von Baden (aristocratic)
new chancellor
Chancellor responsible to Reichstag not Kaiser
Armed forces under control
civilian government
Aimed to preserve rule of Kaiser
Armistice asked for
October 3 1918
hoped end war
& secure land gained since 1914
Wilson’s terms for truce
- Evacuated all foreign territory
- End to submarine warfare
- Introduce fully democratic system
Ludendorff’s lenience plan failed
fled to Sweden
Reaction to call for armistices
Shocked German people
↳endured hardship & shortage
283,000 died hypothermia/hunger
Faith in gov/Kaiser undermined
People now saw Kaiser as peace obstacle
November revolution timeline
28 October
Sailors port Wilhelmshaven mutiny
3 Nov
Sailors Kiel mutiny
4 Nov
Revolt spread city & soviets set up
8 Nov
Republic declared Bavaria - monarchy deposed
9 Nov
SPD called Berlin workers general strike
Schiedemann declare republic on Reichstag steps
Von Baden declares Kaiser abdication & resigns - Ebert replaces
General Groener - army no support Kaiser
Kaiser forced abdicate
11 Nov
Armistice signed
Causes November revolution
People’s anger
Naval mutinies & uprising
Wilson demands democracy
SPD demand abdication
Communism fear
Initial problems in gov
Need permanent end to war & agree peace terms
Power vacuum post abdication
Demands of opposition
Mass civil unrest
Soviets
Economy - return to peace time production
Need support of army
Initial pressure from left
More radical change
USPD & Sparticists wanted further revolution
Initial pressure form right
Opposed democracy
Needed army support to stop unrest
Ebert’s decisions in response to pressure
10 Nov Ebert-Groener Pact
Army support & keep order
Not democratise army
All general & officers remain in post
15 Nov Stinnes-Legien Pact
Industialists recognise trade union & 8 hr work days
Trade union cooperate w/ employers & not oppose private ownership
22 Nov deal w/ Berlin soviets
support new assembly
All key civil servants & judges remain in post
Response to Ebert’s decision
6 Dec
Spartacist demonstration fired on by soldiers
16 killed
23/24 Dec
Sailor’s revolt put down by army
3 USPD ministers resign in protest
6 Jan
Armed revolt by Spartacists agianst gov
Crushed after 1 week
Constitution terms
- President elected every 7 yrs
by popular vote
Infrequent => stability - All men & women >20
had right to vote (universal suffrage)
Equal representation (first time)
Women had national voice
greater weight given to women’s issues
- Chancellor proposes laws to Reichstag
needed at least 1/2 support to pass - Reichstage deputies elected every 4 years
by proportional representation
No majorities - coalitions needed
division indesicion & instability
Easier for smaller parties to grow (NSDAP)
- President, Reichsrat & people could call referendum
if 10% electorate agree
Gave people direct say
Often led to division in society
- Each state controlled own
police/education/welfare
Elected reprentatives to Reichsrat
Smaller states not dominated by larger
Enforcing national laws harder
- Rights of individual clearly definied & enshrined
Only removable by 2/3 majority
Led to increased political campaigns & clashes of groups
- President appoined Chancellor & ministers
Aim stability - not just leader of majority party
Allowed decision made if coalition undecided
President had power appoint ‘own men’
- Article 48
Pres rule by decree in emergency
Emergency not defined
Ebert used 136 times 1919-1925
Hindenburg used 60 times 1932
Hindenburg used to benefit elites
Hitler used to consolidate power
- Army/judiciary/civil service
unreformed & mostly independent
Act in interest elites & undermine socialist gov
Ebert used to gain their support
Wilson’s 14 point plan
Vision for European peace & prosperity
Liberal
Terms inc:
Worldwide demiliterisation
LoN formed
Land disputes based on self-determination
Clemenceau’s motivation for revenge
Borders Germany
Most damaged of ‘big 3’
900,000 civillians & 1.3M military killed
Lloyd-George’s motivation
Wanted revenge
Wanted stable enough to trade with
Geman losses in ToV
13% population
13% territory
(all colonies under LoN control)
75% iron ore
68% zinc ore
26% coal
15% arable land
ToV terms
- Rhineland demilitarised
Clemenceau promised Anglo-American support if broken - Alsace-Lorraine returned to France
- Polish Corridor created from German land
- Saarland under LoN control 15 yrs
- Schleswig returned to Denmark
- Oversees colonies given to victorious countries
Britain/Australia/S.America/Japan - Anschluss forbidden
- £6.6 billion reparations
decided by reparations committee 1921 - LoN established
Germany not allowed join - Army reduced
No artillery/tanks/areoplanes
Limited 100,000 men - Navy reduced
No submarines
Restricted no. battleships - War guilt clause - Clause 231
Resonses Germans expect lenient peace terms
Costly war
1.7M soldiers killed
Suffered fuel/food shortages
Questions over who started war
Responsibilty lay with Kaiser
unfair punish civillians now gone
Stared democratic reforms
Wilson’s pre-requesite for peace
14 point plan talked about fair terms & nations equality
Complaints about ToV
Not been present at negotiations & thought could negotiate amendments
given 7 days to sign or back at war
Public saw as Diktat
Lack of self-determination for states
Clause 231 -unjust national humiliation
Reparations
Allied occupation of Western Germany
Patriotic songs & festivals banned in French controlled areas
Disarmament
unjust & left public feeling defenceless
Reasons complaints unjust
Wilson made return of Alsace-Lorraine & Polish Corridor clear
More lenientthan could have been
Clemenceau wanted French boarder extented & Rhineland indepented
Germany inflicted worse treaty on Russia
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk Mar 1918
Germany planned annex territory & expand empire if won
Demand harsh reparations from allies
Reparations lower than French demanded
Steps toward signing ToV
All parties agreeing signing against German honour
Scheidemann want reject
majority cabinet & SPD believe had no choice
Scheidemann resigns
Bauer replaces
Some army leaders sought rejection & restart war
Ebert support rejection if chance of military success
Groener advices military action not work
28 June 1919 signs
Reaction of left to signing ToV
Pursue policy of fulfilment
while negotiating modifications
Republican parties become associated with weakness & failure
Reaction of right to signing ToV
Growth in groups seeking overthrow republic
Extremists believe politicians unfit to rule
become known as
November Criminals
Economic problems
War loans
1.44B mark debt
Land loss & valuable resources
reduced tax revenue
Exports effected & allie-imposed tariffs
Reparations
Wider impact of defeat
ex-soldiers’ pensions
gov wages
wefare benefits
subsidies & cheap credit to restart industry
Economic policies
Avoidance of tax raises & expenditure cutting
Extension of loans
Print more money
Inflation quadrulped 1919-20
Value of mark fell
1922 worth 1% 1914 level
1914: $1 = 4.2 marks
1919: $1 = 8.9 marks
Jan 1923: $1 = 17,972 marks
By 1923 300 paper mills & 2000 printing firms worked 24/7
Social impact of hyperinflation (positive)
Value of gov debts reduced - accusation of deliberate failure to stop crisis
Mortgages effectivly wiped out
Industrialist easily take out loans buy businesses &pay back loans
By 1924 Hugo Stinnes owned 1535 (20% industry)
Rent increases not keep up with price increases
Foreign currency retained value
German goods cheaper aboad - better for exporting
Famers could barter goods
Social impact of hyperinflation (negative)
Pensions not increase
Savings worhtless
Welfare not keep up with rate of price increases
Wages not keep up
est. 30% cut spending power
Mittlestand/ small businesses costs increase faster than could raise prices
Cost medical increase
Rapid increase food prices
widespread malnutrition, rickets &TB
By1923 30%workforce fully employed
Reparation crisis
Given 6 days to sign reparations or breaching ToV
Fehrenbach refused to sign & resigned
Jan 1922
Reparations Committee suspended Jan&Feb payments
recognised financial difficulties
July 1922
asked for suspension for rest of year
Nov 1922
asked for 500M mark loan
& release for 3-4 yrs
French suspected exaggeration of difficulties
End 1922
fallen behind payments to France
Jan 1923
French sent 60,000 troops to Ruhr
French invasion of Ruhr
1923 progressed
France & Belgium occupy whole Ruhr
100,000 men
Took control of mines, factories, steelworks, railways & shops
Response to French invasion
Cuno knew could not use military to stop
Stopped reparation payments
Order policy passive resistance
Guaranteed wages striking workers
Army worked with local armed groups - commit acts of sabotage
French:
Set up courts to punish refusal to cooperate
Expelled 15,000 Germans
Responsible shooting 132 people
Brought French workers to replace strikers
Economic impact of Ruhr occupation
Taxation lost from business closure
Payments to striking workers drained finances
Used limited foreign currency to import coal
Shortage in goods increased prices
Cost est double annual reparations payment
Print more money
Jan 1923: $1 = 17,972 marks
Aug 1923: $1 = 4.6M marks
Nov 1923: $1 = 4.2T marks
Causes for political instability
Proportional representation & need for coalitions
Lack of continuity
undermined democratic system
Extreme anti-democratic parties benefitted from lack of confidence in system
As financial crisis grew worse more parties wanted overthrow
Key trends in votes
Strength pro-Rebublic parties decreased
Strength parties extreme left & right increased
Political balance shifted from moderate to extreme
Votes
Jan 1919 -> June 1923
KPD: 0 -> 4
USPD: 22 -> 83
SPD: 163 -> 103
Centre: 91 -> 64
DVP: 19 -> 65
Sparticist Uprising
5-13 Jan 1919
General strike with 100,000 workers
Became armed uprising in Berlin
Aim forcibly overthrow Ebert
Poorly planned
not supported by general public
Ebert used army to brutally quash
Army relied on Freikorps
Outcome Sparticist Uprising
150 revolutionaries killed
including Luxemborg & Liebknecht
Defeat enabled gov to hold elections to constitutional assembly
Reliance on Freikorps allienated many on left
Further left wing uprisings
Berlin March Fights
1919 - lasted 2 weeks
General strike led to street fights
Approx. 2000 killed
Bavarian Soviet Republic created
April 1919 - lasted 1 month
Overthrown by Army/Freikorps
General strike in Ruhr
1920 (response to Kapp Putsch) - lasted 1 month
50,000 involved
Brutally suppressed by Army/Freikorps
Hamburg Uprising
1923 - lasted 3 days
5,000 involved - 100 killed
Suppressed by police/army
Reason for left wing uprising failure
Freikorps determination to stop revolution
Ebert’s use of Freikorps
Not enough popular support
Poor leadership & organisation
Unrealistic expectation communist gov could be formed
Cause of right wing threat
Lost power & influence
Support for authoritarianism & distrust of democracy
Viewed Weimar gov as ‘November Criminals’
Dislike of ToV - ‘Diktat’
Hatred of KPD/fear of communism
Growth of power/confidence
Ebert’s use of Freikorps
Kapp Putsch
Feb 1920
Defense minister order 2 Freikorp groups outside Berlin disband
Gen. von Luttwitz (CO) refused
Ebert & Bauer order arrest
12 Mar
Luttwitz march troops to Berlin - joined sympathetic officers (inc. Kapp)
13 Mar
Issued proclamation
Blamed left for crisis & argued strong right gov neccesary for stability
Gov forced withdraw to Stuttgart & called army to crush
Army refused to fire on Freikorps
Kapp controlled Berlin 4 days
Collapsed after Ebert called general strike & brought Berlin to standstill
Kapp & Luttwitz fled
Kapp died before trial
Luttwitz retired not prosecuted
Only 1/705 found guilty attempt overthow gov
Threat of Kapp Putsch
Theat:
Reveal weakness in Weimar
Army loyalty w/ nationalits
Army remained unchallenged
Lenient treatment of those involved
Not threat:
Berlin people support Ebert
Gov withstood threat
Political assassinations
Extremists organised into
‘Patriotic Leagues’
most organised
‘Organisation Consul’*
Hugo Hasse
Oct 1919
radical socialist
Matthias Herzberger*
Aug 1921
Member von Baden’s gov
led signing ToV
Walter Rathenau*
Jun 1922
Foeign Minister
Anti-Semitic attack
Overview prosecutions/assassinations
Pol. assassinations by right: 354
Pol. assassinations by left: 22
Right murderers executed: 1 (326 unpunished)
Left murderers executed: 10
Gov response to assassinations:
June 1922
Law for the Protection of the Republic
Imposed severe penalties for conspiracy to murder
Banned extremist organisations eg. Consul
Largely ineffective
Bavarian gov refused implement
Judges give more lenient sentences to right extremists
(Rathenau murderer given 4 yrs in prison)
Left treated harshly
Threat Nazi Party by 1923
Munich, Bavaria centre for anti-Weimar pol. parties
Hitler joined DAP after state gov sent him to investigate
Hitler pos. rose quickly
in charge of propaganda
support greatly increased
Feb 1920
became NSDAP
appeal to broad range Germans & distinguish from left socialism
released 25 point programme (manifesto)
1921
Hitler became leader
Created SA - largely former Freikorps
Instructed disrupt left meetings
By 1923
focussed violent overthrow Weimar
still unknown in rest of Germany
Causes of Munich Putsch
Bavarian state leaders nationalist & wanted return authoritiarian gov
Nov 1923 Stresemann ends passive resistance & begin reparation repayments
angered Bavarian gov
Munich Putsch
1923
Kahr, Lossow & Seisser plan march Berlin
Invite NSDAP & Hitler secures support Ludendorff
4 Nov
leaders decide postpone
Hitler decided to go ahead
8 Nov
Hitler storms beer hall & force leaders support at gunpoint
Kahr agrees to support then calls police
SA & supporters rampage Munich - trash Jewish property
9 Nov
Nazis march on Berlin
met by police/army
gun battle ensues
16 Nazis & 4 police killed
Hitler fled & arrested 3 days later
Outcome Munich Putsch
Hitler found guilty treason
5 yr prison sentance
released after 9 months
Other Nazis found guilty immediately released
Ludendorff not found guilty
Hitler use trial as publicity opportunity
turned him into national right hero
