GCSE Flashcards
By what year was Germany producing lots
By 1913 Germany was producing more iron and steel and as much coal as Britain
How many Germans voted for the SPD
1 in 3
Who were the Kaisers supporters
Advisers, ministers, chancellor, reichstag, rich business men and landowners
When did Germany unify
1871
What is a bundesrat
State representative
How were the German states linked
Loosely linked with similar culture and language
Why did the states unify
The king of Prussia (the Kaiser) wanted to unite all the German speaking states to become more powerful
What does weltpolitik mean
World policy the kaiser wanted Germany to be a global power and to control other countries
When were the naval laws introduced
Between 1898 and 1912
When did a Serbian kill and Austrian
28th June 1914 a Serbian killed archduke Franz Ferdinand
When did Austria-Hungary declare war on Serbia
28th July 1914
When did the deadly flu epidemic Happen
1918
Who told German politicians that they would never won the war
General Lundenorff in October 1918
When did the Kaiser flee the country
9th November 1918
Who took the kaisers place temporarily
Friedrich Ebert leader of SPD
When, where, and who came up with the treaty of Versailles
In the palace of Versailles, the French, British, and USA came up with the treaty in March 1919
When did Germany sign the treaty
28th June 1919
What were the terms of the treaty
£6.6 billion payed in reparations
Germany had to hand over its colonies to the winning countries
Rhineland became a demilitarized zone
Germany never allowed to unite with A-H again
What did the German army reduce to
100,000 soldiers, six battleships and no submarines, tanks or Air Force
What was it called when the treaty was forced upon them
diktat dictated peace
What did Friedrich Ebart do
He guaranteed freedom of speech, freedoms of religion and he declared that Germany would be a democratic republic with no Kaisers
What is communism
The idea that everyone is equal, there is no private property, there is little need for money or laws and eventually there’s no need for a government
Who were the Spartacists and when did they try to take over Berlin
They were a group of communists who wanted the country to be run by small councils
6th January 1919
How did Ebart respond to the Spartacists
He sent 2000 free corps to deal with them, the arrested and killed the leaders
When did Ebart hold and election
Late Jan 1919 and his own party won
Which groups of people didn’t like proportional representation
Older army generals, judges, upper-class families, rich people, rich factory owners and university professors because they longed for the ‘good old days’
What were the politicians known as who ended the way
November criminals
What was article 48
Meaning he could make decisions without the reichstags approval
How often was the president elected
Every 7 years
Who chose the chancellor
The president
What was the Weimar constitution
Formal set of rules of how Germany should be governed was very democratic
meant all Germans had equal rights and all women over 20 could vote
Left wing parties
Communist party
Social Democratic Party
German Democratic Party
Right wing parties
People’s Party
National people’s party
National socialist German workers (Nazis)
Who supported the SPD
Mostly working class
Who supported the Nazis
Unemployed, mainly ex soldiers, some support from those who feared communists
What was a weakness of the Weimar constitution
Proportional representation
How often were the members of the reichstag elected
Every 4 years
What was the start of the Weimar Republic
On the 11th 1919 February Ebart and politicians met up in Weimar to discuss how to run the country
How did the hyperinflation crisis begin
Late 1922 Germany fell behind in reparations so in Jan 60,000 French and Belgium troops sent to the Ruhr to demand the goods they were owed
German government used passive resistance and ordered all its workers to go on strike but continued to pay them so more money needed to be printed
Negative impacts of hyperinflation crisis
People living on pensions and savings, their money was now worthless
Small businesses collapsed as by the time they bought new stock the prices had increased so much they couldn’t afford it
Workers had to run from work with money to buy food before their wages were worthless
Positive impacts of the hyperinflation crisis
Those who had debts or loans could pay them back with 1 note
The rich who had land and possessions weren’t affected
rich businessmen bought the bankrupt businesses
Kapp Putsch
Right winged uprising on 13th March 1920
wanted to overthrow the Wiemar republic
Red rising in the Ruhr
Workers in the Ruhr tried to start a communist revolution after Kapp fled the country
21st March the red army tried to take over many towns
What was the Munich Putsch
Hitler plotted to take over Munich with Kahr and Lossow and he got SA ready to rebel
in Oct, K+L called off the rebellion putting Hitler in bad position
8th Nov 1923 Hitler interrupted meeting that K+L were holding and locked them in there until they agreed to rebel.
next day Hitler marched through Munich thinking it would be a successful rebellion but he was met with police as Kahr had called them he was arrested
How many people died in the Munich Putsch
3 policemen and 16 Nazis
Hitler’s trial and imprisonment
trial lasted 24 days sentenced to 5 years but only did 9 months
How did the Munich Putsch impact Hitler
He realised he’d have to change his strategy. the nazis would have to stand in elections and win votes so he organised:
Hitler youth, propaganda campaigns, set up SS
Why did people vote for the Nazis
Organised and looked professional
promised to never let hyperinflation happen again and cancel treaty of Versailles
reduce unemployment
blackmailed people into voting for them
From when to when did Gustav Stresseman solve some of Germany’s problems
Between 1924 and 1929
What was policy 1
Introduce a new currency, the rentenmark
burned old notes however those who lost their money weren’t compensated to resentful towards Wiemar republic
What was policy 2
Persuade the french to leave the ruhr so he called off the strike as the French still hadn’t left
seen as week because he gave in to the French
What was policy 3
Germanys relationships with other countries
Signed Locarno pact in 1925 with Britain, France, belgium and Italy promising not tot invade
What was policy 4
Continue to pay reparations
Reparations agreed to Dawes plan in 1924 which gave Germany longer to pay back the debt
In 1929 the young plan lowered the amount paid
What was policy 5
Rebuilding the German economy
Organised big loan from USA as part of the Dawes plan
When was the wall street crash and why was this a problem for Germany
29th October 1929
USA recalled loans they had given to Germany as part of the Dawes plan
In may 1928 how many unemployed and how many seats held by Nazis
650,000 unemployed 12 seats
In march 1933 how many unemployed and how many seats held by Nazis
6,100,000 unemployed and 288 seats
When did hitler become chancellor
1933
How were businessmen affected by the Wall Street crash
Most businesses closed but if they managed to stay open their income fell because nobody had enough money to spend
How were young people affected by the Wall Street crash
In 1933 over half of all Germans aged between 16 and 30 were unemployed
How were farmers affected by Wall Street crash
In the 20s farmers hadn’t done well and by the 30s they slipped further into debt
How were factory workers affected by the Wall Street crash
40% of all factory workers were unemployed by 1932 at the same time the government cut unemployment funds to save money
What did the government do about the depression
They raised taxes, cut wages and reduced unemployment benefits, this caused the collapse of the government as SPD withdrew from coalition
How many times was article 48 used in 1930
5
How many times was article 48 used in 1932
60
Who was Bruning
Was a chancellor and tried to seize rich people’s land and Hindenburg withdrew his support because he owned a lot of land and then bruning resigned
Failure of Wiemars leaders
Hindenburg, Von Papen and Schleicer were main culprits as more concerned with their own positions than manipulating democracy
In the presidential election how many votes did hitler and hindenburg get
Hindenburg: 19.4 million
Hitler: 13.4 million
It was clear the government could not run without the cooperation of the nazis
Long term bitterness
Anger about WW1 and the treaty caused bitterness which appealed to Hitler’s viciousness and people supported him
Ineffective constitution
Weaknesses in constitution crippled the government and many wanted a return to dictatorship
Money
Hitler had financial support from wealthy businessmen to fund propaganda and election campaign
Propaganda
This persuaded the German masses to blame the Jews for what happened and that hitler was their last hope
Programme
Hitler proposed something to everybody so people supported him
Attacks on other parties
The SA attacked Jews and those who opposed hitler
Personal qualities
Hitler was a great speaker who was a good organiser and politician
Economic depression
People wanted someone to blame for the crisis and looked for extreme solutions. Hitler offered both and people turned to him out of desperation
Recruited by Hindenburg
Hindenburg was forced to turn to hitler and so at first he offered the post of vice chancellor but hitler demanded he became chancellor
When did hitler become chancellor
30th January 1933 and Von papen was vice
What did hitler do immediately after he became chancellor
He held an election at the reichstag to make the nazis the majority party
What was the Reichstag fire
27th February 1933 Dutch communist Van der Lubbe was caught at the scene of the fire and Hitler automatically blamed the communists but they denied it and said it was a nazi plot as an excuse to make communists look bad in upcoming election
What happened the day after the fire
Hitler persuaded Hindenburg to use article 48 and pass the law ‘protection of the people and the state’. This gave hitler power to arrest anyone opposing the government. many opponents arrested and SA intimidated people
What percentage of the seats did nazis win in 5th march elections and what did Hitler to to the communists
44%
He used the state of emergency to stop the communists from taking their seats
How many seats did nazis and communists win in 5th march elections
Nazis: 288 seats
Communists: 81 seats
Why did hitler call the election
To get 2/3 majority in order to pass the enabling act
What did the enabling act allow hitler to do and how did he manage to pass it
To make his own laws without the support of the Reichstag
He promised center party that if they supported him he would restore civil liberties
He closed down all other ploitical parties meaning Nazis were the only party
When was the enabling act passed
23 march 1933
When were the trade unions closed down and who did they mainly contain
May 1933 contained mainly communists
What happened with the pope
On 20th June 1933 he signed concordat meaning hitler could do what he wanted as long as it didn’t interfere with Catholicism in Germany
When was the night of the long knives and what was Hitler’s problem with the SA
30th June 1934
Now that he was in control of Germany, he no longer needed SA and realised they were a threat to his control
Who was the leader of the SA and what did he want
Roehm and he wanted the SA to take control of the German army to make him more powerful that Hitler
What happened during the night of the long knives
Hitler used SS to arrest and kill SA who were having a meeting in Munich. over the next few days many were arrested and shot 200 in total including Roehm
How did hitler justify his actions
He said he ‘saved the nation’ and the reichstag accepted this without question because it consisted of only nazis
When did Hindenburg die
2 August 1934 aged 87 he was the only person higher up than Hitler so he immediately declared himself president and took the title Fuhrer
Who were the SS
Formed in 1925 and was the parties own police force. after the night of the long knives became the most important military group within the state
Who was the SS leader
Henrich Himmler
What was the gestapo and who was the leader
Secret police force Reinhard Heydrich
job to search out nazi opponents and had power to arrest and imprison them
