Germany Flashcards
Strength of Weimar Constitution
- President: President could protect country in times of crisis
- Chancellor: Needed majority in the Reichstag so their appointment was democratic
- Article 48: In times of unrest it could be used to make laws so the government can continue
- State governments: States could have different laws
- PR: Parties which recieved votes had representation in the Reichstag
- Voting: Everyone got a vote
Weakness of the constitution
- President: 7 years is too long
- Chancellor: Won’t last long in office if a coalition failed
- Article 48: Emergency unclear
- State governments: Individual states could oppose the national government and try to remove it
- PR: Result in small parties winning seats leading to an unstable government as there is no individual majority. Several parties had to form coalitions which ften broke down.
- Voting: Opposition from those who did not want democracy. Voted for parties that wanted to destroy the democratic system
Treaty of Versailles
Guilt
Article 231 (War Guilt Clause) - Germany had to accept the blame for starting the war
Treaty of Versailles
Arms
100,000 soldiers, 6 battleships, no airforce, no submarines, no tanks
Treaty of Versailles
German Territory
Lost 13% of European territory - 50% iron reserves, 15 percent coal reserves, all colonies lost
- Alsace and Lorraine lost to France
- Eupen and Malmedy lost to Belgium
- Posen and West Prussia lost to Poland
- Upper silesia become part of Poland
- Northern Schleswig voted to become a part of Denmark
- German port of Danzig made an international city
- Rhineland DMZ
Treaty of Versailles
League of nations
Germany not included
Treaty of Versailles
Extra
- Baltic states given independence
- No Anschluss with Austria
Reactions to treaty
- ‘Diktat’
- Humiliated by article 231
- Angry at high reparations + loss of land
- Angry at government ‘November criminals’
- Myth of being stabbed in the back
Spartacist Uprising 1919
- Occupied newspaper and telephone offices
- Tried to bring a general strike
- Rosa Luxembourg and Karl Liebknecht
- Difficult to put down revolt because: Controlled media, inepierenced with revolts, Weimar not popular, Army reduced
- Governement turned to ‘Frieikorps’
- Executed Rosa and Karl
Consequences of the Spartacist Uprising
Left:
* Showed their name to the public
* Bad reputation - failed revolution, lost leaders
Government:
* Stopped the revolt
* Decreased popularity - more people hate them, power given to Frieikorps
The Kapp Putsch 1920
- Ebert tries to disband Frieikorps
- Frieikorps marched on Berlin and declared Kapp the leader of Germany
- Army refused to stop Frieikorps
- Ebert and the government fled
- Residents went on a general strike - most are working class - moderate people like the government
- Kapp leaves
- Frieikorps disbanded
Consequences of Kapp Putsch
Right:
* Germany towards democratic
* Failed revolution
Government:
* Frieikorps disbanded
* Army does not support Weimar
* Both left and right failed revolution
Numerous economic events
- TOV - 6.6 billion pounds in reparations
- WW1 - Lost money used on military
- Allied loans - Allies have to use Germans to pay back loans
- Missed payments
Occupation of the Ruhr - 1923
- Germany missed another reparations payment
- Belgian troops occupy the Ruhr
- Takes industrial products
German reaction to Ruhr Occpuation
- Passive resistance
- Workers on strike but paid
- Money printed to pay workers
- 100 Germans killed by French
- 100,000 protestors expelled from Ruhr
- French brought own workers
- Remained until 1925 July
