Germany Flashcards
Treaty of Versailles 1919 terms
£6.6 billion reparations
100,000 men army
6 battleships
0 planes / submarines
14% of land loss
Strengths and weaknesses of the Weimar Constitution
+ Fair due to proportional representation which meant that the % of votes is equal to the % of seats gained in the Reichstag
+ women could vote
+ no one group or person could have too much power
+ voting age reduced to 21
- Too fair led to coalition governments and slow decisions
- Extreme parties could gain seats
- Article 48 meant the president could take control in emergency this was used too much
Spartacus Uprising
Led by Rosa Luxembourg and Karl Liebnecht
Left wing communist uprising in Berlin
100000 strikes and they took over newspapers and telegraph bureau
Defeated by 3000 Freikorps who were armed soldiers sent by Ebert
Leaders were executed
1919
Kapp Putsch
1920
5000 Freikorps who were ex soldiers with weapons took Berlin
Right wing uprising
Dr Wolfgang Kapp in charge
Army refused to resist them
Defeated by national strike
Hyperinflation ( how did it happen )
1923
French troops invaded Ruhr to take reparations
German workers went on strike
80% of coal , iron and steel was in these factories and so the occupation caused a disaster for the economy
Weimar Government printed more money which caused the German mark to become worthless
Effect of Hyperinflation
Bread was worth 200,000 billion marks
- wages rose not as quickly as prices
- business went bankrupt
- people with fixed income could not afford anything
- savings were worthless
- people blamed the government making it more unpopular
+ farmers benefited as they were paid more for food
+ people and business could pay off loans and mortgages
+ fixed rents were cheap
+ foreign visitors could buy more for their money
Rentenmark
Streseman - set up rentenbank and new currency rentenmark ending Hyperinflation recovering jobs and businesses
Dawes plan
1924
American banker Charles Dawes loaned Germany 25 billion gold marks to be paid back in 50 million yearly instalments
Young plan
1929
Owen young an American banker proposed to streseman
Reparations reduced to £2 billion and stretched them to be paid until 1988. This meant that German people were taxed less.
Locarno pact
1925
Germany agreed borders with France which improved relations
This improved popularity of the Weimar Republic
League of Nations
An international body that hoped to discuss problems to avoid war. Germany invited to be on the council in 1926.
This showed Germany’s views counted and boosted confidence in Weimar Government
Kellogg- Briand Pact
1928
62 nations to say no to war
Cultural changes in Weimar Republic 1924 - 1929
Jazz music from America
Otto Dix expressionism - modern art
Bauhaus - school for architecture, artists and modern buildings
Cinema - 500 opened
- Horror and Sci-Fi films e.g Metropolis and Dr Caligari
Cabaret - Theatre
Marlene Dietrich - Actress
Women had short hair and skirts
Women could smoke
Women had more freedom / liberty
More expressions with sexuality
Munich Putsch
1923
Hitler gathered 1000SA and 2000 volunteers. They marched through Munich but failed to get army’s support. Hitler was shot. Hitler , Ludendorff , Rohm and stretcher were arrested.
Hitler in prison for 9 months. Wrote book Mein Kampf which was a best seller. Gained support and made Hitler realise he needed to be more tactical and could not take Germany by force.
