Germany 1890 - 1929 Flashcards
Date of sailor’s mutiny
28 October 1918
Where did the sailor’s refuse to follow orders?
Kiel
How long did it take for councils (made up of sailors, workers and soldiers) to be set up, running the whole of Germany
6 days
When did the Kaiser abdicate?
9 November 1918
Who became temporary leader of Germany after the Kaiser abdicated?
Friedrich Ebert, leader of the SPD party
When did Germany surrender in WW1?
11 November 1918
What was the new system of government called in Germany?
Democratic republic
What were the group of communists called and what did they want?
The Spartacists. They wanted Germany to be run by small councils of soldiers and workers, not a large parliament.
When did the Spartacists seize power of Berlin?
6 January 1919
What town did the Spartacists seize power of?
Berlin
How did Ebert respond to the Spartacists seizing power in Berlin?
He sent in a group of 2000 tough ex-soldiers called the Free Corps to attack the Spartacists
How did the Free Corps shut down the Spartacists in Berlin? (1919)
3 days of brutal street-fighting. They recaptured buildings, arrested Spartacist leaders (Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht) and later killed them.
When did Ebert hold elections and what was the outcome?
Late January 1919. His own party (the SPD) won the most votes and Ebert became the new president of Germany
What did the Weimar constitution state?
Everyone would have equal rights, including the right to vote
What were the weaknesses of the Weimar Constitution?
Proportional representation - meant lots of different political parties won seats in the Reichstag and it was hard for one party to get a majority. Leading party had to deal with smaller parties to get anything done, making law-making slow.
Not everyone was happy. Some people (older army generals, upper-class families, rich factory owners and university professors) longed for the ‘good old days’ where the Kaiser ruled.
What were the Weimar politicans called?
The November Criminals
Why did people criticise the Weimar politicians?
The Weimar Politicians ended the war with Germany surrendering. Ex-soldiers and civilians felt betrayed because they thought Germany could have won the war. The politicians also accepted the Treaty of Versailles which people thought was too harsh and it had been forced upon them without any discussion (diktat)
How much in reparations did Germany have to pay?
£6.6 billion, in yearly installments.
When did Germany pay the first set of reparations?
1921
What happened in 1922 regarding reparations?
Germany was unable to pay
What did France and Belgium do in response to Germany not being able to pay reparations and when?
January 1923, 60,000 French and Belgium troops entered the Ruhr and took over factories, railways and mines.
How did French and Belgian soldiers react to workers going on strike?
100 killed
15,000 kicked out of their homes as punishment
Who suffered from hyper-inflation?
Savings became worthless, people who had been saving their whole lives lost all their money
Elderly people living on fixed pensions found that their income would no longer buy them what they needed
Businesses went bankrupt
Weimar government became unpopular
Wages rose but not as quickly as prices. Workers had to be paid 2x a day.
Price of bread to show hyper-inflation
Beginning of 1923 (January) bread cost 250 marks
November 1923 bread cost 201 billion marks
Who benefitted from hyperinflation?
People could pay off their debts easily
Farmers - didn’t have to buy supplies, just grew them, so they could raise their prices without losing income
When was the Kapp Putsch?
March 1920