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
What was the Kapp Putsch
Right-wing politician and journalist Wolfgang Kapp gathered 5000 men (Free Corps) mainly police and ex-soldiers and took over the capital, Berlin
What was the aim of the Kapp Putsch?
He wanted to take over the country, make the army strong again and recover lands Germany lost in the Treaty of Versailles. (He was annoyed with the TofV and the politicians who signed it)
What happened during the Kapp Putsch and why did it fail?
President Ebert and the rest of the government fled Berlin.
‘president’ Kapp didn’t have the support of the workers, so they went on strike, resulting in no electricity, water, gas or trains. After 100 hours as Germany’s newest leader, Kapp fled abroad
When was the Red Rising in the Ruhr?
March 1920, shortly after Kapp had fled abroard
What was the Red Rising in the Ruhr?
Left-wing workers on strike in the Ruhr remained on strike and took over several towns.
How did the government deal with the Red Rising in the Ruhr?
They sent in soldiers and Free Corps who killed over 1000 workers.
Between 1919 and 1922 there were how many assasinations?
Over 350 political murders in Germany
What kind of people carried out political assassinations between 1919 and 1922?
Right-wing extremists. They thought Germany could have won the war and criticised the Weimar politicians for agreeing to the armistice and accepting harsh punishments in the Treaty of Versailles
Which ‘November-criminal’ was killed by right-wing extremists and when?
Matthias Erzberger, the man who signed the armistice to end the war. He was killed in August 1921
Who else was killed by right-wing extremists?
Foreign minister Walter Ratheneau
Who had acid thrown at them by right-wing extremists?
Philipp Scheidemann, an important Weimar politician
When did the Munich Putsch occur?
8 November 1923
What started the Munich Putsch, what did Hitler do?
Hitler interrupted a meeting in a beer hall in Munich attented by Gustav von Kahr (head of the Bavarian government). He announced he was taking over Bavaria and would march to the German capital of Berlin and then take over the whole country
General Ludendorff (a German war-hero) announced that he supported Hitler. The key Bavarian officials refused to support him
Around Munich, Hitler’s strormtroopers took control of the government building and arrested officials
What happened when Hitler tried to take over?
Hitler and 2000 supporters marched through Munich but were met by armed police. 3 policemen and 16 Nazis died in a short gun battle
What happened to end the Munich Putsch?
Hitler and General Ludendorff were taken to prison. Hitler was sentenced to 5 years but he was released shortly after.
Why did Hitler attempt the Munich Putsch?
He wanted to topple the Weimar government and make Germany strong again
He could take advantage of the Weimar Republic’s lack of support
What were the consequences of the Munich Putsch?
Hitler realised he needed to change his strategy to gain control of Germany. They would have to win power democratically, taking over Germany forcefully hadn’t worked
Hitler wrote Mein Kamf in prison.
How did Stressemann deal with the hyperinflation crisis?
He stopped the printing of the old currency and replaced it with a temporary, new currency called the Rentenmark, which could be exchanged for the old currency. In 1924 the rentenmark was replaced by the Reichsmark which was stable for 25 years
How successful was Stressemann’s solution to hyperinflation?
Germans quickly accepted the new currency and hyperinflation ended
However, people who had lost all their savings never got them back and blamed Stresseman and the government
How did Stressemann deal with French and Belgian troops in the Ruhr?
Arranged for USA to lend money to Germany (800 million gold marks) to allow Germany to start paying reparations again. Known as the ‘Dawes plan’
In 1929 Stressemann negotiated a reduction in the payment of reparations called the ‘Young plan’
How successful was Stressemann dealing with French and Belgian troops in the Ruhr?
French and Belgian troops left the Ruhr
However some Germans felt that Stressemann should have demanded a complete end to the reparations
Although in 1929 Stressemann negotiated a reduction in the payment of reparations called the ‘Young plan’
What was the Young plan and when was it agreed?
1929, reduction in payment of reparations
What was the Dawes plan?
USA lent money to Germany to allow them to pay for reparations
How did Stressmann deal with the issue of foreign policy (Germany was no longer considered a great power)?
Worked hard to improve relations with other countries
1925 - signed Locarno Pact with Britain, France, Belgium and Italy. Promised to never invade each other
1926 - Joined League of Nations. International peacekeeping organisation, Germany had originally been banned from it
1928 - Kellogg-Briand Pact - Agreed to never go to war unless to defend themselves
What was the Locarno Pact and when?
Signed in 1925 between Britain, France, Belgium, Italy and Germany. Promised to never invade each other
What was the Kellogg-Briand pact and when was it signed?
Signed in 1928. Agreement between participating countries to never go to war, unless to defend themselves if they were attacked
How successful was Stressemann in helping Germany improve its international status?
Germany regained its international status, became important part of the League of Nations
However, some right-wing Germans criticised Stressemann for not demanding back land taken away by Treaty of Versailles
How did Stressemann improve Germany’s industry?
Stressemann used some of the money from the Dawes plan to build new factories, schools, houses and roads. This meant more jobs were available so Germans started earning more money. Some American companies (Ford) built factories in Germany
How successful was Stressemann in improving Germany’s industry?
Slowly Germany became more prosperous and Germans became more wealthy
Sales of radios rose from 1 million in 1926 to 4 million in 1932
However some Germans, even Stressemann, feared that Germany relied too much on American loans
Underlying problems during Stressemann’s era (1924-1929)
Extremist political parties (Communists and Nazis) still hated the politicians.
Middle classes had had all their savings lost and were still suffering, farmer’s incomes were really low
Too much reliance on American loans
Hard for 1 party to get a majority so parties had to join together but often fell out and found it hard to agree
Why were the 1920s a time for people to experiment with new ideas (Golden Age)
Under the Kaiser’s rule, he had kept tight control on all types of entertainment but now that these controls had been removed, people felt a sense of freedom
Facts about Cinema during the Golden age
Became very popular in Germany
Metropolis directed by Fritz Lang was the most technically advanced film of the decade
German-born actress Marlene Dietrich became a worldwide star
Facts about nightlife during the Golden Age
Germany became a centre for plays, operas (Kurt Weill’s Threepenny Opera) and shows. Musicians performed vulgar songs about politicians (would have been banned under Kaiser’s rule)
Berlin was famous for nightclubs with livebands that played American Jazz
Transvestite evenings
Facts about literature during the Golden Age
120 newspapers and magazines
German anti-war novel All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque became a bestseller
Facts about art and design
Avant-garde artists such as Otto Dix and George Grosz believed art should show the reality of everyday life, difference between social classes.
New group of designers called Bauhaus believed in modern, practical architecture
German reactions to the golden age
Some embraced the changes
Others wanted culture to celebrate more traditional, older German values
They thought nightclubs, paintings and shows in Berlin were leading Germany into a moral decline
Nazis hated this period as they had more traditional values
How did hyperinflation affect the goverment?
Social problems - poverty, wages didn’t rise as quickly as prices, currency
Political unrest - Munich Putsch
When were the Naval laws?
1898-1912
When was the unification of Germany?
1871
