Germany, 1890-1945: Democracy And Dictatorship Flashcards
What was the Bundesrat?
The main law making body in the Kaiser’s Germany (it could only consult with the Kaiser)
It has 58 members from German states, decided by the size of the state.
Because 14 votes were needed to reject a measure, Prussia could control the Bundesrat.
What was the Reichstag?
German parliament elected by men over 25. 382 members, over half of whom were Prussian.
Its consent was needed to pass legislation from the Bundesrat, and it voted on the federal budget, but the Bundesrat and the Kaiser could dissolve it.
When was Kaiser Wilhelm Born?? What was wrong with him?
1859
He was weak and had had a paralysed arm. There was a British physician at the birth, which was a bad start. His mother also put him through horrible treatments in an attempt to fix his arm.
When was Kaiser W married?
How many kids did he have??
1881
7
When did Kaiser W become chancellor?
When did he abdicate??
1888
1918 ( it was announced before he had consented).
What was ‘a place in the sun’
Kaiser Wilhelm’s obsession with having an overseas empire to match Britain and France.
What voting system was used in the Weimar Reichstag.
Proportional Representation ( where the %of votes you got determined your seat)
This meant that there were as many as twenty parties , which meant no majority and things were slow and difficult
Why might people not have liked the Weimar?
Generally, older or higher class people didn't like this new government because they missed the Kaiser. The new government was also linked to the defeat.
Who could vote in the Weimar?
Everyone, even women over twenty.
Who were the left wing parties in the Weimar??
Communist party (KPD)
Social Democratic Party (SPD)
German Democratic Party
Who were the right wing parties in the Weimar??
People’s Party (DVP)
National People’s Party (DNVP)
National Socialist Democratic Party
(NDSAP or Nazi)
Who was the central party in Weimar?
Zentrum
Who was the first president of Weimar Germany?
Friedrich Ebert
When was the Spartacist uprising??
January 1919. They had hoped to piggyback off the workers’ riots to gain support.
Why did Rosa Luxembourg and Karl Liebknecht start the spartacist uprising?
They didn’t trust the Weimar Government. They hated the Parliament and wanted Germany to be run by small councils of soldiers and workers. They hoped to achieve it by staging a full scale communist revolution.
Explain the clusterfuckery that was the Spartacist uprising
1919
Thousands of communists swarmed the streets of Berlin, taking over the governments news and telegraph HQs.
They thought the workers and other left wing groups would join them. They did not. The freikorps and army were called in and both rosa and Karl were murdered.
What was the Red Rising in the Ruhr?
1920
A communist red army, led by members of the KPD who were angry about bad pay/working conditions.
They totalled at about 50000 and occupied the Ruhr to take control of it’s raw materials. The Freikorps crushed them, killing around a thousand.
What was the Kapp Putsch?
1920
The Weimar Government were content that the Freikorps had crushed all of the left wing uprisings and that they were no longer needed, so they made them redundant. The Freikorps marched on Berlin and attempted to instate Wolfgang Kapp as the new leader of Germany. They drove the government out of Berlin and would have succeeded if the workers hadn’t gone on strike.
What was the Munich Putsch.
The Nazi party, led by Hitler and Ludendorff, and with the SA, thought that democracy was too weak and that there should only be one party, with a strong leader (Ludendorff). Hitler and 600 SA burst into a meeting where the leader of Bavaria, Kahr was speaking. They forced him to support them, but let him leave after which he renounced his support. Hilter served 9 months of a five year sentence.
What made 1923 a turning point?
Invasion of the Ruhr – Hyperinflation, the Munich Putsch,
Industry trouble.
Why were there Industry troubles in 1923
No disposable income
Explain Hyperinflation
The Weimar government had to tell the Ruhr workers to strike after the invasion, after which it had to pay their wages and it's reparations, so it simply started printing money. Unfortunately shop owners realised people had more income and raised the price of goods, so they printed more money, so they raised prices, and then money was worthless and nobody could afford anything. The middle class who had savings were now worth nothing and so everyone was plunged into poverty.
How did Stresemann deal with Hyperinflation
He invented an entirely new currency which he named the Rentenmark, one of which was worth 1000 billion marks. He burnt the marks, and in twenty five years he replaced it with the Reichsmark, which was stable for 25 years.
How did Stresemann deal with the Ruhr invasion.
He organised financial aid from the United States through the Dawes plan (800 million gold marks), and then negotiated reparations down from 6.6 billion down to 1.8 billion, and they got longer to pay it, in the Young plan of 1929.
