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History GCSE AQA > Germany 1890-1945: Germany and the Growth of Democracy > Flashcards

Germany 1890-1945: Germany and the Growth of Democracy Flashcards

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1
Q

Who was the Kaiser of Germany in 1890?

A

Kaiser Wilhelm II

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2
Q

Describe the power of the Kaiser

A
  • inherits his position and rules as a king
  • has personal control of the army and foreign policy
  • appoints and dismisses the chancellor
  • can dissolve the Reichstag, Bundesrat and the Chancellor at any time
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3
Q

Describe the Bundesrat

A
  • Members are representatives from each state in the German Empire
  • Its consent is needed for all legislation, but it can be overruled by the Kaiser
  • more powerful than the Reichstag
  • only accountable to the Kaiser
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4
Q

Describe the Reichstag

A
  • members elected by the public every three years
  • Members pass or reject legislation handed down by the Bundesrat
  • couldn’t put forward their own legislation
  • had no say in who became Chancellor or who served in the government
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5
Q

Describe the role of the Chancellor

A
  • runs the government and proposes new legislation
  • doesn’t need the support of the Reichstag or the Bundesrat
  • had more influence than the Bundesrat and the Reichstag
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6
Q

Why was Kaiser Wilhelm II not well suited to being a leader?

A
  • wanted to control all German affairs himself
  • he was prone to violent rages
  • liked practical jokes
  • not interested in being informed on topics he made decisions on
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7
Q

Why was industrialisation and an economic growth of the working class a threat to the Kaiser?

A
  • Working conditions for the working class were poor
  • Their growing sense of identity caused them to want better representation
  • This contributed to a rise in socialism, which completely went against the Kaiser’s belief in maintaining the traditional class system
  • The Kaiser was afraid that the working class wanted a revolution to overthrow the monarchy and destroy the German class system
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8
Q

What was the Kaiser’s approach to the growing economy?

A

Parliamentary democracy

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9
Q

How did the power of the Social Democratic Party and the socialist movement grow?

A
  • growing population in cities and towns created new social problems
  • The working class continued to want better working and living conditions, and new and growing industries needed more regulations
  • The government were initially afraid of encouraging socialist behaviour and therefore didn’t pass reforms, causing the popularity of groups promising change to skyrocket
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10
Q

How many seats did the SPD have in the Reichstag by 1903?

A

81

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11
Q

How did the Kaiser view the SPD and why?

A
  • as a threat
  • Their views were conflicting as the SPD wanted to improve conditions for the working class
  • They disagreed with the privileges held by the elites such as the monarchy and the military
  • therefore, the Kaiser was afraid of a socialist revolution and didn’t want to give more power to the German public
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12
Q

How did the Kaiser try to divert attention from socialism?

A
  • introduced the Worker’s Safety Act which improved safety in the workplace
  • adopted the foreign policy of ‘Weltpolitik’ which focused on expanding Germany’s territory and boosting the size of its army
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13
Q

What did the Kaiser hope for through his introduction of Weltpolitik?

A

Hoped this would distract people from socialism and increase support for the monarchy and the military. It would also help make Germany a world power

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14
Q

What were the Navy laws?

A
  • Introduced in 1898
  • initial aim was to build up Germany’s army to rival that of Britain’s
  • increased Germany’s fleet to 19 battleships
  • 1900: The Reichstag passed another Navy Law, which put into motion a 17-year navy expansion programme
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15
Q

Give some examples of revolts and riots during the first world war

A
  • Nov. 1918: Some members of the German navy rebelled and refused to board their ships
  • Hanover: German troops refused to control rioters
  • A Jewish communist called Kurt Eisner encouraged a general uprising, sparking mass strikes in Munich
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16
Q

How did the first world war affect the lives of women and children living at home?

A
  • Women now began working at factories
  • Many women and children left war widows and orphans
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17
Q

Why did Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicate the throne?

A
  • he lost the support of the public and the military
  • the SPD as growing and many wanted Germany to become a republic
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18
Q

Why were many soldiers and Germans angry when Germany surrendered in 1918?

A
  • They didn’t believe that Germany had lost the war due to propaganda
  • a stab in the back myth
  • the idea of betrayal of November Criminals
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19
Q

What was the name of the government that took over after the Kaiser’s abdication?

A

Weimar

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20
Q

Why wasn’t the Weimar republic trusted by the Germans?

A

They were seen as the November Criminals for signing the armistice and the ToV, which included terms such as reparations

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21
Q

What were the three parts of the Weimar government

A
  • the President
  • The Reichstag
  • the Reichsrat
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22
Q

Describe the position of the President in the Weimar government

A
  • elected every 7 years by the German people
  • Chooses the Chancellor and is the head of the army
  • Can dissolve the Reichstag, call new elections, and suspend the constitution
  • although they held more power than the Chancellor, the Chancellor was in charge of running the day to day government
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23
Q

Describe the Reichstag in the Weimar Republic

A
  • new German parliament
  • members elected every 4 years using proportional representation
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23
Q

Define proportional representation

A

Where the proportion of seats a party wins in parliament is roughly the same proportion of the total votes they win

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23
Q

Describe the Reichsrat in the Weimar republic

A
  • second (less powerful) house of parliament
  • consists of members from each local region
  • can delay measures passed by the Reichstag
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23
Q

What new changes were made to the Weimar Republic in an attempt to make it more fair?

A
  • Women could vote
  • Any party that got above 0.4% of the vote would get a seat in the Reichstag
  • lowered the voting age to 20
  • this gave more power to the German public
24
Q

What were the weaknesses of the Weimar Republic?

A
  • Proportional representation meant that parties with a very small number of votes were guaranteed to get into the Reichstag, which made it difficult to make decisions as there were too many opinions
  • When a decision couldn’t be reached, a president could suspend the constitution and pass laws without the Reichstag’s consent
  • this power was only meant to be used in an emergency but it became a useful way of getting around disagreements
  • this undermined the power of the new democracy
24
Q

State the terms of the Treaty of Versailles

A
  • War Guilt
  • Reduction of their Military powers
  • Losing territory
  • Heavy reparations
25
Q

How did the War guilt clause of the Treaty of Versailles make German people feel?

A

Germans felt this was unfair and humiliated because they had to accept total blame

26
Q

How did the Military clause of the Treaty of Versailles make German people feel?

A

Vulnerable to attack as they weren’t well defended now

27
Q

How did the Territorial clause of the Treaty of Versailles make German people feel?

A

Opposed this loss, especially those living in the colonies which became part of a new nation

28
Q

How did the Reparations clause of the Treaty of Versailles make German people feel?

A

Unfair as this would cause lasting damage to the German economy

29
Q

How did the Treaty of Versailles affect the image of the Weimar Republic?

A

It harmed the Republic’s popularity and created political and economic unrest of years to come

30
Q

What did Germany fail to pay in 1922?

A

Reparations

31
Q

What did France and Belgium do to get the value of the reparations payment?

A

Invade the Ruhr to take the value of Reparations in industrial produce

32
Q

What was Germany’s response to the invasion of the Ruhr?

A

Their government ordered their workers to go on strike in the Ruhr but they continued to get paid

33
Q

How did the French and Belgium invasion of the Ruhr lead to Hyperinflation?

A
  • The German government printed lots of money to pay striking workers and to pay the money they owed to France and Belgium
  • As workers spent more money in shops, shopkeepers began to increase their prices
  • Gov. printed out even more money so shops raised their prices again
  • this cycle continued, leading to a hyperinflation crisis
34
Q

What was the impact of hyperinflation on the German people?

A
  • people with savings lost all of their savings worth
  • elderly people on pensions found their income wouldn’t be able to sustain them anymore
  • many small businesses collapsed as normal trade became impossible due to constant price changes
  • those who borrowed money could easily pay off their debts
35
Q

What was the impact of Hyperinflation on the Weimar government?

A
  • People lost faith in the Weimar gov.
  • the economic situation in Germany was essentially unmanageable as their currency had no value
36
Q

What happened in the Spartacist Uprising?

A
  • In January 1919, communists led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg tried to take over Berlin
  • They took control of important buildings like newspaper headquarters and 50,000 workers went on strike in support of the left-wing revolution
37
Q

What was the outcome of the Spartacist Uprising?

A
  • Rebellion crushed by the ‘Freikorps’
  • Liebknecht and Luxemburg were killed
38
Q

What was the impact of the Spartacist Uprising on the Weimar government?

A

Shows the Weimar that the left-wing threat has support and the communists don’t support them. Communists are angry that the SPD government has used right-wing soldiers to crush the threat. Shows that the government relies on the right wing soldiers

39
Q

What were the key events of the Kapp Putsch?

A
  • In March 1920, some of the Freikorps themselves took part in the Kapp Putsch led by Wolfgang Kapp
  • Freikorps marched into Berlin to overthrow the Weimar regime
40
Q

Why did Kapp organise a strike?

A

He wanted a more dictatorial government

41
Q

What was the outcome of the Kapp Putsch?

A
  • German workers opposed and went on strike
  • Kapp flees abroad
  • Rebellion only lasts 100 hours
42
Q

What was the impact of the Kapp Putsch on the Weimar Government?

A
  • shows the lack of control over the country
  • as even their own army doesn’t listen to them
  • however, it shows support from the workers
43
Q

What evidence was there of growing Nazi power in the 1920s?

A
  • 25 point plan was a coherent manifesto
  • Hitler published Mein Kompf and gained exposure
  • started gaining limited seats in the government
44
Q

What was the ‘Twenty-Five point Programme’?

A

A programme that stressed German superiority and promoted anti-Semitism (prejudice against Jews)

45
Q

What made up the Nazi identity?

A
  • They rejected the ToV
  • Wanted to raise pensions, and improve health and education
  • promoted German greatness and gave the party a nationwide appeal
  • Hitler formed his on military: the SA (‘storm troopers’)
46
Q

What was the role of the SA?

A
  • intimidated political opposition
  • carried out violent Anti-Semitic attacks and intimidated rival political groups
47
Q

What happened during the Munich Putsch?

A
  • On Nov. 8th, 1923: Hitler interrupted a beer hall meeting in Munich where Gustav von Kahr, head of the Bavarian government was speaking
  • He fired his gun and announced that the revolution had begun and got their support
  • The next day, Hitler marched into Munich supported by the SA
  • But the news of the revolt had been leaked to the police, who were waiting for Hitler
  • The police fired on the rebels and the revolt quickly collapsed
48
Q

What was Stresemann’s role in solving the hyperinflation crisis?

A
  • In September 1923, he ended the strike in the Ruhr, which reduced tensions between Belgium, France, and Germany
  • This also meant that the government needn’t make any more compensation payments to the workers
  • In November 1923, Stresemann replaced the German mark with the Retenmark to stabilise German currency
49
Q

What was the ‘great coalition’?

A

A group of moderate, pro-democracy socialist parties in the Reichstag who agreed to work together, allowing the government to make decisions more quickly

50
Q

What was Stresemann’s goal as the foreign secretary?

A

To improve international relations with other countries

51
Q

Describe the Dawes Plan

A
  • signed in 1924
  • Stresemann secured France and Belgium’s withdrawal from the Ruhr and agreed on more realistic payment dates for the reparations
  • the USA lent Germany £40 million to help pay off its debts
52
Q

Describe the Young Plan

A
  • agreed in 1929
  • Allies agreed to reduce the reparations to a quarter of the original amount
  • Germany was given 59 years to pay them
53
Q

What other decisions did Germany make to improve international relations?

A
  • signed the Locarno pact
  • joined the LoN
  • signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact
54
Q

How did the Great Depression affect Germany’s economic recovery?

A

The plans that Stresemann had put in place would only work if USA kept lending them money, but due to the Depression, the US were asking for their loans to be paid back

55
Q

How did conditions improve for the unemployed during the ‘golden years’?

A
  • became more protected
  • in 1927, gov. introduced unemployment insurance
  • Workers could pay into the scheme and would receive cash benefits if they became unemployed
56
Q

How did conditions improve for the wages of workers during the ‘golden years’?

A
  • Working class became more prosperous
  • Wages for industrial workers increased quickly in the late 1920s
57
Q

How did conditions improve for the housing during the ‘golden years’?

A
  • the government launched large-scale housing projects
  • More than 2 million homes were built between 1924 and 1931
  • also provided extra employment
58
Q

What problems did the Weimar continue to face during the ‘golden years’?

A
  • fragile German economy
  • middle class couldn’t access welfare benefits
59
Q

How did the Weimar republic change the lives of women?

A
  • given more freedom
  • politically given more representation
  • awarded the vote and could enter politics more easily
  • The number of working women increased
  • New female sports clubs and societies were started, giving women more opportunities
  • divorce became easier, so the number of divorces increased
60
Q

What were the cultural impacts of the Weimar Government?

A
  • Freedom of expression generated new ideas
  • Bauhaus School of Design became highly influential
  • important changes in literature, drama, music, and cinema, with many works gaining representation
  • Cabaret culture developed in Berlin
  • New ways of thinking were encouraged in places like Frankfurt University

History GCSE AQA (12 decks)

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