Germany 1918-1923 Flashcards
What happened to the kaiser
The kaiser Wilhelm abdicated and moved to holland on the 9th of november 1918
Who did the Sailors refuse to fight and where were they stationed
They refused to fight the Royal Navy and wilhemshaven and Kiel
Who set up a new government and when
On the 9th of December freidrich ebert and also declared Germany a republic
What is an armistice and when was it signed
It was signed on the 11th of May 1918 and an armistice is a ceasefire
Left wing ?
Someone who wants complete changes in the government
Right wing
Wants their country to stay the same
Spartacists
Led by rosa Luxembourg And Karl liebknect
Believed Germany should be ran by Russian style workers council not the reichstag
The free corps
Ex soldiers recently returned from war who hated communists and assisted ebert
Berlin uprising
March 1919
Communists organised riots in an attempt to seize power
Over 1000 killed by the free corps
Elections for parliament
Jan 1919
Weakness of the constitution
Severe economic problems caused by War debt Reparations Decline in foreign trade Politicians were inexperienced
Treaty of Versailles
Signed in the palace of Versailles 28th of June 1919
- Germany had to accept full responsibility for the war
- conscription banned
- army limited to 100,000
- Germany had to pay 6,600million in reparations
- Germany wasn’t allowed to join the League of Nations until it had shown It could be a peace loving country
- Poland was given west Prussia and Posen and France was given back Alsace Lorraine
- the anschluss (which mean union) between Austria and Germany was annulled
Why was the treaty so harsh ?
So that Germany was too weak to start another war, it also kept the French border safe from Germany
The treaty was called what?
The diktat (dictated piece)
The politicians were nicknamed what
The November criminals for signing the armistice/ ceasefire in November
The kapp putsch
March 1920
- Lead by Wolfgang kapp, the aim was to make the army bigger, the supporters were the ex soldiers and the opponents were the government and the free corps as the free corps were fighting againist their own army
The red rising
March 1920
Communist uprising in the Ruhr Germany’s industrial heartland
Aim- to gain social and economic equality
- the free corps crushed the revolt
Political assassinations
Foreign minister Walter rathenaunmurdered jun 1922
Political murders
356 murders took place
The economic crisis
Why did France invade and where
- what did the German government tell the workers to do
France invaded the Ruhr (Germany’s industrial heartland) because Germany stopped paying reparations.
The Germany government told them to engage in passive resistance
Germany’s economy after the Ruhr invasion
- strategy to this
The impact was that the Ruhr wasn’t producing anything (reduced the country’s income), the Ruhr workers still had to be paid even though they weren’t working
- the Germany government then printed lots and lots of money and the country entered hyper inflation
Hyperinflation negatives
People’s life savings ment nothing
Hyperinflation positives
People with loans benefited as they could pay them of easily
Hyperinflation
how was it solved?
And who solved it
The crisis was ended by gustav streseman
-By an send to passive resistance
-promise to resume paying reparations
- nov 1923
- new currency introduced the rentenmark,
From the reichbank
