Germany - 1918-1924 Flashcards
what were the four main terms of the treaty of versailles
Blame - article 231, germany took all the blame for the war
Reparations - article 233, germany must pay £6.6bn to france and britain
Army - article 159, germanys armed forces are secretly reduced
Territory - germany loses much of its territory like eupen malmedy, alsace lorraine, and overseas territory
how much was the army reduced by
100,000 troops
no conscription
no tanks
15,00 in the navy
6 battleships
no submarines
what happened in november 1922
germany fails to pay reparations
french invade the ruhr
what did the german government tell workers to do in response to the occupation of the ruhr
passive resistance
refuse to work or cooperate with foreign troops, government continued to pay wages
why was the occupation of the ruhr so bad for germany economy
ruhr was most productive industrial centre
production fell drastically after occupation
fewer goods were produced = less money = damaged economy
how did hyperinflation begin in germany
german government had promised to pay ruhr workers even when on strike
they had no money
printed out paper currency
there was no matching productive economic activity
value if deutsche mark fell
how much did a loaf of bread cost in january 1923 compared to november 1923
jan - 250 marks
nov - 200,000 million marks
how much did it cost to print a note in august 1923
more than the note was even worth
how many times did workers get paid in the height of hyperinflation
twice because prices rose so fast wages would be worthless by lunch
who benefitted from hyperinflation
borrowers (businessmen, landowners, mortgage havers) - able to pay back loans with worthless money
people on wages - renegotiated wages every day
farmers - products remained in demand, received more money for them as prices spiralled
who did not benefit from hyperinflation
people with fixed incomes (students, pensioners, the sick) - incomes didn’t keep up with prices
people with savings - money became worthless
what was the name of the german communist party
the KPD
how many members did the KPD have
400,000
who were the leaders of the KPD
rosa luxemburg
karl liebknecht
what was organised when the Berlin Police Chief was sacked in
jan 1919 - an uprising and general strike in berlin
this turned into protests
how many workers were involved in the berlin uprising
100,000
what did the spartacists take control of in berlin
governments newspapers
telegraph headquarters
how was the KPD uprising resolved
the army was helped by units of the friekorps
how many people died
100 workers
rosa luxemburg - shot, body dumped in a berlin river
karl liebknecht - murdered
how was the weimar constitution structured
president
chancellor
reichstag
voters
what was the role of the president
head of armed forces
elected every 7 years
appoints/dismisses chancellor
can call for new elections
what was the role of the chancellor
leader of party with most seats in reichstag
what was the role of the reichstag
MPs voted in by voters
uses proportional representation (22% of votes meant 22% of MPs in reichstag)
who were the voters
ALL adults over the age of 20
what were the strengths of the weimar constitution
genuine democracy
power of reichstag (made all the laws)
bill of rights - guaranteed every german freedom of speech and religion
what were the weakness of the weimar constitution
proportional representation - lots of small parties in governments, difficult to pass laws, led to weak and short lived governments
article 48 - president could pass laws wherever, power was overused, weakened germans confidence in democracy
why did the freikorps launch an uprising
they were going to be unemployed due to the treaty of versailles army clause
why did the military refuse to crush the uprising?
the freikorps were ex soldiers and they didn’t want to shoot them
when was the mall putsch
13-17 march 1920
who led the kapp putsch
dr wolfgang kapp, a right wing nationalist
how was the kapp putsch defeated
the government encouraged the workers to go on general strike and not cooperate
how many people were assassinated between 1919 and 1922
376 political nurses (mainly left wing killed)
how did the politcal parties make sure they were protected
creating their own armies and hiring armed guard to protect leaders
what date was the invasion of the ruhr
11th january 1923
why were the politcal assassins let free?
the judges in their trials preferred the kaisers government
who were two influential people who were killed during the political assassinations
walter rathenau - foreign minister
matthias erzberger - finance minister
what other rebellions were there during hyperinflation
september - black reichswehr rebelled
october - communists took over governments of saxons and thuringia
october - communists took over
november - munich putsch
what were the aims of the nazi party (x9)
increase old age pensions
conquer extra living space
strip all rights from jews
nationalise important industries
abolish treaty of versailles
build up army
have a strong leader in charge
destroy weimar republic
destroy communism
why did hitler lead a putsch in munich
to overthrow the national government in berlin
what had happened to food supplies in munich
no potatoes had been available for days
how many stormtroopers marched through munich
2000
when was the march
9th november
how was the munich putsch a failure (x6)
failed to take over government
16 nazis died
nazi party is banned
hitler is banned from public speaking until 1927
hitler is sentenced to 5 years
how was the munich putsch a success
hitler used trial as political rally, he became famous
hitler reorganised the party
hitler wrote mein kampf which became wildly popular
hitler changed tactic - he needed to win power legally
