Germany and growth of democracy - topic 2

Question 1

When was germany unifyied to become one country?

Answer 1

1871

Question 2

Before germanys unificatrion what was the biggest state?

Answer 2

Prussia

Question 3

what was the bundesrat?

Answer 3

a group of state representatives that consult with the kaiser over new laws.

Question 4

what was the name of the kaisers cheif minister?

Answer 4

chancellor

Question 5

when the reichstag was created who could vote?

Answer 5

men over 25

Question 6

why was the reichstag kind of useless under the kaiser?

Answer 6

as the kaiser could overrule any decision the reichstag made - so it was basically a dictatorship

Question 7

when did kaiser wilhelm 2 become kaiser?

Answer 7

1888

Question 8

what were kaiser willhelm 2nds relation to some of the other monarchs in europe?

Answer 8

he was the grandson of Queen Victoria, the cousin of George the 5th and the third cousin of the russian tsar nicholas 2

Question 9

what was Kaiser Wilhelm ii’s dreams for germany?

Answer 9

He dreamt of making germany as powerful as Bristain, and to indstrialise germany.

Question 10

what did people describe kaiser wilhelm as?

Answer 10

energetic, outgoing, charming and kind yet also volitile and rude.

Question 11

what were some weaknesses of the early germany political system.?

Answer 11

-the chancellor had to stay in the kaisers good books or he would be dismissed.
-they stuggled to raise enough tax to cover spending abroad.
-prussian influence was dominant
-industrialisation led to poor working and living conditions which the kaiser and chancellor ignorred.

Question 12

how many states were there before germnay united?

Answer 12

25 states

Question 13

who were the junkers?

Answer 13

They were wealthy conservative landowners from Prussia, in North-Eastern Germany who controlled the Prussian Army, which had enormous influence over German foreign and domestic affairs.

Question 14

why did the SPD grow rapidly from around 1910 to 1912?

Answer 14

As workers made up a large majority of the eligeble voters in germany, they all started to vote for a party that wold increase their pay and working conditions.

Question 15

what was Weltpolitik?

Answer 15

It was a policy designed to turn Germany into a world power by building an overseas empire, growing its world trade and increasing its naval power

Question 16

Why did the kaiser want to build the german navy?

Answer 16

• to help Germany take over more countries
  -to help Germany protect the countries already in the german empire.

Question 17

what was a major drawback of germany increasing its naval power?

Answer 17

it forced germany into debt for a very long time

Question 18

what was the main impacts of the naval blockade on german citizens?

Answer 18

severve food shortages, medicine and clothes shortages, by 1918 420,000 people had dies of starvation.

Question 19

during the war what two groups protested against the war?

Answer 19

in 1915 women gathered to protest that they wanted their men backa dn a year later 10,000 workers protested agasint the war and goverment.

Question 20

what was life like for german citicens in 1918?

Answer 20

very bad, they were close to defeat/collapse. german people were so short of food that they were surviving off of turnips and bread and a deadly fl was sweeping through the county.

Question 21

what happened in the economy during the war?

Answer 21

-Germany had borrowed alot of money from the usa for the war which would have to be payed back.
-Germany had lent money to allies which they might not get back
-the war left many widows and orphans who wold require war pensions from goverment.
-german factories were exhausted from the constant product during the war.

Question 22

who were the november criminals and why where they so hated?

Answer 22

they were the German politicians who negotiated and signed the armistice that ended World War I in 1918. They were hated as many still beleived germany could have won the war and that they were betrayed by their politicians.

Question 23

how did the soldiers help end the war?

Answer 23

-In October 1918. the german navy were ordered to attack british ships in northern gwermany but they refused as they no longer wanted war.
-this encoraged others and many mutinees started.
-soldiers were sent to deal with them but they also refused.
-in just six days, workers and soldiers councils were governing twons all over germany.

Question 24

what happened on 9th novermber 1918?

Answer 24

the kaiser had lost control and his generalls refused to support him so he abdicated and ssecretly left germany, never to return.

Question 25

what was ludendorfs advice to the kaiser in october 1918?

Answer 25

luddendorff advised the kaiser to give up some of his control as the war was already lost and he felt the opposition might be kinder on gemany if they were more democratic.

Question 26

what was freidrick ebert made in 1918?

Answer 26

Ebert was the elected leader of the social democratic party who temporarily became the leader of germany after the war.

Question 27

what was some of Ebert’s first actions as leader of germany?

Answer 27

To sign the armistice and end the war, to improve working conditions, help the unemployed and food supplies. he guarenteed freedom of speech, freedom of religion and aranged elections for a new german goverment.

Question 28

after the war what did Ebert anounce that germany was?

Answer 28

a democratic republic

Question 29

what was the spartacist league?

Answer 29

one of the main political groups in germany after the war, they beleived in commnism and wanted germany to be run by smaller councils of workers and soldiers not by a goverment.

Question 30

on what date did the spartacist attempt to take over berlin?

Answer 30

6th january 1919

Question 31

what was Eberts responce to the spartacist uprisings?

Answer 31

he responded violently, as he sent a group of 2000 ex-soldiers (known as thge free corps) to attack the spartacists. After 3 days of brutal street fighting, the free corps captured the leader and brutally beat and murderd them.

Question 32

what was the impact of the spartacist uprisings?

Answer 32

-the communists called it ‘the great betrayal’ and broke the SPD’s relationship with the other left wing party which never recovered.
-the left wing was now split, allowing right wing party to get in easier in the future
-showed eberts goverment was weak as he had to be propped up[ by his enemies

Question 33

what happened in january 1919?

Answer 33

-Ebert held an election which he won and officialy became german prime minister.
-the vote didnt give Ebert a majority and the first goverment was a weak 3 way coalition between the SPD, the center party and DVP.

Question 34

when did the newly elected politicans decide to meet up and form the weimar goverment?

Answer 34

11th february 1919.

Question 35

what part of the weimar constitution showed that germany was one of the most progressive countries in the world?

Answer 35

that all women over 20 were allowed to vote.

Question 36

what were some of the main weaknesses of the weimar goverment

Answer 36

• they voted using proportional representation whcih made it hard for one party to get a majority, resulting in a weaker goverment
• many groups hated the new governing system and longed for the good old days of the kaiser.

Question 37

in the weimar constitution what was article 48?

Answer 37

a law that allowed the president, in a crisis, to rule on his own without needing the support of the reichstag by issuing special emergyncy decrees.

Question 38

when did Ebert rule germany as president?

Answer 38

from 1919 to 1925

Question 39

what were the main political partys in germany in 1919

Answer 39

(from far left to far right)
Commmunists, SPD, DDP, Zentrum(catholic), DVP, DVNP, NSDAP(nazis)

Question 40

when did the paris peace confrence start?

Answer 40

January 1919

Question 41

when was the signing of the treaty of versailles?

Answer 41

28th of June

Question 42

what were the 4 parts of the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 42

L-and
A-army
M-money
B-blame

Question 43

why was the treaty of versailles hated so much?

Answer 43

1)Germans felt it was way too harsh- it took away way too much land, left them defenceless, and they had to pay lots of taxes ,subsequent to it.
2)they didnt like how it had been forced on them, they called it ‘Diktat’ - a dictated peace
3)many felt they could have carried on fighting and that they had been betrayed by their politicians. Hindenburng even said german army had been ‘backstabbed’.

Question 44

what was the Ruhr?

Answer 44

An area of germany with most coal, iron and industry (80 percent of germany’s heavy industry)

Question 45

what is state welfare?

Answer 45

goverment support for the poor, injured or old.

Question 46

why was the germany economy struggling after ww1?

Answer 46

-war loans.
-inflation
-goverment debt
-high welfare payents(war pensions)

Question 47

what happened when germany admitted that they could pay the TOV tax in 1922?

Answer 47

In January 1923 60,000 french and belgian soldiers marched into the ruhr and took control of ever factory, mine and railway. they took lots of goods and many workers went on strike , which heavily affected the german economy and resulted in the hyperinflation.

Question 48

how did the oppucation of the Ruhr lead to hyper inflation?

Answer 48

many workers went on strike and refused to work fro the french, as a result the german goverment payed the workers even when on strike. However, this ,coupled with the stop in production, lead to hyper inflation.

Question 49

what was the impact of hyperinflation?

Answer 49

-1923 was worst year since war and people blamed goverment.
-people with savings lost it all and elderly on fixed pensions fell into poverty.
-Small bussinesses collapsed
-only winners were those in debt

Question 50

when was the kapp putch?

Answer 50

march 1920

Question 51

why did kapp putch fail?

Answer 51

They took berlin and goverment fled but workers refued to work and the country wenty to a standstill. After only 100 hours as leader, Kapp fled abroad and Ebert returned.

Question 52

what wing was the Kapp putch?

Answer 52

right wing

Question 53

what wing was the red rising in the Ruhr

Answer 53

left wing

Question 54

what happened during the red risings in the Ruhr?

Answer 54

when Kapp fled, workers stayed on strike and took over some towns in the Ruhr. Goverment sent freecorps to deal with them and 1000 workers were killed. fails as left wing were not united

Question 55

what happened between 1919 and 1922 that led to even more political unrest?

Answer 55

there were over 350 political murders, mostly carried out by right wing extremists.

Question 56

when was the munich putch?

Answer 56

8-9th november 1923

Question 57

what did hitler do to start the munich putch?

Answer 57

hitler enetered a local goverment meeting in a beer hall with 600 SA stormtroopers.

Question 58

who was gustav kahr?

Answer 58

the Bavarian goverment head and was a speaker in the beer hall during Munich hutch.

Question 59

why did the munich putch fail?

Answer 59

Kahr backed out of his deal with hitler and alerted the police and the army. When Hitler tried to march through Munich, he was greeted with armed troops.

Question 60

what happened during Hitlers trail after the munich putch?

Answer 60

the trial lasted 24 days and was the largest audience hitler had ever had. he used every oppotunity to impress the jusges with his political views and ended up getting only 5 years( but he got out after only 9 months!)

Question 61

who was Stresemann?

Answer 61

-He is a member of the reichstag (since 1907) member of SPD.
-Became chancellor in auguest 1923, however was only chancellor for a few months.
-his biggest acheivements came as forein minister from 1924 to his death in 1929.

Question 62

what was stresemann’s cure to hyperinflation?

Answer 62

he stopped printing the old paper money and replaced it with a temporary, new currency called the Renten mark. in 1924 the RENten Mark was replaced by the reichsmark, a stabel currency that lasted the next 25 years.

Question 63

what was the plan stresemann agreed to cure the french and belgian occupation of the Ruhr?

Answer 63

He met with the american vie president (charles dawes ) and arranged for the USA to lend 800 million gold marks so that gemrany could pay reperation off again. this was called the ‘dawes plan’

Question 64

how did stresemann fix germany’s image abroad?

Answer 64

In 1925, germany joined the league of nations which they became an important part of in the future.

Question 65

who was the german forein minister between 1923 and 1929?

Answer 65

stresemann

Question 66

what economic plan cut the reperation bill by two-thirds?

Answer 66

young plan