germany - chapter 3 Flashcards
what were left-wing beliefs
- workers should have power and rule the country as a collection of workers’ councils
- there should be equality, with no different classes and no huge differences in the wealth of people in a country
- change is welcome
- left wing views should be spread around the world
- anti right wing
example of a left wing party
communists
right wing beliefs
- strong leaders should rule over the people
- there are, and should be, major differences between people, classes and races
- own country should be strong and powerful, with a large empire
- anti left wing
example of a right wing party
nazis
who led the Kapp Putsch
Wolfgang Kapp
was the kapp putsch a left or right wing rebellion
right wing
how many men were involved in the kapp putsch and what group did they belong to
around 5000 men
were the free corps
what happened in the kapp putsch
- the free corps took over Berlin
- President Ebert and the rest of the government fled from Berlin
- Kapp didn’t have the support of the workers and they all went on strike, resulting in no gas, water, electricity or trains
- after only 100 hours as Germanys newest leader, Kapp gave in and fled abroad
- Ebert and his government returned to Berlin
what was wolfgang kapp’s aim with the kapp putsch
he aimed to eventually take over the whole country, make the army strong again, and then recover the lands germany had lost in the Treaty of Versailles
when was the kapp putsch
March 1920
what is the red rising
- as soon as wolfgang kapp fled abroad (after failure of kapp putsch), left wing workers in the industrial area of the Ruhr stayed on strike
- they rose up and took over several towns
- the government, now back in Berlin, send soldiers and some free corps units to deal with the rebellion
how many workers were killed in the red rising
over 1000
when was the red rising
right after the kapp putsch failed
- 1920
betweeen 1919 and 1922 how many political murders were there in germany
over 350
why did some groups use terror tactics against government
wanted to eliminate those who accepted the Treaty of Versailles
did the left or right wing carry out most of the political assassinations
right wing
when was Matthias Erzberger assassinated and why
- august 1921
- he was the man who signed the armistice in 1918 to end the war
- shot dead by a right wing group
which politicians had attacks on them
- Matthias Erzberger
- the foreign minister, Walter Rathenau
- Phillip Scheidemann (threw acid on him)
when did hitler first discover the german workers’ party
may 1919
what was the german workers party like when hitler first discovered it
- party had only started a few months before
- small political party
- its members met in a beer hall in munich and hitler attended regularly because he liked what was being said
- people make speeches about how the treaty of versailles made germany weak and defenceless and how the country would become a great nation once more
- this appealed to hitler, a wounded and defeated ex-soldier who hated the politicians that ended the war which germany had not lost on the battlefield
what did hitler do as soon as he joined the german workers party
- put advertisements in newspapers
- held public meetings all over munich
how was hitler able to run the german workers party so quickly
- he was a brilliant speaker who could fascinate his audience with powerful speeches
- in the early days of radio, and with no television, this was a very important skill
- he persuaded the party to buy a newspaper (the Munich Observer) to put forward their views
what changes did hitler make to the german workers party
- designed a new flag and symbol - the swastika - in order to attract attention
- set up a private army of thugs to up anyone who disagreed with him - called the stormtroopers (SA) and they wore a brown uniform with swastika armbands
-> they would guard hitlers meetings and disrupt the meetings of other political parties - changed the name to the Nationalist Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP), known as Nazi for short