germany- Germany and the growth of democracy Flashcards
who ruled Germany in 1888
29 year old Wilhelm
who was kaiser wilhelm
the grandson of the British queen victoria
what did kaiser Wilhelm II want?
to make germanys empire as powerful as britains
what of kaiser wilhelms ii desires came true by 1913
Germany were producing more iron and steel and as much coal as britain
who were the most powerful in Germany during kaiser wilhelms reign
the landowners, business and factory owners who became very rich due to the new German industry as well as noble army officers. these people had as much influence as the kaiser
why were workers upset in in 1913
because the workers in the new factories, mines and workshops were not being payed much, working conditions were poor as well as food was becoming very expensive
why did more and more working class join the trade unions
because they organised strikes in hope that this might force the kaiser, his advisors, politicians and the reichstag to try and improve their working conditions
spd
social democratic party
who began voting for the spd
workers
what did the Spd believe in
socialism- the idea that power and wealth should be shared equally among the people
what did the Spd hope
that the kaiser might share some of his power and allow the reichstag to make more social reforms or laws to improve workers rights and conditions.
how many germans were voting for the Spd in 1913
1 in 3
weltpolitik
world policy
what did the kaiser decide for Germany in terms of weltpolitik
that Germany should have a big empire like Britain and France did. he wanted to transform Germany into a global power with control over countries in different parts of the world
what did Germany big to do in the late 1800s
take over nations- most notably africa
when were the navel laws introduced
between 1898 and 1912
what did the naval laws achieve
they saw the German navy rapidly increase in size
why were Germany in debt around 1898 to 1912
because taxes were raised and money was borrowed to increase the size of the German navy and army
when did ww1 begin
august 1914
why did people soon start to suffer in Germany during ww1
because the British used large navy ships to stop supply ships getting to Germany. as a result there was terrible shortages of food, medicines and clothing
why was Germany close to attack in 1918
because the German public were surviving on bread and turnips as well as a deadly flu epidemic was killing thousands
what did general Ludendorff advise
that the kaiser should make Germany more democratic as the allies may treat them more fairly if he shared out some of his power
what happened on the 28th October 1918
the German navy was ordered to attack the British ships. the sailors refused and went on strike
when was the sailors strike
28th October 1918
what did the sailors strike do
news of the sailors mutiny began to spread and in more ports other sailors began to go on strike
what happened to the sailors who went on strike
soldiers were sent to deal with the protests ended up joining the sailors and the workers
what did the kaiser do after the chaos the country was in after the sailors strike
on the 9th of November 1918 he abdicated and secretly left germany
what happened on the 9th of November 1918
the kaiser abdicated and left germany
who took over Germany for a temporary basis at the end of the war
Friedrich Ebert, the leader of the SPD which was germanys biggest political party at the time
what happened on the 11th November 1918
germany surrendered and the war was over
impact of war on Germany by 1918- Germany was virtually bankrupt
- germany had borrowed money from people and needed to pay it back
- germany had leant money to the allies: would they ever get this back?
- the war left over 600,000 war widows and 2 million children with no father, war pensions would cost a fortune
- German factories were exhausted and had been providing military equipment not goods to sell abroad to make money
impact of war on Germany- the war divided German society even further
- factories made a fortune whilst workers were on a wage restriction and were very very poor
- women had been working in factories and some people thought that this damaged family values