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A level Germany > Germany topic 1 > Flashcards

Germany topic 1 Flashcards

1
Q

What was the Treaty of Versailles?

A

The Treaty of Versailles was the treaty that officially ended the war between Germany and the Allies.

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2
Q

When was the Treaty signed?

A

28th June 1918.

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3
Q

What were the main terms of the treaty?

A
  • Germany lost land in Europe including: Upper Silesia, Alsace and Lorraine and also all of its colonies.
  • the Rhineland became a demilitarised buffer zone for France.
  • the German army was limited to 100,000 troops, and it was not allowed tanks or heavy artillery.
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4
Q

What were the other terms of the Treaty?

A

Germany was forced to accept responsibility for damage caused for the Allies and had to pay reparations. And it was fixed at 132,000 million gold marks

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5
Q

What happened in October 1918?

A

On 3rd October 1918, Prince Max asked the Allies for an Armistice.

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6
Q

How was the Weimar Republic formed?

A

The end result of political turmoil in Germany during the years 1918 and 1919 was the creation of the Weimar Republic

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7
Q

Would Germany have a communist revolution?

A

On 28th October 1918 on the Government’s official Inauguration Day, the Navy failed to sail against the British fleet. This set off mutinies and strikes. Some saw the reforms as a cynical fake.

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8
Q

What did the Spartacists want?

A

The Spartacists wanted a revolution like that in Russia, workers and soldiers councils were set up. Some shared the communist ideals of Russian Soviets. Others were less radical but still wanted change.

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9
Q

Who were the spartacists?

A

A communist group led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxembug that wanted a workers revolution in Germ ay.

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10
Q

What was prince Max told to do?

A

Prince Max was urged to press the Kaiser to abdicate but the Kaiser refused.

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11
Q

What happened in November?

A

On 8th November 1918, Bavaria broke from Germany declaring itself a republic

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12
Q

What happened after Bavaria delcared it self a republic?

A

The Kaiser could not ignore his empire breaking up, he abdicated and fled to Holland.
- price Max’s government had to resign and it lasted less than a month.

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13
Q

What was the council of the peoples representatives?

A

On 10th November 1918 a new government was set up- the council of the peoples representatives- led by the socialist groups that held power in the Reichstag.

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14
Q

Which parties had power in the Reichstag?

A

-The most significant were the social democrats(SPD) led by Friedrich Ebert,
- and the independent social democrats(USPD)
Led by Hugo Hasse.

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15
Q

Who was the chancellor?

A

Friedrich Ebert became the chancellor with a cabinet of SPD and USPD members.

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16
Q

What problems did the new Government face?

A

The new Government faces all the problems of the previous of the previous one, worsened by a month of disruption and unrest.

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17
Q

What did these problems lead Ebert to do?

A

These problems forced Ebert to make the Ebert-Groener pact with the army.

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18
Q

What did the Ebert-Groener pact offer?

A

The army would support the Government as long as the Government opposed the more left wing ideas of parties in the Reichstag.

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19
Q

What was the government’s first steps to solve the problems?

A

The first move was to stop the War and on 11th November, Matthias Erzberger of the German delegation signed the armistice on behalf of the government.

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20
Q

What happened after the armistice was signed?

A
  • Germany was wa told they could not take part in treaty negotiations.
  • in the shadow of humiliation, parties began to form and reform, trying to to gain enough votes to have a voice in the Reichstag.
  • the government also made some reforms in the hope of improving the unsettled political and economic situation.
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21
Q

What was to be done in January 1919?

A

On 19 December, the Government fixed elections for 19th January 1919.

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22
Q

What did the tensions between the SPD and the USPD cause?

A

The rift between the SPD and the USPD over how radical their policies should be became so great it’s council members resigned. And USPD members joined the KPD.

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23
Q

Who were the KPD?

A

The KPD were a German Communist party that was newly set up in December 1918.

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24
Q

What were Germans afraid of and what did it cause?

A

Many German’s were petrified of the ‘Red Plague’ of communism spreading in Russia
- the Freikorps had units specifically recruited to fight in the east against possible communist invasion.

25
Q

Who were the Freikorps?

A

This was a private army set up of ex-soldiers, unemployed youths led by ex-officers and other former military personnel.

26
Q

What was the Spartacist revolt?

A
  • KPD political meetings came under attack from the private armies of other political parties.
  • the Spartacist -led uprising broke out in Berlin in January 1919.
  • Ebert moved the government to Weimar for safety.
  • the freikorps were asked to deal with the spartacist leaders and results were brutal.
27
Q

What was the result of the revolt?

A

Both Liebknecht and Luxemburg were captured , beaten, and then murdered and the rising collapsed.

28
Q

What happened after the Spartacist uprising?

A
  • The government was still in Weimar for the 19 January election
  • to an extent this election was a success, 82.7% of electors voted.
29
Q

What did the SPD do after not getting a majority?

A

The SPD formed a coalition with the centre party and the German Democratic Party (DDP).

30
Q

Who were the German National Peoples Party and what did they want?

A

The German National Peoples’s Party (DNVP) was the most right wing of the majority parties and was conservative, Nationalist, Monarchist.

  • it did not want social reforms and disliked the idea of a republic
  • a large number of its members were wealthy landowners and many of the members were anti-Semitic.
31
Q

Who were the German Peoples party?

A 
The German People’s Party(DVP)  was another  right wing group and was moderately conservative under the leadership of Gustav Streseman.
- it accepted without really supporting the republic. It’s members were mostly wealthy industrial middle class who were not in favour of social reform but wanted the economy to be quickly fixed.
32
Q

Who were the Centre Party?

A

This was a long-established party, largely Catholic and included defending the church in its policies.

  • it drew in people from many social groups.
  • it had conservative values but did advocate social reforms
  • it was firmly against left wing policies and fanatically opposed to communism.
33
Q

Who were the German Democrats (DDP)?

A

The German Democrats were a newly formed party of Liberal, educated professionals ho supported the idea of the republic as well as a more representative constitution.
- it was often part of a government coalition, its members believed in social reform.

34
Q

Who were the Social Democrats (SPD)?

A

The Social Democrats (SPD) were the largest party in the reichstag from 1919 to 1929.

  • in a split in 1917 the SPD shifted to a republican stance to keeps its members.
  • they believed in the republic and in moderate social reform but not revolution.
  • it was hampered in its desire for some social reform by a high number of union members it needed to please.
35
Q

Who were the Independent Social Democrats(USPD)?

A

-split from the SPD in 1917. The party wanted a more radical system than a republic. they stood for social reform that included creating a more equal society.

36
Q

Who were the German Communist Party(KPD)?

A

The KPD was set up in 1919.

  • it wanted a Workers revolution and the establishment of a communist state with the abolition of private ownership.
  • it mainly attracted the poor, young and unemployed.
37
Q

What was the structure of the Weimar government?

A
  • The Chancellor was the head of the Government
  • the president was the head of state who runs foreign affairs
  • the Reichstag included the party members with majority power.
  • the cabinet members were chosen from the Ministers who give advice and administer the law.
  • the Reichsrat.
  • Länder local government.
38
Q

Challenges the Government faced?

A

The constitution allowed for a Reichstag with many parties- it took only 60,000 votes to get a seat . The constitution did not take into account that the more parties there were the more difficult it was for the Reichstag to work effectively.

39
Q

What is proportional representation?

A

an electoral system in which parties gain seats in proportion to the number of votes cast for them.

40
Q

What were the problems with proportional representation?

A

The method of proportional representation meant that people voted for a party in one of 35 large electoral areas rather than for a particular person in their area. It was almost impossible for any party to have a majority in the Reichstag.
- all governments had to form coalitions.

41
Q

What was the issue with governments forming coalition?

A

Between 1919-23 there were nine short-lived coalitions
And each party was focused almost entirely on what they could get out of the coalition, not how best to work together to govern.
- the coalition parties did not have the same aims.

42
Q

What would happen when a coalition broke down?

A

When coalitions Broke down the chancellor had to ask the president to use Article 48 to rule by decree.
- as this was only used for emergencies it made it look as though the government was in constant crisis.

43
Q

What was article 48?

A

The article in the Weimar Constitution that allowed the president to suspend the Reichstag in an emergency and rule by decree

44
Q

How did the Weimar government overcome challenges?

A

Between 1924 and 1929 it seemed to be overcoming challenges as the reichstag kept meeting and there was no need to rule by decree.
- by 1924-29 the German economy recovered and Germany reached agreements with other countries that began to restore its position abroad.

45
Q

Who was chancellor in 1923?

A

Gustav Stresemann

46
Q

How important was Gustavo Stresemann?

A

Steersmann managed to hold together a coalition with the DVP, the centre party, SPD and DDP for much of that time by forming working relations based on trust with party leaders.

47
Q

Was the Weimar constitution surviving?

A

Between 1924 and 1929 no major political figures had been assassinated.
- the Weimar government had been in power for Long enough for people to accept that it was now the political system in Germany.

48
Q

What happened in 1929 and why was this significant?

A

Stresemann had died and he was vital for survivals of coalitions and In 1928 the economic conditions began to worsen with nazis and communists. Taking up ground.

49
Q

Why were the public against the Government despite of its Successes?

A

The public has long dislike d the association of the government with the Treaty of Versailles,

50
Q

How did the public show it was against the Government?

A

In 1925 they voted in Hindenburg as president of the republic who was the first to voice the ‘Stab in the back’ theory about the Treaty of Versailles.

51
Q

What was the stab in the back theory and why did it cause problems for the Weimar Government?

A

The theory suggested that the German army could have won the war but was stabbed in the back by the ‘November criminals’ (those who signed the armistice and later the treaty) and this theory contributed to the unpopularity of the Weimar Government.

52
Q

How did the economic conditions worsen?

A

In 1929 the USA had an economic problem due to the Wall Street crash which led to a full blow depression. As the USA has given out loans to Germany they were demanding it back. And this was a burden for Germany as they were already paying back reparations.

53
Q

Why did coalitions fail?

A

Parties found it harder and harder to work together and the SPD refused to take part in any more coalitions.
Hindenburg was forced to fall back on governing by decree through Article 48.

54
Q

What happens in the 1930 elections?

A

Both KPD and the

Nazis (NSDAP) made gains

55
Q

Why was Hindenburg persuaded to run again in 1932?

A

Hindenburg. Was now 84 years old and the nazis had sizeable standing in the reichstag and he was persuaded to stay and keep hitler out.

56
Q

What happened in the 1932 elections?

A

The Nazi’s now has the most seats in the Reichsag and this meant the leader of the party would be asked to be chancellor.

57
Q

Who did Hindenburg ask to be chancellor instead of Hitler?

A

Kurt Von Schleicher

58
Q

When was Hitler appointed chancellor?

A

On 30th January 1933

59
Q

Why was Hitler appointed chancellor

A

Kurt And Hindenburg thought they could control Hitler by appointing him Chancellor but this did not work out.

A level Germany (1 decks)

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