germany under the weimar

Question 1

crippled economy

Answer 1

by 1918 industrial production was only 2/3 of what it had been in 1913
Germany’s debt had increased over World War One from 50 billion marks in 1914 to 150 billion marks in 1918

Question 2

inflation

Answer 2

Germany printed more money to fund the war effort
This meant that the value of the German mark fell, leading to inflation

Question 3

uneven distribution of wealth

Answer 3

The average wage for a worker in 1918 was only 60 percent of what they had earned in 1913
But military weapons workers owners made lots of money from the war
This caused social problems as workers resented business owners

Question 4

structure of Weimar Republic-the president

Answer 4

the president was elected every 7 years
the president had the power to choose key ministers, such as the chancellor
using article 48 the president could overrule his government and make laws by decree

Question 5

the structure of Weimar Republic-the government

Answer 5

beneath the president was the government
the cabinet made political decisions
the chancellor led the cabinet

Question 6

the structure of the Weimar Republic - parliament

Answer 6

this was formed by Reichstag and the Reichsrat
in parliament, parties were given ‘proportional representation’ this meant that the party’s seats reflected the number of votes it received
The reichstag and Reichsrat were elated every four years
The reichstag were more powerful and controlled tax
The Reichsrat represented each region of Germany

Question 7

The structure of the weimar republic- electorate

Answer 7

according to the constitution, all men and woman over 20 were eligible to vote in elections

Question 8

strengths of the Weimar Republic

Answer 8

the Weimar Republic was a genuine democracy because all men and woman could vote if they were over 20
the constitution was strong because no one, person or group could hold too much power

Question 9

weaknesses of the Weimar Republic

Answer 9

-article 48 was a weakness because it meant that the president could bypass democracy at any time
-Constitution was weak because strong German states such as Prussia still held power through the Reichsrat

Question 10

who drew up the weimar constitution and what was his religion?

Answer 10

Hugo Preuss - jewish

Question 11

what were the general terms of the treaty of versailles ?

Answer 11

-germany accepted blame for the war
-germany must pay £6.6 billion in reparations to the allies
-germany lost 13.3 percent of its land and 12.5 of its population

Question 12

military terms of versailles

Answer 12

-maximum of 100,00 soldeirs, 15,000 sailors, 6 ships, 0 submarines and 0 armoured vehicles
-the demilitarisation of the Rhineland
-not being able to join with Austria

Question 13

resentment of the treaty of V

Answer 13

-some germans felt that germany could’ve won the war so felt stabbed in the back by Ebert and his government were known as the November criminals

Question 14

spartacist uprising

Answer 14

-communist group supported by soviet union
-in jan 1919 they staged a revolt in Berlin with the ultimate aim to overthrow the Weimar Republic
-Ebert used a right-wing group of former soldiers called the Freikorps to stop the uprising

Question 15

kapp putsch

Answer 15

-in march 1920, the freikorps in Berlin staged a rebellion, Wolfgang Kapp was the leader of the Freikorps in this rebellion
-aim was to seize control and stop the Weimar democratic system
-putsch failed because German workers went on strike, this forced Kapp to flee
-hitler and Ludendorff led the putsch
-Nazi’s thought the Weimar Republic was weak because of the economic crisis in 1923

Question 16

the Munich Putsch

Answer 16

-in nov 1923, the nazis entered a meeting of the Bavarian gov and hitler demanded the gov support
-nazis took control of the local police and army headquarters but Ludendorff secretly let the gov leaders go
-the next day hitler marched on Munich to declare himself president of germany
-state police met the nazis and they arrested hitler who received a one year sentence

Question 17

hitler’s arrest

Answer 17

-hitler used his trial to spread the nazi message
-in prison he wrote his best seller ‘main kampf’
-hitler realised he need to reorganise the nazi party to gain success

Question 18

Mein Kampf

Answer 18

-Hitler wrote ‘Mein Kampf’ in prison
-He spoke of the ‘need’ to destroy German democracy to increase Lebrensraum , (living space), to house germans, and spoke of the ‘inferiority of the jews’

Question 19

difficulty with paying reparations

Answer 19

-in 1922, the Weimar Republic stopped paying their reparation instalments
- in 1923 france and Belgium retaliated by seizing the Ruhr to take what they believed germany owed in the form of coal and other goods

Question 20

the seizing of the Ruhr

Answer 20

-the ruhr was the main industrial region in Germany
-French and Belgium took control of all the factories, mine and railways in the area
-the action of the French and beligions were legal in the eyes of the international community because of the treaty of versailles

Question 21

the German reaction

Answer 21

-Ebert told German workers to go on strike, this was called ‘passive resistance’
-but France and Belgium simply brought in their own workers to take their place
-over 8 months 132 people were killed and 150,000 germans were kicked out of their homes in the Ruhr

Question 22

hyperinflation

Answer 22

-in 1918 a loaf of bread cost 0.6 German marks but by nov 1923 it cost 201 billion German marks
-as prices rose every hour, people bought goods as soon as they were paid, this meant they carried around wheelbarrows of money
-to get around hyperinflation people started trading

Question 23

social problems with hyperinflation

Answer 23

-people with savings lost their money
-people with fixed income not renegotiate their earnings
-elderely with fixed pensions could not get any more money and so their incomes were destroyed
-small business owners went bankrupt

Question 24

benefits of hyperinflation

Answer 24

-people with debt benefited
-farmers benefitted because people paid more for food

Question 25

The Dawes Plan

Answer 25

-Stresemann helped negotiate the Dawes plan which helped Germany pay their reparations
-in 1924, banks in the US loaned 800 million Reichsmarks to German industries
-reparation instalments were temporarily made £50 millions a year

Question 26

The Young plan

Answer 26

-Stresemann next negotiated the young plan, which proposed to reduce German reparations
-in 1929 the young plan planned to lower the total reparations from £6.6 billion to 2 billion
-the payments would continue until 1988

Question 27

The Wall Street crash and the young plan

Answer 27

-the Wall Street crash abruptly stopped the young plan in 1929
-american banks had to recall loans made to Europe, undermining the young plan
-by 1933, 4 years after the Wall Street crash, world trade had fallen by over 60 %

Question 28

spartacist uprising-more details

Answer 28

-left wing, post ww1 communist party
-led by Rosa Luxemberg and Karl Liebknecht
-Government was saved by the Freikorps who defeated the spartacist rebels
-leaders were arrested and murdered

Question 29

kapp putsch-more details

Answer 29

-right wing
-after the terms of the treaty of versailles, army was reduced to 100,000 and freikorps forced to disband
-wolfgang kapp led freikorps takeover of Berlin in reaction to the above
-regular army refused to attack the freikorps
-defeated when the workers in Berlin went on strike

Question 30

Munich putsch causes

Answer 30

• Weimar Republic in crisis due to hyperinflation
  -hitler hoped to copy Mussolini who had come into power by marching into Rome in 1923
  -nazi party had 55,000 members and a army of SA

Question 31

Munich Putsch- event

Answer 31

-8th Nov: HItler and 600 SA burst into beer hall and forced them to rebel before letting them go home, took over army headquarters and offices of local newspapers
-9th Nov:hitler and the SA went into Munich but Kahr had called in police and army. 16 SA members killed and Hitler fired, 2 days later arrested

Question 32

Munich Putsch- consequences

Answer 32

-Nazi party banned until 1927 and hitler sentenced to 5 years in prison for high treason
-judge was lenient and hitler was only served 9 months. In Landsberg prison hitler wrote his book, ‘mein kampf’.
-in his book he discussed his beliefs and realised he would have to seize power through democratic means.

Question 33

increasing wages

Answer 33

-in 1924, worker’s wages increased and their working hours shortened
-but wealthier germans did not like that workers were getting support

Question 34

housebuilding

Answer 34

-from 1925 to 1929, around 100,000 new houses were built for workers
-but the republic still struggled with a shortage of houses

Question 35

unemployment insurance

Answer 35

-in 1927, an insurance system was set up to help workers if they were unemployed or ill

Question 36

why was weimar germany experiencing a golden age/

Answer 36

• there was no censoring in the media

Question 37

architecture- the bauhaus school

Answer 37

• Walter Gropius set up the bauhaus school in 1919
  -attracting many designers and artists, the bauhaus movement overturned traditional ideas of architecture

Question 38

art expressionism

Answer 38

-in their artworks, expressionists painted from the perspective of a subject, they would distort and change things around in their paintings to emulate emotions and feelings

Question 39

film

Answer 39

-expressionists also fed into films and commented on daily lives of germans
-metropolis, which was released in 1927 was a popular German film by fritz lang

Question 40

music

Answer 40

• music was shaped by the modern influences of America
  -music, such as jazz, became very popular in weimar Germany
  -the cabaret emerged as an unrestricted form of entertainment
  -without censorship, performances were provocative and could comment on politics and society

Question 41

the role of a woman

Answer 41

-all men and woman over 20 were able to vote
-divorce was made easier for woman, divorce became more common
-112 women represented the German people in the reichstag and there was more opportunities for women in sports and society

Question 42

women political position in society

Answer 42

-women could vote in the Weimar Republic
-90 percent of women exercised their right to vote in elections
-article 109 of the weimar constitution asserted gender equality in the workplace and the home

Question 43

womens progress in the economic status

Answer 43

-women were gaining opportunities in professions such as teachers, lawyers, doctors
-women were encouraged to attend university
-women working part-time increased in weimar germany

Question 44

womens limitations to economic power

Answer 44

-the number of women employed dropped from 775 percent in 1918 to 26 percent in 1925
-this was because lots of women worked in the war but stopped afterwards
-many women stopped working once they became married

Question 45

women growing independence

Answer 45

-women gained more indepednacne in weimar society
-women who earned an income were no longer dependant on men
-some women began to force on ‘leisure’ and less on traditional values of family and marriage

Question 46

the ‘new’ woman

Answer 46

-not everyone agreed with the new woman
-some members of society did not like female independence and viewed these women as morally corrupt
-some feared that traditional German values were being forgotten

Question 47

what were the long-term causes of the Munich putsch

Answer 47

-the long term was resentment against the treaty of versailles and thought weimar republic was fundamentally weak
-the medium term was that hitler wanted to copy Mussolini in Italy. in 1922, Mussolini led the right-wing fascist party in overthrowing democracy and setting up a dictatorship

Question 48

what were the immediate causes for Munich putsch

Answer 48

-the nazis were angered by the French occupation of the Ruhr in 1923, the putsch was triggered by stresemann calling off passive resistance
-rohm introduced hiter and Ludendorff that helped to lead to the putsch
-because of the fragility of the Weimar Republic in 1923, hitler thought the public would support the putsch

Question 49

bamberg conference, 1926

Answer 49

-hitler organised a meeting between the south and north groups of the nazi party
-he northern group stressed the socialist(everyone in society sharing the profits from industry) points from 25 point programme
-however the southern group (political independence)stressed the nationalist points from the 25 point programme

Question 50

the rise of nationalist from the bomber conference

Answer 50

-Hitler stated that the 25 point programme was used to voice everyones visions but the socialist points would not be followed.

Question 51

Fuherprinzip

Answer 51

-this meant that hitler had full control over the nazi party and no opposition was allowed

Question 52

unemployment after Great Depression

Answer 52

-us bank stopped loans to germany
-by 1932 40 percent of workers were unemployed
-German government had no money so reduced unemployment benefitss
-families suffered and lost faith in democracy
-chancellor muhrer couldn’t help it and neither could his replacement bruning
-hindenburg used article 48 to bypass the reichstag, this weakened the Weimar Republic