Historians

Question 1

what is Ian Kershaw’s opinion on the Volksgemeinshaft?

Answer 1

“There was some penetration of Nazi values and attitudes. But the regimes social propaganda made little serious dent in traditional class loyalties”.

Question 2

1.1 What is John Wheeler-Bennets opinion of the military defeat of 1918: Myth and Reality?

Answer 2

Ludendorff believed that the army had not been given proper support from civilians who were part of the government and Reichstag. He suggested that the military had been ‘stabbed in the back’

Question 3

1.1 What is Alexander Watsons opinion of the military defeat of 1918: Myth and Reality?

Answer 3

‘Stabbed in the back’ idea is entirely wrong. The German military was out of reserves, facing certain defeat and so had to surrender

Question 4

1.1 What is Stephen Lees opinion of the Nature and limitation of the revolution ‘from above’ or ‘from below’?

Answer 4

the revolution was caused by numerous factors: ‘defeat in the war, a disintegrating army and a radicalised left”

Question 5

1.2 What is A.J Nicholls opinion of the Nature and limitation of the revolution ‘from above’ or ‘from below’?

Answer 5

most significant changes only took lace after the Kiel Mutinies, suggesting a ‘revolution from below’

Question 6

1.2 What is Eric D Weitz opinion of the Nature and limitation of the revolution ‘from above’ or ‘from below’?

Answer 6

The revolution of 1918-1919 “spread from Kiel”

Question 7

What is Michael Hughes’s opinion on the Volksgemeinshaft?

Answer 7

“The greatest success of the National socialist regime was in its propaganda”. Large amounts of Germans were convinced that they did live in a Volksgemeinshaft due to propaganda.

Question 8

1.2 What is William Carrs opinion of the Nature and limitation of the revolution ‘from above’ or ‘from below’?

Answer 8

By the end of October 1918 “a revolutionary situation existed in Germany” but it is only after the Kiel mutiny that the revolution can be said to have truly begun.

Question 9

1.3 What is Ruth Henigs opinion on the Proclamation of the Republic and the Ebert-Groener Pact?

Answer 9

For Ebert “the aim was clear: to stabilise the political situation sufficiently to enable elections to take place as soon as possible for the National Assembly.” General Groener surmised that Ebert was as anxious as the army to defeat the Bolshevik challenge and needed the army’s support

Question 10

1.3 What is A J Nicholls opinion on the Proclamation of the Republic and the Ebert-Groener Pact?

Answer 10

For Ebert “the problem of maintaining order and discipline in the army was more serious than the need to build up new supporters of socialism”

Question 11

1.5 What is A J Nicholls opinion on the Spartacists’ Revolt and its suppression?

Answer 11

Ebert wanted to stabilise Germany and resisted the chaos a radical left government might have brought; he was supported by most Germans in ending the Spartacist Revolt

Question 12

1.5 What is Eric Weitz’s opinion on the Spartacists’ Revolt and its suppression?

Answer 12

Ebert wanted to avoid a Soviet-style revolution as he believed it would bring economic chaos and political terror

Question 13

1.5 What is Paul Bookbinders opinion on the Spartacists’ Revolt and its suppression?

Answer 13

Ebert wanted to achieve real change however he feared a Communist revolution would see action from Britain and France to end this.

Question 14

1.6 what is Stephen Lees opinion on the Writing of the constitution?

Answer 14

The Constitution was regarded by those who framed it as the most advanced in existence at the time

Question 15

1.6 what is R J Evans opinion on the Writing of the constitution?

Answer 15

The power to rule by decree (Article 48) was only intended for exceptional emergencies

Question 16

1.6 what is Ruth Henigs opinion on the Writing of the constitution?

Answer 16

The Constitution aimed to build a viable political structure and give social and economic rights for the people

Question 17

1.6 what is Detlev Peukerts opinion on the Writing of the constitution?

Answer 17

The writers of the Constitution wanted to accommodate mutually antagonistic ideologies

Question 18

1.6 What is K D Branchers opinion on the Impact of the Constitution?

Answer 18

The constitution allowed for the possibility of presidential government without and even against the will of parliament and democratic public opinion

Question 19

what is M.Rosemans opinion on the Volksgemeinshaft?

Answer 19

“The nazis were astonishingly successful” at adding very varied social groups into the Volksgemeinshaft.

Question 20

what is the opinion of Ian Kershaw on the Social revolution within Nazi Germany

Answer 20

“it seems clear, then, that Nazism did not produce a social revolution in Germany during the Period of the third reich” It was incapable of bringing about a social revolution

Question 21

What is the opinion of David Crew on the social revolution within Nazi Germany

Answer 21

The onset of full employment gave workers the strength to negotiate improved conditions with their employers, “but only on a individual basis, which perpetuated class divisions”