historiography Flashcards
- revolution from above ; lee
The year 1918… saw in Germany a revolutionary situation if there was a revolution, it did not revolutionise.
- revolution from above; henig
The revolution did not result in the wholesale removal of the existing economic or social structures
- revolution from below; carr
Even so, it is only with the actions of the sailors at Wilhelmshaven from 30 October that the revolution can be said to have truly begun.
- revolution from below; burleigh
The Spartacists were extremists and did not represent most ordinary Germans’ views
- revolution from below; lee
springing not simply from military defeat or from the actions of revolutionaries but rather from a mixture of ingredients: “defeat in the war, a disintegrating army and a radicalised left”.
- ebert; kolb
Ebert faced serious problems including a potential threat from the Berlin soldiers’ councils, revolutionary governments being set up in the individual states, the ending of the war, the fear of major social and economic upheaval.
- ebert; peukert
Ebert and the SPD were afraid that the chaos that had happened in Russia would happen in Germany too.
- proclamation of the republic; carr
Ebert was furious that Scheidemann declared a republic. Ebert had hoped to save the monarchy by avoiding any mention of the word ‘republic’.
- ebert groener pact; bookbinder
one of the consequences of the deal was a largely unreformed army which many historians argue contributed to the ultimate failure of the republic.
- spartacist revolt; peukert
The Spartacists “had no clear strategy”. The suppression of the Spartacists by the government meant that the split within the working class movement now became permanent.
- weimar constitution; burleigh
On Article 48: “… at the time few thought of the misuse of this power.”
- weimar constitution; evans
The Constitution was far from revolutionary but it did represent a major break with the former imperial regime, which had always been more authoritarian than democratic.
- social impact of 1923 crisis; taylor
“It stripped the middle classes of their savings and made the industrial magnates absolute dictators of German economic life.”
- social impact of 1923 crisis; evans
the pauperised and those “cheated of their savings … became more prepared to listen to the firebrand orators of the extremist parties.”
- political impact of 1923 crisis; winkler
Ebert’s actions against the extreme Left in particular alienated many social democrats from identifying with the new state. This weakened parliamentary democracy considerably and so gave extra impetus to the already strong anti-parliamentarian bourgeoisie.
- political impact of 1923 crisis; henig
From 1919–23 the republic was assaulted by Nationalists on the right and by Communists on the left. “It managed to survive, but not to win the active support of the majority of the population.”
- economic impact of 1923 crisis; fulbrook
The psychological shock of the hyperinflation crisis ‘eroded democratic values’ and caused ‘a heightened fear of the possibility of economic instability.’
- political impact of 1923 crisis; mommsen
The desperate conditions that had been created by the hyperinflation crisis encouraged a process of extreme political polarisation.
- dawes plan; henig
the Dawes Plan “proved extremely beneficial” in terms of attracting short-term capital to Germany. It enabled German industry “to recover its pre-war levels of output and to undergo significant modernisation of it factories and manufacturing processes”.
- stressmann; lee
Stresemann was neither a covert nationalist nor a Good European but a pragmatist who adapted to changed times and circumstances and, where he could, created new opportunities.
- economic stabilisation; bookbinder
Real wages rose, and the standard of living for many increased dramatically.”
- economic stabilisation; henig
“growing disillusionment with the Republic” among workers and employers, among farmers and the middle classes, and among the young. While the economy was growing many Germans nevertheless felt they were not getting a fair share of the rewards.