History: Depth Studies Flashcards
When was the Treaty of Versailles signed?
28th June 1919
Who led the Spartacist Uprising?
Rosa Luxemburg & Carl Liebknecht
What is the Spartacist Uprising?
- Led by Rosa Luxemburg and Carl Liebknecht
- In January 1919, the Spartacists launched their bid for power
- Communist rising against Weimar Republic
- There were barricades in the street and armed street fighting
- Wanted Germany to be ruled by workers’ councils / soviets
- Leaders were executed by Freikorps
Why did the Spartacist Uprising fail?
- Ebert ordered Freikorps to crush the uprising
- Former soldiers still had weapons from the war, which gave them a clear advantage
- They quickly reconquered the blocked streets and buildings and took back the Spartacist headquarters
- ~100 civilians died during the fighting, Liebknecht and Luxemburg captured by Freikorps and murdered
- Spartacists couldn’t agree on which tactics to use, regiments in the army refused to join
- Spartacists failed to keep the support of Independent Social Democratic Party. The Freikorps were ruthless in taking down the Uprising
Who were the Freikorps?
Unofficial armed gangs consisting of soldiers who had been asked to intervene by Weimar Republic
Who led the Freikorps?
General Luddwitz
Why did the Ruhr crisis start?
German did could not pay the second intallment of reparations
What happened during the Ruhr crisis?
Belgium and French troops invaded the Ruhr and took coal to the amount of reparations.
What was the government’s response to the invasion ot the Ruhr?
The government encouraged workers to do passive resistance / go on strike
What was the result of the Ruhr crisis?
- Violence broke out and 100,000 people were driven out of the Ruhr
- Industrial workers stopped working = no production in the wealthiest area of Germany
- Government printed money to pay workers, which led to hyperinflation
- Government collected less tax as unemployment rose
Reasons why Stresemann restored Germany’s strength from 1924 - 1929
- called off the strike (in Ruhr) and workers went back to work
- burned old currency and made new one (Rentenmark)
- introduced the Dawes Plan in 1924 (by USA) which helped to pay reparations
- reduced the reparations through Young Plan
- signed the Locarno Treaty (respect the western border and improved relations
- got Germany into LON, Germany seen as a responsible country
Reasons why Stresemann did not restore Germany’s strength from 1924 - 1929
- calling off the strike was seen as defeat and led to the Munich Putsch
- new currency meant pensions and savings were worthless
- Dawes Plan = success was built on loans that Germany could not pay back (economic collapse during the Great Depression)
Successes of the Weimar Republic
[EVERYTHING THAT STRESEMANN DID]
Failures of the Weimar Republic
[EVERYTHING THAT STRESEMANN DID]
+
- rising unemployment
- huge sums spent on healthcare and welfare
Describe Germany’s state in the late 1920s
Germany managed many achievements in the arts: painters, playwrights, musicians and authors made Germany (Berlin in particular) a famous centre for the arts; Germany seemed to have recovered from the humiliation of Versailles and was viwed as an equal to other European countries.
What caused the Great Depression in October 1929?
The American stock exchange, Wall Street, crashed.
What was the name of the political party that Adolf Hitler took over? When did he take over?
German Workers’ Party; 1921
What was the political party that Hitler took over renamed into? Why did he change the name?
National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazi);
“National” = attract traditionalists who wanted to rebuild Germany after WW1
“Socialist” = attract people who wanted to improve the lives of working people
When was the SA (Storm Troopers / Brownshirts), the Nazis’ private army founded?
August 1921
Who led the SA?
Ernst Rohm (violent ex-soldier)
When did Hitler initiate the Munich / Beer Hall Putsch?
8th November 1923
What were the consequences of the Munich Putsch?
- 16 Nazis killed
- other Nazis & Hitler ran away
- Hitler arrested two days later for high treason
- Found guilty but only sentenced to 5 years in Landsberg prison (then served 9 months only)
What were the events of the Munich Putsch?
- Hitler seized control of Bavaria with the SA
- Hitler believed that the government was so unpopular that many people would support his bid for power
- Secured support of German army General Ludendorff
- Hitler wanted to march to Berlin after securing Munich
- Hitler & Nazis marched from the beer hall and were stopped by armed police
How did Hitler take advantage of his trial and imprisonment after the Munich Putsch?
- used his trial / defence speech to gain exposure for Nazi ideology (newspapers published details of the defence speeches)
- spent his time in Landsberg prison to write Mein Kampf (My Struggle) = his autobiography + political ideas
What did Hitler learn from the Munich Putsch?
- he couldn’t use force to gain support but legal means (political voting)
- wanted to use democracy and the Nazi Party
What did Mein Kampf talk about? (published in 1925)
- Treaty of Versailles was unjust
- leaders of Weimar Republic were traitors (for agreeing to Treaty)
- Jews were the cause of Germany’s problems (they were sub-human)
- Russian communism was wicked
- Germany should take more space from Russians and non-Germans of Eastern Europe
What was the Reichstag Fire?
- 27th February 1933, the Reichstag building caught fire and was burned down.
- Marius van der Lubbe, a Dutch communist, was arrested and blamed for starting the fire as a part of a communist revolt against the Weimar Republic
How did Hitler take advantage of the Reichstag Fire?
- Hitler blamed it on the communists, who were his political rivals, and whipped up public fear towards them
- persuaded Hindenburg to issue an emergency decree
- Hitler was granted emergency powers by Hindenburg under Aricle 48 of the constitution
- arrested many members of the communist party (no more main political rival)
What were the effects of the Reichstag Fire?
- Eliminated main political rival (communists)
- Brought Hitler more popularity
- Allowed the Nazi Party to win a large number of seats in parliament
What was the Enabling Act?
- Hitler introduced Enabling Act to establish his dictatorship
- Reichstag passed the act on 23rd March 1933
- Allowed Hitler to introduce new laws without consulting the Reichstag
What were the effects of the Enabling Act?
- Hitler became the democratically-approved dictator of Germany (4 years) + had more authority
- Banned all political parties except the Nazi Party
- Allowed him to make excuses for future exploits such as the Night of the Long Knives
What was the Night of the Long Knives?
- Army didn’t like SA, Hindenburg controlled army, they could easily turn over Hitler
- SA (3 million) trusted Ernst Rohm more than Hitler
- Ernst Rohm wasn’t satisfied with Hitler’s outcomes and wanted a “second revolution”
- SA could overthrow Hitler as well
- On the 30th June 1934, Hitler had his personal army (SS) kill Rohm and many members of the SA (they were arrested but murdered without trial)
What were the effects of the Night of the Long Knives?
- Hitler gained the trust of the army (no more SA to be jealous of)
- No more chances of being overthrown
How many nationalists from other parties supported the Nazi Party after the elections on 5th March 1933?
52 nationalists
How many seats did the Nazis win after the election on 5th March 1933?
288 seats
When did Hindenburg pass away?
2nd August 1934
What did Hitler’s role become after Hindenburg’s death?
Fuhrer / Supreme Leader (combining Chancellor and President)
When were the SA and SS founded?
1921; 1925
In the “Left and Right Uprisings”, who were the Left and Right?
Left = Communists = Spartacists
Right = Fascists = Freikorps
When was the Locarno Treaty signed?
1925
