impact of the first world war C2

Question 1

Germanys reaction at the start of the war (1914)

Answer 1

-The war was popular and patriotic germans thought it would end quickly.
-Soon the British navy stopped ships getting food into Germany, leading to food and other shortages.

Question 2

Germans reaction throughout the war (1915-16)

Answer 2

-In Germany, protestors demanded an end to the war. Demonstrations increased from 500 to 10,000 people. War weariness increased.
-On the front line, soldiers were worn down by gas and machine gun fire.

Question 3

Germanys reaction towards the end of the war

Answer 3

Germany was close to defeat. A flu epidemic killed many already weak from a poor diet.
In October, army general Ludendorff states Germany could not win the war. He advised the kaiser to make the county more democratic so the winning allies would treat Germany more fairly.
The kaiser allowed the main political parties to form a new Government, and transferred some of his powers to the Reichstag. But the german people were not satisfied and more demonstrations followed.

Question 4

What happened on the 28 October 1918

Answer 4

The German navy in Kiel mutinied. The mutiny spread. Soldiers sent to deal with the protestors also joined the sailers and workers.

Question 5

What happened on the 9 November 1918

Answer 5

The kaiser abdicated and secretly left Germany, never to return. Friedrich Ebert, the leader of Germany’s largest political party (SPD) took over Germany temporarily. He promised to hold elections and ended the war.

Question 6

What happened on the 11 November 1918

Answer 6

Germany surrendered. The First World War was over.

Question 7

How was bankruptcy an impact of the war on Germany by 1918

Answer 7

• owed vast sums of money that it had borrowed to pay for the war
• lent some of its own money to its allies
• factories were exhausted
• war pensions would cost the government a fortune

Question 8

How was society being divided further an impact of the war on Germany by 1918

Answer 8

• some factory owners had made a fortune during the war, while others had restrictions placed on their wages
• women worked in the factories during the war. Some people thought this damaged traditional values.

Question 9

How was Germany becoming politically unstable an impact of the war by 1918

Answer 9

• there was mutiny and revolution all over Germany
• many ex soldiers and civilians felt that politicians had betrayed Germany by ending the war

Question 10

what was the Weimar republic

Answer 10

• a new system of government and the politicians who created it were linked to Germanys defeat in the 1st world war.
• they were called the November criminals
• the constitution also contained ‘article 48’, which meant that laws could be passed without the Reichstag by order of the president

Question 11

how was the Weimar republic formed

Answer 11

• temporary leader Ebert declared that Germany would be a democratic republic and arranged for elections for a new parliament to take place in January.
• a group of communists in Germany, known as the spartacists wanted Germany to be run by a small group of councils of soldiers and workers . on the 6 of January 1919, the spartacists seized power in berlin.

Question 12

who did Ebert send to attack the spartacists after they seized control of berlin

Answer 12

he sent a group of 2000 rough ex-soldiers, known as the free corps (freikorps), to attack the spartacists

Question 13

who won the fight between the freikorps and spartacists

Answer 13

after 3 days of brutal street fighting, the freikorps recaptured buildings and arrested (and later killed) the leaders

Question 14

what did Ebert do after the battle between the freikorps and the sportscasts

Answer 14

Ebert held the elections and his own party, the SPD, won most votes and Ebert became the new German president

Question 15

what happened after Ebert won the elections

Answer 15

• the politicians were meeting away from the violence in berlin instead in Weimar
• they created the Weimar constitution
• this was a formal set of rules for how Germany would be ruled
• from this time until the Nazi takeover, Germany was known as the Weimar republic

Question 16

who had rights to vote in Germanys Weimar constitution

Answer 16

all Germans had equal rights , including the right to vote

Question 17

what was one weakness of the Weimar constitution

Answer 17

PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION meant that lots of different political party’s were able to win some seats in the Reichstag, it was difficult for one party to get the majority
- the leading party had to deal with lots if smaller groups, this meant that law making was very slow

Question 18

what was another weakness of the Weimar constitution

Answer 18

many groups did no like this new democratic system of governing at all. some older army generals, judges, upper-class families, rich factory owners and university professors longed for the ‘good old days’ when the kaiser ruled Germany

Question 19

what was the occupation of the Ruhr

Answer 19

• in 1922, when the next tax payment was due, the Germans announced they could not afford to pay
• the French and Belgians did not believe them and decided to take what they were owed by force
• in January 1923, 60,000 French and Belgian soldiers marched into the Ruhr, a rich, industrial area of Germany.
• they took control of every factory, mine and railway in he region.
• they also took food and goods from shops and arrested anyone who stood up to them

Question 20

what was hyperinflation

Answer 20

• in 1923 the German government ordered its workers in the Ruhr to go on strike and not help the French and Belgian soldiers remove the goods from the country.
• this was known as passive resistance, workers were still paid
• the government printed large amounts of money to pay the striking workers and to pay the money owed to France and Belgium
• this caused lots of problems as workers pent there money in shops so shop keeps put up there prices
• the government printed even more money to help workers buy products, so prices increased again
• soon prices were growing so fast it was known as hyper inflation

Question 21

impacts of economic problems
( losers )

Answer 21

• people with bank savings. people had saved there entire lives to ger 1000 marks in the bank, by 1923 this wouldn’t even buy them a loaf of bread
• elderly people who lived on fixed pensions found their income would no longer buy them what they need
• many small businesses collapsed as normal trade became impossible because of the daily price changes

Question 22

impacts of economic problems
( winners )

Answer 22

• people who had borrowed money found it very easy to pay of their debts
• if a person had borrowed 10,000 marks in 1920 ( a lot of money then) they could now pay it of with one bank note