Issue 1: Weimar Germany 1929-1933

Question 1

The effects on Germany of the end of the First World War and the peace settlement

Answer 1

1. German sailors mutinied at the German naval base at Kiel and refused to fight on, making it impossible for the German government to continue fighting the war.
2. Soldiers and workers councils began to take control over German cities, putting Germany in serious danger of a communist revolution.
3. The Kaiser was forced to abdicate from the throne on 9th November, leaving Germany with no single figurehead leader to hold the country together.
4. The formation of a German Republic was declared on 9th November.
5. The new German Chancellor, Friedrich Ebert, made a deal with General Groener of the German Army on 10th November, meaning the army now had a free hand to form the Freikorps and interfere in politics, in return for supporting the new Republic.
6. Germany was forced to accept an armistice and defeat in the war on 11th November, this led to many Germans blaming the new Republic for giving in to the Allies, which later became the ‘stab in the back’ theory.

Question 2

Opposition to the treaty of Versailles: the therms of the treaty of Versailles

Answer 2

1. Germany was not allowed to take part in the Treaty negotiations before signing the Treaty.
2. The ‘War Guilt Clause’ required Germany to accept blame for starting the war.
3. Germany was required to pay reparations for the cost of the war, this was set at £6.6 billion.
4. Germany was forced to demilitarise. The army was reduced to 100,000 men, no tanks, no air force, no submarines or large battleships allowed. No troops allowed in the Rhineland. alla
5. Germany lost territory - Alsace and Lorraine to France, Silesia to Poland, Danzig became a ‘free city’.
6. Germany was not allowed to join the newly formed League of Nations.

Question 3

Reasons why many Germans opposed the treaty of Versailles

Answer 3

1. Many Germans viewed the Treaty as an unfair ‘diktat’ as they had not been allowed to join in the treaty negotiations.
2. Many Germans felt it was unfair to blame them for starting the war, because they felt they had been forced into the war to defend themselves against encirclement by their enemies.
3. Many Germans felt the reparations bill was too harsh because Germany’s economy was ruined by the war and they could not afford to pay the reparations.
4. Many Germans felt the restrictions on their armed forces was unfair because no other country was demilitarising their armed forces.
5. Many Germans were upset because themselves, or their friends and relatives, were put under the control of foreign powers if they lived in parts of Germany that had been given to other countries or put under Allied occupation.
6. Many Germans felt the Treaty was vindictive and not trying to build a new, peaceful Europe, instead excluding them from the League of Nations.

Question 4

The formation and characteristics of the Weimar Republic

Answer 4

1. A German Republic was declared after the Kaiser was forced to abdicate on 9th November 1919.
2. The Ebert-Groener ‘Telephone Pact’ meant that the German Army was able to run itself in return for supporting the new Republic.
3. A liberal constitution for the new Republic was drawn up in the town of Weimar in July 1919 (Berlin was not a safe city at the time).
4. The Weimar Republic introduced a democratic proportional representation system for general elections.
5. The Weimar Republic reluctantly accepted the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.
6. The Weimar Republic was ruled by a series of short-lived coalition (many party) governments.

Question 5

Reasons why the wear republican was unpopular with many Germans

Answer 5

1. Supporters of the Kaiser were not happy with the new Republic as the Kaiser had been forced into exile.
2. The Weimar Republic appeared weak, as it had to rely on the violent ‘Freikorps’ to keep order.
3. Many Germans were conservative and did not want a liberal constitution.
4. Each Weimar Republic election failed to deliver a stable majority government.
5. The Weimar government was blamed for accepting the Treaty of Versailles.
6. Squabbling between political parties seemed to dominate politics.

Question 6

Attempts to overthrow the Weimar Republic: the spartacist revolt 1919

Answer 6

1. The ‘Spartacists’ were German communists led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg.
2. The Spartacists captured the government’s newspaper and telegraph bureau in Berlin on 5th
   January.
3. However, the Spartacists failed to capture any other government buildings.
4. The Freikorps crushed the Spartacist revolt on 13th January.
5. 100 Spartacists and 13 Freikorps were killed.
6. Liebknecht and Luxemburg were murdered.

Question 7

The beer hall putsch 1923

Answer 7

1. The Beer Hall Putsch was carried out by Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party, with the support of General Ludendorff.
2. Hitler, supported by 600 stormtroopers, interrupted a meeting of 3000 German businessmen in a Munich Beer Hall on the night of 8th November.
3. Hitler took the Bavarian Prime Minister, Gustav Kahr, prisoner and forced him to agree to support the putsch, then let him go.
4. The following morning (9th November) Hitler and 3000 Nazis marched into the centre of
   Munich.
5. Kahr had alerted the Weimar government who sent in the police and army to stop the putsch.
6. 16 Nazis and 3 policemen were killed, and Ludendorff and Hitler were both arrested.

Question 8

Economic problems of the Weimar Republic 1919/33: Germanys economic problems 1919-23

Answer 8

1. The mass demobilisation of Germany’s army led to unemployment after the war ended.
2. The naval blockade imposed on Germany after the war led to continued food shortages and poverty.
3. France’s occupation of the Ruhr in 1923 led to the German government printing extra money, triggering hyperinflation in Germany.
4. The hyperinflation led to hourly price
   increases and wiped out the value of fixed incomes and people’s savings.
5. However, those who owed money had the value of what they owed wiped out, so benefited.
6. The hyperinflation was brought to an end by the introduction of a new currency and deflationary policies by the government.

Question 9

Germany’s economic recovery 1924-1928

1. Deflationary 2. Dawes plan 3. I Surpassed 4. Small no. 5. Farming 6. Dancing on a volcano

Answer 9

1. Harsh deflationary policies by the government brought hyperinflation to a halt in early 1924.
2. The 1924 Dawes Plan provided Germany with 800 million marks in loans from US banks and businesses, enabling them to pay reparations and invest in their economy.
3. Germany’s industry recovered and industrial production surpassed World War I levels by
   1928.
4. However, more than half of Germany’s industry was run by a small number of wealthy industrialists and there was a big gap between the poor and the wealthy.
5. The farming sector went into depression as world wide food prices fell after 1925.
6. By 1929 Germany’s economic recovery was looking shaky and unstable, relying too heavily on US loans. Germany’s foreign minister Gustav Stresemann said Germany was “dancing on a volcano.”

Question 10

Germany’s economic problems 1929-1933

1. Wall street 2. B and B called 3. Major b 4. Unemployment 5. Cut ue b 6. Widespread h

Answer 10

1. The Wall Street Crash in the USA in October 1929 ushered in a world-wide Great Depressionwhich hit Germany hard as its export industry slumped.
2. US banks and businesses called in their loans to Germany which deepened the Depression
   in Germany.
3. The major banks in Germany collapsed in 1931, creating a financial crisis.
4. Unemployment rose dramatically, reaching 6 million unemployed by the start of 1933.
5. The government had to cut unemployment benefit which drove people deeper into poverty.
6. The economic problems led to widespread homelessness and hunger as tenants could not pay their rent and were evicted from their homes, and had to rely on soup kitchens for
   food.

Question 11

Reasons why Germany had economic problems 1919-1933

1. Borrowed 2. T of V took 3. Reparations 4. Ruhr 5. Based on US and ei 6. pursue austerity

Answer 11

1. Germany had borrowed heavily during World War I and found itself deeply in debt by the end of 1918 - this made it hard for the German government to invest in economic recovery as the debt had to be serviced
2. The Treaty of Versailles took some of Germany’s most valuable territory - including the industrial Saar region and the coalfields of Silesia - away from Germany. This made it hard for Germany to produce an economic surplus and sell it abroad.
3. Reparations were so unpopular that the German government did not dare the increase taxes or cut spending as they would be accused of putting reparation payments ahead of the needs of the German people - so the inflation rate increased and was not checked.
4. When the French army occupied the Ruhr in January 1923, the German government ordered ‘passive resistance’ by the Ruhr workers, and printed extra money to pay their wages and reparations to France - which triggered the hyperinflation.
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5. Germany’s economic recovery during 1924-29 was based on US loans and Germany’s export industry, but this meant that it was especially vulnerable to the world wide Great Depression that followed the 1929 Wall Street Crash.
6. The German government opted to pursue austerity policies during the Great Depression, raising taxes, cutting wages and reducing unemployment benefit. This deepened the effects of the Depression on the German people.
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