Kaiser Wilhelm Factual Recall (Germany) Flashcards
Germany united in which year?
1871
Most powerful state in Germany?
Prussia
What could the Kaiser do?
Could make all the military and foreign policy decisions and could ignore advice from the Chancellor
What could the Chancellor do?
They could officer advice to the Kaiser and was the “chief minister”
What where the Bundesrat?
They were representatives from each state
What were the Reichstag?
They were a parliament elected by men over 25 which could debate laws drawn up by the Kaiser
Give 2 things that could show Germany was successful at this time.
-Building and empire
-Industrialising and double production of iron and coal
-Became 2nd largest economy in the world
What does Weltpolitik mean?
World Politics and becoming a world power and building an empire
Give 2 groups that did not like Wilhelm II in Germany.
-Communist
-SDP
-Trade Unions
What was the result of the Naval laws?
Between1898 and 1912 huge amounts of money were spent on expanding the navy
Why did the Kaiser want a large navy?
To protect the county and the empire
How was the navy paid for?
Tax and borrowing which left them in debt
How did Germans react to the outbreak of World War One?
They were very enthusiastic about the war
What was the economic impact of the war on Germany?
Owed vast amounts of money that it had borrowed to pay for the war
What was the political impact of the war on Germany?
Mutiny and revolution all over Germany. Many felt betrayed by the government.
What was the social impact of the war on Germany?
Some factory owners made a fortune while workers had restrictions on their wages. Many woman worked.
What happened to the Kaiser at the end of the war?
He abdicated (resigned) and left the country
What was the Weimar Republic?
A new democratic Germany with no monarch and in which those over the age of 21 could vote
The name of the first President of the Republic who was from the SDP.
Friedrich Ebert
What is a constitution?
A legal agreement about how a country should be run. A set of rules and responsibilities.
What is meant by proportional representation?
One person/One vote.
Parties allocated seats based on % of votes received. Lots of different parties were able to win some seats in the Reichstag but it was hard for one party to win a majority of seats and form a government.
What was Article 48?
Article 48 was the part of the Weimar Constitution which enabled the president to take emergency powers if he believed there was a crisis
What and when was the Sparticist uprising?
January 1919- An uprising of communists, led by Rosa Luxenbourg, which aimed to overthrow the new Weimar Republic
Treaty of Versailles- what were the military terms?
Massive reduction in size of army, no tanks or aircraft or submarines
