Key Issue 1 - The Impact of the First World War

Question 1

On what day was the armistice which ended the First World War signed?

Answer 1

11 November 1918

Question 2

Where did the government decide to meet in 1919 because they thought Berlin was too dangerous?

Answer 2

Weimar, hence the eventual name of the new republic

Question 3

What type of government did Germany have in 1919

Answer 3

A democratic, coalition government

Question 4

How often was a new president elected?

Answer 4

Every seven years

Question 5

What was Article 48?

Answer 5

Article 48 meant that the President could suspend the Constitution in an emergency. He could make laws and keep the Chancellor without the support of the Reichstag. Basically it allowed the President to rule by decree without parliament, just like a Kaiser

Question 6

Who could vote?

Answer 6

Men and women over the age of 20

Question 7

Who was the supreme controller of the army?

Answer 7

President

Question 8

How many people formed the Reichstag in:

a) 1919
b) 1933

Answer 8

a) 421

b) 647

Question 9

What could the President do?

Answer 9

Dismiss and call new elections, choose the Chancellor, activate Article 48 and control the army

Question 10

What were the effects of proportional representation?

Answer 10

This produced a large number of parties, which made it difficult to create political stability - no party was able to win a majority

Question 11

When was the Treaty of Versailles signed?

Answer 11

28th June 1919

Question 12

What did the politicians who signed the treaty become known as?

Answer 12

November Criminals

Question 13

Name three territorial terms of the Treaty of Versailles

Answer 13

• all colonies had to be given to the Allied Powers
• Alsace Lorraine was returned to France
• Eupen Malmedy was given to Belgium after a plebiscite
• Saar to be administered by the League of Nations
• Posen and West Prussia given to Poland
• Danzig created a Free City
• no union with Austria (Anschluss)

Question 14

State three military terms of the Treaty of Versailles

Answer 14

• army not to exceed 100000
• no tanks, armoured cars and heavy military permitted
• no military aircraft or submarines permitted
• no naval vessel to be greater than 10000 tons
• Rhineland demilitarised

Question 15

State three financial terms of the Treaty of Versailles

Answer 15

• coal to be mined by France in the Saar
• reparations fixed at £6 billion
• cattle and sheep to be given to Belgium and France
• Germany to build merchant ships to replace Allied ships sunk by U-boats

Question 16

Which groups hated the Weimar government?

Answer 16

Socialists, communists, nationalists, army leaders and those who had run Germany before 1918

Question 17

What part did the army play in controlling uprisings?

Answer 17

The army agreed to support the government against revolution, and in return the government would support and supply the army. Thus Weimar became dependent on the army

Question 18

Who were the Spartacist League?

Answer 18

Led by Karl Liebernecht and Rosa Luxemberg, the Spartacists were a radical communist group who sought to establish a state based on communist ideals

Question 19

How many Spartacists were killed in the December 1918 demonstrations against the government?

Answer 19

16

Question 20

Which government party did the Spartacists eventually become?

Answer 20

The German Communist Party - KPD

Question 21

When was the Spartacist Uprising against Ebert and the Weimar Gorvernment?

Answer 21

6th January 1919

Question 22

How was the Spartacist Uprising dealt with?

Answer 22

Ebert used the regular army and the Friekorps (his private illegal right wing army) to put down the communist rebellion. The leaders of the Spartacists were killed without a trial

Question 23

What caused the Kapp Putsch in March 1920?

Answer 23

The Weimar government announced measure to reduce the size of the army and disband the Friekorps

Question 24

When rebelling, what did the leader, Wolfgang Kapp, stress?

Answer 24

The communist threat, the act of being stabbed in the back by the politicians who signed the Treaty of Versailles and the severity of the treaty

Question 25

How successful was the Kapp Putsch?

Answer 25

Thé regular army supported the Friekorps and so they managed to seize Berlin. However Ebert asked the people of Berlin to go on strike, meaning the Putsch had no support, as it collapsed. Very few people were punished for it.

Question 26

Were there other uprisings?

Answer 26

Soon after the Kapp Putsch there was a communist uprising in the Ruhr, which was brutally put down by the army. Two leading Weimar ministers were assassinated in 1921 and 1922. A putsch in Munich les by Hitler occurred in 1923.

Question 27

How many murders are estimated to have occurred between 1919 and 1922?

Answer 27

376, most of them by the right, however many left wingers were punished

Question 28

What is hyperinflation?

Answer 28

Where the value of money plummets and becomes almost worthless

Question 29

Why did the French occupy the Ruhr in 1923?

Answer 29

Germany couldn’t afford to pay reparations due to hyperinflation, which made the French angry as they needed to pay off their war debts to the USA. They decided to take the goods needed instead of wait for Germany to pay

Question 30

How did Germany react to the French occupation of the Ruhr?

Answer 30

Germany responded with passive resistance, however this resulted in many acts of industrial sabotage taking place. Many German workers went on strike, however some set factories on fire and sabotaged pumps in mines, therefore flooding them. A number of strikers were shot by the French

Question 31

What were the results of the rebellion against the French occupation of the Ruhr?

Answer 31

• united the German people in their hatred of the French
• strikers became the heroes of Germany for standing up to the Treaty of Versailles
• German government supported the strikers and printed more money to pay them a wage
• fewer goods were being produced in Germany
• led to hyperinflation

Question 32

How much was £1 worth in:

a) July 1914
b) Jan 1919
c) Jan 1923
d) Nov 1923

Answer 32

a) 20 marks
b) 35 marks
c) 71,888 marks
d) 1,680,900,000,000,000

Question 33

How did inflation benefit some people?

Answer 33

• businessmen who had borrowed money from the banks were able to pay off these debts
• serious food shortages led to a rise in prices of food which helped farmers
• foreigners in Germany had a huge advantage in terms of currency conversion rates

Question 34

Who became Chancellor in the summer of 1923?

Answer 34

Gustav Stresemann, who began to steady things and introduced a new currency