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nazis; early years of weimar republic > key profiles > Flashcards

key profiles Flashcards

1
Q

Prince Max of Baden
1867-1929

A
  • Was a member of the royal house of the Grand Duchy of Baden
  • A former army officer
  • Became President of the Baden section of the German Red Cross in 1914, working to improve conditions for prisoners of war
  • His humanitarian work earned him widespread respect
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2
Q

Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg
1847-1934

A
  • An aristocratic landowner and professional soldier
  • Became a hero after defeating a large Russian army at the battle of Tannenberg in 1915
  • Became chief of general staff in 1916
  • He shifted the blame for the humiliation of Germany’s defeat onto the politicians who took power after the Kaiser’s abdication
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3
Q

General Erich Ludendorff
1865-1937

A
  • Was a key figure, alongside Hindenburg, in the German victories against the Russian army
  • Joined Hindenburg in 1916, engineering the overthrow of the Chancellor (German Prime Minister), Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg
  • Became a member of the military committee which effectively ruled Germany until the end of the war
  • Was an opponent of the New Republic that was established after the Kaiser abidcated
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4
Q

Friedrich Ebert
1871-1925

A
  • Became active in the SPD and was elected to the Reichstag in 1912
  • Became President of the SPD in 1913
  • Led the party into supporting German entry into World War I
  • Expelled the anti-war faction from the party in 1917
  • He became the first Chancellor of the new German Republic in November 1918, and its first President in 1919
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5
Q

General Wilhelm Groener
1867-1939

A
  • Came from Wurttemberg and had had a long and distinguished military career
  • Distinguished himself as an efficient army administrator through his work organising the deployment of troops and ensuring the continuity of vital supplies during World War I
  • Served on both the Western and Eastern fronts
  • After the dismissal of General Ludendorff, he succeeded him as Quartermaster General and Deputy Chief of the General Staff
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6
Q

Philipp Scheidemann
1865-1939

A
  • Was a popular, long-standing member of the SPD, having first joined in 1883
  • Became a Reichstag deputy in 1903
  • Supported Germany’s entry to the war, despite then being the one in favour of a negotiated peace
  • He announced the birth of the New Republic even before the Kaiser had officially abdicated
  • Was Chancellor of the first coalition government in the New Republic from February to June 1919, when he resigned in protest against the harsh terms of the Versailles Treaty
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7
Q

Otto von Bismarck
1815-1898

A
  • Was the Minister-President of Prussia from 1862 to 1871
  • Led Prussia through three wars (against Denmark, Austria, and France), which resulted in the unification of Germany under Prussian domination
  • Continued to serve as Chancellor in the new German Empire from 1871 to 190
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8
Q

Kurt von Schleicher
1882-1934

A
  • An aristocratic army officer
  • Played a crucial role in the political activities of the army in the early years of the Weimar Republic, helping to negotiate the Ebert-Groener Pact
  • Handled negotiations with the USSR on building German arms factories in Russia
  • Was part of Hindenburg’s inner circle of advisers, along with General Groener, and helped steer him towards imposing a more authoritarian style of government
  • He was not a Nazi himself, but saw the benefit of having the mass support from them as the most effective counterweight to the popular support for the SPD and KPD
  • Was largely responsible for the bringing down Bruning’s government in May 1932
  • Attempted to work with Hitler but was murdered by the Nazis in 1934
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9
Q

Hans von Seeckt
1886-1936

A
  • A career soldier who had been placed in charge of the German forces in East Prussia at the end of the war
  • A member of the German delegation to Versailles
  • Was appointed head of the Truppenamt (troop office) which replaced the forbidden army general staff
  • Became Commander of the Reichswehr (army) from 1920
  • Instrumental in disbanding the Freikorps units
  • The army
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10
Q

Gustav Bauer
1870-1944

A
  • Was a trade union official before he entered the Reichstag as an SPD deputy in 1912
  • Was appointed Minister of Labour in the political upheaval of 1918-19, in the cabinets of Prince Max, Ebert and Scheidemann
  • Became Chancellor in June 1919 but forced to resign after the Kapp Putsch in March 1920
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11
Q

George Grosz
1893-1959

A
  • An artist who was influenced by Expressionists
  • Was involved in the Spartacus rising in 1919 and joined the KPD soon after but left in 1922 due to his dictatorial views
  • Opposed to the Nazis and left Germany for the USA shortly before they came to power
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12
Q

Konstantin Fehrenbach
1852-1926

A
  • A leading member of the Centre Party
  • President of the Reichstag 1919-20
  • Became Chancellor in 1920 and led the first cabinet of the new republic that didn’t include the SPD
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13
Q

Joseph Wirth
1879-1956

A
  • A schoolteacher by profession but entered politics as a member of the Centre Party
  • Became Minister of Finance in 1920 before becoming Chancellor in 1921
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14
Q

Wilhelm Cuno
1876-1933

A
  • Was a lawyer and businessman who had no party allegiance
  • Was chosen as Chancellor because it was thought that his business experience would steer Germany through difficult economic times
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15
Q

Karl Liebknecht
1871-1919

A
  • Lawyer by profession
  • Son of one of the founding members of the SPD
  • Had thorough grounding in socialist politics
  • Adopted an anti-war position and was imprisoned in 1916
  • Resumed political activities as Spartacus League lead figure upon release in November 1918
  • Captured by Freikorps January 1919 and tortured then shot when trying to escape
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16
Q

Rosa Luxemburg
1871-1919

A
  • Born in Russian Poland but became a German citizen when marrying Gustav Lubeck
  • Had a long career in revolutionary politics in both Russia and Germany
  • Was involved in the 1905 Russian Revolution
  • Imprisoned in 1916 for anti-war agitation
  • Involved in Spartacist Uprising and was captured, beaten and then shot, her body being thrown into a canal
17
Q

Gustav Noske
1868-1946

A
  • Was a journalist by profession and a leading member of the SPD
  • Played a key role in 1918 in persuading the mutinying Kiel sailors to end their revolt
  • Appointed Minister of Defence in the new republican government
  • Was responsible for using the army and Freikorps to suppress the Spartacist revolt and later left-wing revolts
  • After failure of the Kapp Putsch was forced to resign as Minister of Defence due to pressure from trade unions
18
Q

General Walther von Luttwitz
1859-1942

A
  • Was an army general who had commanded forces on the Western Front
  • Appointed Commander-in-Chief of the army in Berlin
  • Leader of the Freikorps
  • Outspoken opponent of the Treaty of Versailles and was the driving force of the Kapp Putsch
  • Escaped to Hungary as the Putsch failed but returned to Germany in 1924 after being granted an amnesty
19
Q

Wolfgang Kapp
1868-1922

A
  • Had trained in law and worked as a civil servant
  • Attracted to right-wing politics and co-founded the Fatherland Party in 1917
  • Was a monarchist and in 1919 was elected to the Reichstag for the nationalist DNVP
  • Attempted a putsch in 1920 to set himself up as Chancellor but failed and fled to Sweden
  • Returned to Germany in 1922 but died in Leipzig whilst awaiting trial
20
Q

Hugo Haase
1863-1919

A
  • A Jewish lawyer who had become a leading figure in the SPD before 1914
  • Anti-war stance alienated him from the majority of the party
  • Took a leading role in forming the breakaway USPD in 1917
  • During the revolution of November 1918 he joined with the Majority SPD in setting up a new government but resigned in December in protest at the armed suppression of a sailors’ revolt in Berlin
21
Q

Matthias Erzberger
1875-1921

A
  • Entered the Reichstag as a deputy for the Centre Party in 1903
  • Supported the Peace Resolution of 1917
  • Became a member of Prince Max’s government in 1918
  • Led the German delegation to sign the armistice and had signed the Versailles Treaty on behalf of the German government in 1919
  • Reich finance minister from June 1919-March 1920
  • Carried out a major reform of the German taxation system
  • Subject to frequent attacks in the Conservative press
22
Q

Walther Rathenau
1867-1922

A
  • A physicist and chemist by training
  • Entered politics as a Liberal
  • Joined DDP in 1919 and became Minister of Reconstruction in 1921
  • Became foreign minister in 1922
  • Recommended the fulfilment of the Treaty of Versailles
23
Q

Gustav Stresemann
1879-1929

A
  • Leader of the DVP party
  • Was a monarchist at heart but came round to working with republican parties in the Republic
  • Became Chancellor in the Grand coalition in 1923
  • Responsible for the introduction of the new currency and ending hyperinflation
  • Forced to step down as Chancellor in November 1923
  • Continued to serve as foreign minister from 1923 until his death in 1929
24
Q

Gustav Ritter von Kahr
1862-1934

A
  • Was a right-wing Conservative politician who was Minister-President (1920-21) of the right-wing government in Bavaria
  • Stepped down after disagreements with the Reich government
  • Appointed State-Commissioner-General and given wide powers by the Munich government
  • Favoured a strong Bavarian state with its own monarchy and hoped to use the Nazi party to this end
  • Was unwilling to participate in the Beer Hall Putsch of November 1923
  • Spent the rest of his career as president of the Bavarian administrative court
  • Murdered in the Night of the Long Knives in 1934
25
Q

Otto von Lossow
1868-1938

A
  • Was commander of the Reichswehr in Bavaria
  • Was a conservative and favoured a strong national state
  • Refused to obey orders from the Reichswehr Ministry in Berlin, only obeying von Kahr with whom he was plotting to establish a new regime in Berlin
  • Was ready to be patient, unlike Hitler, and how convinced he was by Hitler’s putsch was unknown

nazis; early years of weimar republic (6 decks)

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