key topic 1•the weimar republic, 1918-29

Question 1

Armistice

Answer 1

The agreement to end hostilities in war

Question 2

Coalition government

Answer 2

Two or more political parties joining to form a government when no single political party gets a majority of the seats, in order to have sufficient support to pass laws

Question 3

Constitution

Answer 3

The basic principles according to which a country is governed

Question 4

Proportional representation

Answer 4

The number of votes won by a party determines the number of seats they get in parliament

Question 5

Weimar Republic

Answer 5

The republic that existed in Germany, 1919-33

Question 6

Kaiser Wilhelm

Answer 6

The last German Emperor, ruling from 1888 to 1918

Question 7

Freikorps

Answer 7

Private armies set up by German army officers at the end of the First World War; mainly consisted of ex-soldiers

Question 8

Hyperinflation

Answer 8

Extremely high inflation, where the value of the money plummets and it becomes almost worthless

Question 9

Putsch

Answer 9

An attempt to seize power by force

Question 10

Reparations

Answer 10

War damages (money) to be paid by Germany to countries it had fought against

Question 11

Spartacists

Answer 11

A Communist group who wanted to create a Communist state

Question 12

‘Stab in the back’ theory

Answer 12

The belief that Germany could have won the war and that politicians had stabbed the army in the back at the end of the war

Question 13

Treaty of Versailles

Answer 13

The peace treaty ending the First World War, signes on 28 June 1919

Question 14

Dawes Plan

Answer 14

Introduced in 1924 to restructure Germany’s annual reparations payments

Question 15

Kellogg-Braind Pact

Answer 15

International agreement to solve all disputes peacefully

Question 16

League of Nations

Answer 16

International body established after the First World War to maintain peace

Question 17

Locarno Pact

Answer 17

Series of agreements guaranteeing Germany’s frontiers with neighbouring countries

Question 18

Retenmark

Answer 18

New currency brought in by Stresemann to restore the value of the mark

Question 19

Young Plan

Answer 19

Introduced in 1929 to reduce German reparation payments

Question 20

Gustav Stresemann

Answer 20

In 1919, he became leader of the German People’s party. From August to November 1923, he served as Chancellor of Germany and, later in the same year, he was appointed foreign secretary, a position he held until his death in 1929

Question 21

Bauhaus

Answer 21

An architectural and design movement - means ‘School of Building’

Question 22

Unemployment welfare

Answer 22

Payments made to the unemployed by the state