Lesson One

Question 1

Which system of government has Imperial Germany been since its foundation in 1871?

Answer 1

Imperial Germany had been an autocracy, a system of
government in which supreme power was concentrated on one individual, in Germany’s case this was
Kaiser Wilhelm II.

Question 2

Why did General Ludendorff press for a dramatic change towards a more democratic
system of government?

Answer 2

1. One of the main demands made by American President Woodrow Wilson was that Germany make
   a step towards a democratic form of government before peace negotiations could begin.

2.Ludendorff hoped to undermine
growing revolutionary sentiment in Germany that was
inspired by the communist ideological revolution in
Russia.

3. Ludendorff could effectively save
   face for the Imperial Army by providing a scapegoat for
   Germany’s defeat. It was the new leadership that would
   absorb the blame for the loss of the war

Question 3

What was Weimar’s structure of government?

Answer 3

Germany was divided into 17 regional states, the people of which would vote for a national president (the head of state) every seven years. The elected president would work as a counterbalance to the other political force the
parliament, named the Reichstag, which was made up of elected representatives from political parties.

Question 4

How did proportional representation create challenges to the Weimar republic?

Answer 4

It created a lot of very small political parties in parliament, many of which had extremist views. The extremist views of these small parties made it unlikely that they would ever agree on key issues of government and so no
new laws could be passed and very little could get done.

Question 5

How did Article 48 create challenges to the Weimar republic?

Answer 5

The 48th article of the Weimar Constitution granted the president rights to the supreme command of the armed forces, the ability to appoint the chancellor of the Reichstag and to completely dissolve the Reichstag should he wish.

Question 6

How did Germany’s right-wing past create challenges to the Weimar republic?

Answer 6

The officers of the old imperial army that maintained their positions in the new democratic army of the Reichswehr were sympathetic to the right wing groups and were less inclined to defend the democratic government of the republic.

Question 7

What was the Nature of Support for the Weimar Constitution?

Answer 7

1. Back in 1919 the new system of government was lauded as one of the most advanced and modern systems in the world.
2. Despite this, imperialist Ideologies in Germany was kept alive by believing in the ‘stab-in-the-back’ myth.