Life in Germany 1918 - 1933: A Troubled Republic Flashcards
What were the five main problems of the Weimar Republic?
- People blamed the Weimar Republic for losing the First World War. This was called the “stab in the back” myth.
- The Treaty of Versailles made people think the Weimar Republic was weak.
- Proportional representation forced big political parties to do deals with little ones.
- Political violence made the country look unstable and vulnerable under the republic and destabilised the country.
- Article 48 of the Weimar constitution allowed chancellors and presidents to rule without the consent of the Reichstag which undermined faith in democracy.
What were the four main conditions of the Treaty of Versailles? When was it signed?
The four parts of the treaty can be summarised as LAMB. It was signed in 1919
- Land: Germany lost 13% of its land including areas with important raw materials such as coal.
- Army: Germany’s army was reduced from 1.75 million to 100,000.
- Money: Germany had to pay £6.6 billion in reparations,
- Blame: the ‘war guilt’ clause forced Germany to accept blame in causing the war.
What and when were the four main incidents of political violence during the Weimar Republic?
1919: The Spartacist Rising
- The Spartacist League were communists who wanted a revolution.
- They were crushed by the Freikorps quickly.
1920: The Kapp Putsch
- Because the treaty of Versailles mandated an army of only 100,000 the right wing military group Freikorps had to be dissolved
- The Freikorps disobeyed and attempted to overthrow the government, however the German public responded with a general strike so the Freikorps had to relinquish power.
1920: The Red Rising in the Ruhr
- A communist army of 50,000 occupied the Ruhr because of the Kapp Putsch.
- However when the Weimar Republic returned the strike hadn’t stopped.
- The Freikorps obliterated them with 1000 communists dead.
1923: The Munich Putsch:
- Hitler’s party of 50,000 Nazis and the SA thought they could take control over Germany because of the perceived weakness the the Weimar Republic.
- Hitler and 600 SA members interrupted a Bavarian government meeting to announce their takeover of the government.
- The next day 3000 Nazis (including Hitler) marched through Munich but the police broke it up.
- Because of poor planning it failed in the short term. However during Hitler’s trial the judge was very sympathetic towards Hitler and gave him lots of publicity. Thanks to this Hitler only served 9 months of his 5 year sentence in prison, where he changed his tactics and wrote Mein Kampf.
What were five points from the Nazi party’s 25 point programme?
- All German-speaking people should be united.
- Remove the Treaty of Versailles and stop paying reparations.
- Share profits made by profiteers during the war.
- Form a central government with unrestricted authority (therefore no other parties).
- Take over land in Eastern Europe to feed Germany’s population.
How did the Hitler become the leader of the Nazi party?
1918: Hitler felt like he had been “stabbed in the back” by the Weimar government due to the treaty of Versailles
1919: Hitler was sent by the army to spy on the German Worker’s party; he liked it so much he joined. It only had 55 members at the time.
1920: Hitler gets more involved with the party and renames it to the National Socialist German Worker’s party. Hitler wrote the 25 point programme.
1921: Hitler’s ability for public speaking is noticed and he challenges for the position of leader of the party and succeeds.
How many members did the Nazis have in 1923?
55,000
Why was 1923 such an awful year for Germany?
- The invasion of the Ruhr by French and Belgian troops because Germany had missed a reparations payment led to the Weimar Republic encouraging peaceful protest.
- Catastrophically, the government printed money to keep paying the striking workers and caused a massive bout of hyperinflation, making money worthless.
- The Munich Putsch also happened, destabilising Germany and making Hitler a household name.
- Stresemann was appointed chancellor at this time, partly because of all this chaos.
What were the positives and negatives of hyperinflation?
Positives:
-People with debt found it easy to pay off, including businessmen.
Negatives:
- People with fixed incomes quickly sank into poverty.
- Anyone with savings saw them become worthless.
- Shopping and doing business became very difficult due to how fast the value of money was changing.
- People lost confidence in the Weimar government.
- People died
When were the ‘Golden Years’?
1924 - 1929
What did Stresemann do to create the golden years? Outline each strategy, including the bad parts.
- Stresemann solved hyperinflation by replacing old currency with Rentenmark. However people had still lost their savings and did not forget their experiences.
- In 1924 Stresemann had negotiated the Dawes plan which gave Germany more time to pay off debts and brought in loans from the USA. Unfortunately this meant that Germany was ‘dancing on a volcano’ and was very dependant on the US economy.
- The Locarno pact was signed because of Stresemann in 1925 which accepted the borders of the Treaty of Versailles and promised to keep the Rhineland demilitarised. This made Germany popular with France, but at home people thought Stresemann should have negotiated a more favourable deal.
- Stresemann joined the League of Nations in 1926, meaning Germany became involved in major international decisions and increased peaceful dialogue between countries. However people in Germany often felt hostile to the European countries they had had just been fighting.
- The Young Plan in 1929 meant that Germany had longer to pay off reparations. People still thought that Germany shouldn’t pay reparations and that the Young Plan only extended the time of payments.
How did the Nazis gain support before 1928?
- Change of tactics after Munich Putsch to be elected
- Ideas appealed to disgruntled Germans, especially the way Hitler delivered these ideas
- Propaganda led by Joseph Goebbels involved posters, political magazines and newspapers.
- The SA that was set up in 1921 interrupted the meetings of other parties whilst using violence and intimidation. This made people praise the Nazis for their organisation although many others disliked the violence.
- Youth organisations such as Hitler youth and the League of German Maidens indoctrinated youth.
Why had only 3% of the German population voted for the Nazis in 1928? (4 reasons)
- 1924 to 1929 were the “Golden Years” and the Nazi’s were only appealing in times of distress.
- The working class did not support the Nazis because of the efforts of the Social Democratic party and the Communist party.
- Hitler was banned from speaking until 1928 because of the Munich Putsch so he couldn’t convince anyone to vote Nazi.
- Many Nazi ideas were seen as too extreme such as invading other countries, banning other parties, using violence as a form of control and hating Jews.
How well did the Nazi party do in elections after 1929?
- In 1930 Nazis won 18% of the vote
- In July 1932 they won 37% of the vote, making them the biggest political party.
Why did the Nazis become so popular after 1929? (8 short points)
- The Great Depression
- Nazi promises became what people wanted to hear
- Fear of communism
- Hitler’s leadership, charisma and public speaking ability
- Nazi propaganda
- Local organisations
- Weak opposition
- Political problems
What were the effects of the Wall Street Crash of 1929?
- USA loans were recalled, but German companies couldn’t pay them so many went bankrupt.
- Because so many companies bankrupted millions lost their jobs.
- Unemployment caused a low demand for goods, deepening the depression.
- Unemployment reached 6 million in 1932 (around 11%)
