more facts

Question 1

how was germany ruled?

Answer 1

1871 Prussia was the most powerful germanc state, good army and the best weaponry. when germany was united prussia formed a new basis of the new german army - ruled by the kaiser
the kaiser ruled each state and sent each state to consult new laws with him ( known as the bundersrat)

Question 2

more facts about germany being ruled?

Answer 2

chancellor rather than priminister
the reichstag elected men over the age of 25 to make laws.
the bundersrat discussed these laws too
but the kaiser government had a problem was to ignore there advice and make decisions himself.

Question 3

kaiser Wilhelm II

Answer 3

when he became kaiser britian was the worlds most powerful country - largest empire dominated world trade.
he dreamed of making germany as great as britian so he started to build germanys indursty - indusrialisation
in the industry there were electrical goods and chemicals, which dominated Europe.

Question 4

parliamentary and growth of socialism

Answer 4

many workers unhappy because of low wages and poor working conditions, food too expensive
more pople joined tarde unions and organised strikes to get the kaiser to imporve these conditions.

Question 5

more about growth of socialism

Answer 5

many workers voted for the SDP (social democratic party), they belived in socialism
however many people wanted to go beyond and start a rebellion

Question 6

a place in the sun

Answer 6

many European countries had an extensive oversees empire
kaiser thought Germany should have the same
he wanted germany to be a global power having power over other countries. (known as weltpolitik, world policy)

Question 7

protecting the empire

Answer 7

the kaiser wanted this because he thought it would help germany take over many other countries.
naval laws were introduced between 1898 - 1912 , made german navy increase, huge money helped to achieve this
meant they would be in debt for a very long time

Question 8

germany at war

Answer 8

germany suffered frm the war when britian stopped ships supplying good to germany
this meant food shortages, medicine and clothing
many people grew weary and tired

Question 9

impact of the war

Answer 9

1918 germany was close to collapse people were short on food surviving on turnips and bread,
a flu epidemic swept many people killing them.
in october general lundenford - war hero, leading german army.
told them they would never win and that france britian and america would treat them more fairly if they became more democtaric and thats what the kaiser did

Question 10

mutiny and revelution

Answer 10

28 october 1918 german navy set out to sea from keil in northern geramny to attack british ships.
sailars refused ebcause they didnt want to fight and news of there mutiny begane to spread
the kaiser had lost control and abdivcated on 9 november 1918

Question 11

the end of the war

Answer 11

friedrich ebert the leader of germanys largest political party (sdp) took kaisers place - for temporary
he gave a chance for the germans to vote and if they wanted his as leader.
most importantly he did what alot of pople wanted - to end the war.

Question 12

Revolution in Germany

Answer 12

kaiser left on 9 November 1918
Ebert temporary leader
1st he signed an armistice to end the first war
2nd ordered to improve working conditions, help unemployment, improve housing and allow more food supplies.
he garenteed freedom of speak,religion and arranged elections for a new German parliament
he declared germany would be a democratic country from now on no kiasers

Question 13

the Spartacus and free corps

Answer 13

one political party was the Spartacus league - they believed in communism; wanted germany to be run by small councils of soldiers and workers.
6 january 1919 the spartacists tried to take over Berlin
ebert responded by sending 2000 toughest ex-soldiers (free korps) to attack them. they captured Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Leibkncht, beat them then murdered them

Question 14

the weimar republic is born

Answer 14

january 1919 ebert held the elction, the SDP won the most votes and he was now the new german presisdent.
due to the violence recently he met on the 11 february 1919 in another town called weimar and discussed how germany should be run - this was the start of the weimar republic

Question 15

the structure of the weimar republic

Answer 15

all could vote even women aged 20 or above
weaknesses:
1)proportional representation - lots of political parties were able to win seats in the rechstag. (20 different partys will be arguing over one issue) this made it very hard to introduce new laws and make decisions
2) many groups didnt like the new system of governing at all - the politicians who had lost the war (novembercriminals) were changing the way the country was ruled

Question 16

how was Germany treated?

Answer 16

1) the war was germanys fault so they had to pay reperatuions of £6.6 billion - must be payed to the winning countries until 1988
2) germany should have a small army of 100,000 soldiers, a small navy (6 battleships), no submarines tanks or airforce
3) must hand there colonies to the winning countries
4) large area of german land is to be used to create new countries for people who had been previously owned by others
5) germany must never unite with Austria again
6) no german soldiers must enter the Rhineland, an area of germany next to france

Question 17

germans reactions to the TOV

Answer 17

1) the geramns felt they were being too harsh, they took away large areas of land and had to pay reperations - they felt humiliated
2) germans hated the fact that the treaty had been forced on them. they were ordered to sign it without discussion called diktat - dictated peace
3) many germans felt they didnt actually loose the war

Question 18

reparations

Answer 18

geramny was told to pay 132 billian gold marks or £6.6 billion to the winning countries.
they scraped the first installment of 2 billion gold marks and gave it to france and belgium - as they were the most damaged
some payment was in gold, but most was in goods like coal, iron and wood

Question 19

Germany fails to pay

Answer 19

1922 the next payment is due but the germans announce they arent able to pay it
france and belguim didnt believe them and decided to take force
january 1923 60,000 french and belgium soldiers marched into the Rhur - a rich industrial area of Germany and took control into there own hands

Question 20

hyperinflation

Answer 20

the German government ordered workers to go on strike
to pay for them they had to print out extra money - which caused many problems
the strikers were getting paid for not working and began to quickly spend there money so shopkeepers began to increase there prices
the faster prices went up the faster people spent there wages
the German government and Wiemar politicians lost a lot of support in 1923 since people looked for someone to blame.
peoples savings because worthless

Question 21

different views

Answer 21

many people in germany had differnt views on all this

however, the poeple who intended to reble was the left wing and the right wing people

Question 22

difference between left wing and right wing people

Answer 22

left wing: 
workers should have power and rule the country as a collection of workers councils
there should be equality
change is welcome
anti - right - wing

right wing:
strong leaders should rule over people
there are and should be major differences between class, people and race
own country should be strong and powerful with a large empire
change is not welcome

Question 23

the Kapp Putsch

Answer 23

the first right wing group tried to take over germany was led by a man called wolfgang kapp.
march 1920 he gathered 5000 men (free corps) to take over the capital city, berlin
he wanted to make the army strong again and recover lands taken away by the TOV
Ebert and the rest of the governments fled from Berlin
kapp putsch didnt have the support of workers and they all went on strike
kapp gave in and fled abroad
Ebert and is government returned to berlin

Question 24

red rising in the rhur

Answer 24

when kapp fled abroad left wing workers were still on strike, took over several towns (known as red rising) ebert back in town sent some free corps and soldiers to deal with the rebellion
over 1000 workers were killed