Nazi Germany Flashcards
What is a republic
A country governed by an elected parliament.
What were the two weakness of the Weimar republic? (elaborate on them)
Proportional representation; this meant there were lots of parties in the Reichstag (who all disagreed) which made it difficult for the Government to pass laws
Article 48; the president could use this to pass laws without the agreement of the Reichstag. (screws up the democratic system as it gives the president too much power)
What was the Reichstag?
The Reichstag were the German parliament, they voted laws and were elected by the public.
How is the job of the President different from the chancellor?
The chancellor controls the day-to-day running of the country, the president controls the armed forces whilst
When was the armistice signed?
11th November 1918
What was the stab in the back theory?
The stab in back myth was the belief that Germany could have won the war, had the army not been stabbed in the back by its politicians when they signed the armistice. When the armistice was signed it shocked the German public because the Kaiser had told them they were winning and they didn’t understand why/how they had surrendered, so they blamed the government for their defeat.
Who were the November Criminals
The Weimar Government was called this for signing the armistice, it shows how much the public disliked them
Why was the stab in the back theory so popular amongst soldiers
The soldiers had thought they had been winning and victory was close and were unsure about how defeat had happened (blamed politicians for letting them down). The soldiers had also given a lot to the cause (nearly 1.7m soldiers died) when they came home they felt at unease with themselves and positions in the new Germany (government reform)
When was the Treaty of Versailles signed?
The treaty of Versailles was signed on the 28th of June 1919
Why were France so keen to claim huge reparations?
A lot of fighting of WW1 had gone on in France and parts of country were bombed out and damaged, with many villages and factories destroyed. They had a high death tolls (1.3m) with nearly an entire generation of men being killed
What sort of peace treaty did Britain want?
Britain wanted to punish Germany to some extent however they also wanted to allow Germany to recover as traders, by creating a fair treaty that wouldn’t harm their economy too much or incite vengeance.
How was Britain affected by WW1?
Britain wasn’t invaded but lost 750, 000 men and had huge debts (buying arms from America)
What did Germany think about the Treaty?
Germans felt humiliated by the treaty and that they had no say (had agreed to armistice based on Wilson’s 14 points which were scrapped by allies) this enforced stab in the back myth. Germany felt black mailed into accepting the treaty.
What were the terms of the Treaty of Versailles? (think LAMB)
> Land; Germany had to give up all colonies,
13% of land was removed (including all resources);
-Return of Alsace-Lorraine to France
-Poland given ‘corridor’ to sea, cutting East Prussia off from the rest of Germany
-Saar (coalfields) given to France
-Germany forbidden to unite with Austria
Rhineland was demilitarized
> Army;The German army was reduced from 1.75m to 100,000, the navy was also
No aircraft or submarines
> Money; Had to pay 132b marks (£6.6b) of reparations
> Blame; Germany had to accept blame for starting the war
Name all the key revolutions that happened in Germany in the 1920s?
Kapp Putsch 1920
The Red Rising 1920
The Munich Putsch 1923
(The Spartacist Rising happened in 1919)
What was one reason why people were unhappy with the government in the early 1920s
All the revolutions made the Government seem like it wasn’t working-public had never had these problems under their previous leader the Kaiser.
Who were the the Spartacists?
The Spartacists were a communist group who wanted a socialist revolution in Germany. They were led by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht
What happened in the Spartacists revolution and why did it fail?
In January 1919 the Spartiacists barricaded themselves int Newspaper and communication buildings across Berlin and called for a strike. They were attacked by the Army and Friekorps and their leaders and 100 communists were killed.
- They were too small a group (5000)
- The Uprising was badly planned–Luxembeg&Liebknecht
- disagreed on key points (they were also murdered)
- They didn’t have all the workers support
What was the Red Rising in the Ruhr?
Led by communists, in 1920 50,000 workers went on strike and occupied the Ruhr (main industrial area) for two weeks. The uprising was crushed by the Freikorps and the army in an attack that killed 1000+ workers
-Weak leadership meant message didn’t ‘spread/motivate’
Outline the key events of the 1920 Kapp Putsch…
1) 12,000 right-wingers (ex-soldiers & nationalists) led by Wolfgang Kapp, overthrew the Government.
2) Kapp becomes President
3) The workers go on strike for 4 days; no transport, water, electricity and gas
4) Kapp flees Germany and the Wiemar Government retake control
Why was the Kapp Putsch important?
It made the Wiemar Government look weak as they had been easily overthrown by a group of ex-soldiers. The Kapp Putsch was the ONLY putsch to succeed (didn’t have enough support)
Outline the (4) Key events of the Munich Putsh…
1) Hitler and 600 Nazis broke into a government meeting at a beer hall in Munich (pointless-not Berlin)
2) They took the leader of Bavaria (Kahr) hostage and forced him to support them
3) The Nazis let the Leader go, he withdraws his support and warns the Wiemar Government of their plan
4) The Nazi Party are ambushed by the army
List some of the reasons why the Munich Putsch was a total disaster (5)
1) The uprising was unsuccessful-Nazis were defeated
2) 16 Nazis killed (compared to 3 policemen)
3) Ludendorff (other leader) was arrested
4) Hitler ran away which made him look a coward-was arrested 2 days later for treason
5) Hitler was sentenced to prison and banned from speaking in public until 1927
Why could the Munich Putsch be considered a success? (6)
Hitlers trial gave him lots of publicity;
- Gave him a national platform to speak on and spread his beliefs; became a right wing hero
- Got a lenient jail term-judge was sympathetic (9 months but only served 5)
- Wrote Mein Kampf in prison; the trial’s publicity attracted readers and spread mesage (1 million copies old)
- Hitler realized he couldn’t take power by force (important)
What year was the ‘Year of Crisis’? What were the key events?
1923
Munich Putsch, Invasion of the Ruhr & Hyperinflation
What caused Hyperinflation? (step by step explanation)
1) Germany were struggling to pay the £6.6b reperations (crippled by war-lost assest; Saar)
2) In 1922 Germany default on reparations
3) The French think the Germans are lying so along with the Belgians invade the Ruhr (Germany’s main industrial area)
4) The Weimar Government tell German workers to passively resist the troops (production goes down a 1/5)
5) Because the strike is government led they need to pay the workers
6) The Government print more money to pay workers
7) This influx causes the money to lose it’s worth
8) Hyperinflation
Who did Hyperinflation affect (the worst)
People with savings; their money became worthless over night (mostly middle class)
Pensioners; pensions were fixed so became worthless and they were too old to work
Did anyone benefit from hyperinflation
Those with debts could easily pay of loans as the amount of money owed has stayed the same while the amount of money they had went up
