Nazi Regime to 1939 - rise of the nazi party & collapse of the Weimar Republix

Question 1

Stages of Germ

Answer 1

Imperial Germany 1871-1918
Weimar Republic 1918-1933
Nazi Germany 1933-1945

Question 2

Brith of Weimar Rep

Answer 2

• 1918-1923
• Left-wing rebellions (spartacist Uprising 1919)
• No public acceptance of forced democracy
• ToV humiliation (Versailles diktat)
• Right-wing rebellions and terrorism (Kapp Putsch 1920)
• Hyperinflation 1923
• Munich Putsch (Hitler and the Nazi Party) 1923

Question 3

Consolidation (Golden Years): 1924-1929

Answer 3

• 1924-1929
• Chancellor & foreign minister GUSTAV STRESEMANN (NO-Stressman!)
• Relative economic prosperity (Dawes & Young Plan)
• Foreign Policy success (Locarno Part, LoN)
• Weimar society and culture (Berline becomes the centre of European art,, theatre, music, filmmaking and literature)
• Death of Ebert, Hindenburg becomes President 1925

Question 4

Collapse:1929-1933

Answer 4

• 1929-1933
• Immediate impact of Wall Street Crash & Great Depression
  High unemployment
  Political instability (numerous coalition governments and leaders), rule by Article 48
  Growth and ascension of the Nazi Party

Question 5

KEY EVENTS LEADING TO THE coLLApsE of The WR & the RiSE oF the NAzIS

• Spartacist Uprising

Answer 5

• Communist uprising designed to establish a communist state in Germany and destroy the Weimar republic
• Early Jan 1919 Ebert sacked the popular head of police Emil Eichhorn → workers protests as he was popular in Berlin
• Spartacist league took opportunity to rebel & bring down government

Question 6

KEY

Kapp Putsch

Answer 6

• Attempted coup d’etat to overthrow the Weimar republic
• Its immediate cause was the government’s attempt to demobilise 2 Freikorp brigades
• Wolfgang Kapp formed a gov with Erich Ludendorff & legitimate republican regime fled to southern germany. Within 4 days a general strike by labour unions a refusal by civil servants to follow Kapps orders led to the coup’s collapse
  March 1920

Question 7

Occupation of the Ruhr

Answer 7

Jan 1923, France & Belgium invaded the Ruhr - industrial area of Germany bordering their countries
Region full of factories and coal mines & contained resources the french & belgian intended to use to make up for unpaid reparations
German workers refused to cooperate with France and belgium.
German gov supported the workers, France used own workers, and arrested leaders of the strikes and police → VIOLENCe

Question 8

Hyperinflation

Answer 8

As economy ruined, Allies demanded massive reparations & took control of industry - gods became difficult to obtain and expensive
Gov decided to print more money, which devalued the coin - money easy to get, but prices high
Inflation was so bad the price of an item could change in hours
Workers paid by the hour found their wages worthless because prices had risen since they began their shifts

Question 9

Munich Beer Hall Putsch

Answer 9

8 Nov -9 Nov 1923 hitler & followers staged a failed take over of the gov in Bavaria
Since 1921, Hitler led the Naxi party
In beer hall, shot into ceiling when i’m taking over gov, politicians like kay, he sent them home, they called police, police set up a line, hitler and followers marched onto police line, people killed, hitler injured, hitler hid, arrested few days later
Aftermath of failed coup d’etat hitler convicted of treason & sentenced to 5 years but only served 9 months
Dictated mein Kampf - political autobiography
Putsch and failed trial turned him into a national figure
Still led the NAzi party, but then decided once in prison to get power legitimately

Question 10

THE COLLAPSE OF THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC REASONS

Answer 10

• The Wall Street Crash & the Great Depression
• Proportional representation
• Article 48

Question 11

The Wall Street Crash & the Great Depression

Answer 11

Us economic funding & investment (instigated by the DAWES PLAN) had formed the basis of German economic recovery & prosperity from 1924-1929
Wall Street Crash in October 1929 resulted in the immediate withdrawal of US funds from Germany having catastrophic impact on the German economy
High unemployment, poverty, hunger, evictions and the collapse of businesses caused widespread discontent directed at the government
After a decade where the German people experienced revolution, defeat, political and economic instability, humiliation, the Treaty of Versailles and hyperinflation, the Great Depression was yet another PSYCHOLOGICAL BLOW to the German people who once again blamed the Weimar Government and democracy

Question 12

Proportional representation

Answer 12

Reichstag made up of minority parties forming coalitions to win a majority of seats
Coalitions, often unstable ones, would be at odds with other smaller parties
There was no strong support for the Chancellors, as the President picked the Chancellor, rather than it being the majority party or elected
Constant dissolving of the reichstag and instating of diff chancellors –>people got fed up of voting, convinced democracy was not working
Political instability

Question 13

Article 48

Answer 13

Hindenburg using Article 48 undermined democracy anyway
Article 48 used which undermined democracy —> democracy as a republic not being used anyway —> people’s wishes they had voted the parties in the reichstag not being heard anyway because the Pres just used article 48 anyway