Opposition, Control and Consent 1918-1933

Question 1

How did the Treaty of Versailles cause opposition:

Answer 1

-People viewed the government as stabbing the German people in the back when signing the armistice (they had no idea how badly the war was really going)
- The fact reparations existed caused the opposition to continue throughout the entire era as it was a feature all the way through.

Question 2

How did soldiers worsen the opposition to the WR:

Answer 2

-Many soldiers had returned from war unemployed and with strong feelings of betrayal.
-They would often join political extremist groups e.g. the Spartacists or Freikorps.

Question 3

Extent of left wing opposition:

Answer 3

Spartacist revolt
-took place after USPD chief of police was removed.
-took over several key buildings in Berlin
-forced government to move to Weimar.
-advocated for communist states e.g. Thuringia and Saxony in 1921.

However, the army put down the revolt easily and it did not have popular support - Spartacists only had 2% of seats in RS in 1919.

Question 4

What parts of society did right wing opposition come from:

Answer 4

-Industrialists.
-Monarchists
- teachers (who passed it onto students)

Question 5

Extent of Kapp Putsch:

Answer 5

-1920 attempt by the Freikorp to end the WR.
-Government fled and the Freikorp took over and proclaimed themselves the new government.
-Dissolved the national assembly.
-Dissolved Weimar Constitution.

Only lasted 4 days as Ebert called for strikes which was almost universal.

Question 6

Extent of Munich Putsch:

Answer 6

Hitler and right wing surrounded Munich beer hall where important officials were meeting.
-Announced end of national government and that he and Ludendorff would start a new one.
-Prisoners escaped and Hitler was arrested.

Whilst it seemed a failure, the trial gave Hitler a chance to speak to the nation about issues they were also concerned with. He was only sentenced 5 years.

Question 7

Control:

How did making concessions increase protection for the WR?

Answer 7

Ebert-Groener pact ensured support from the army and right wingers. They would often refuse to help the WR e.g. in the Kapp Putsch and would only help for left wing uprisings (the Ebert-Groener pact also led to more USPD opposition)
Stinnes-Legien Agreement with labour unions and industrialists to deal with KP and used article 48. (offered legislation on labour disputes)

Question 8

Regional control:

Answer 8

Some states e.g. Thuringia didn’t hold elections or adopt the constitution until 1920 - this led to the communists being able to take control in some areas e.g. Bavaria.

-The government had to use Reichsexekution where the army removed the state government and put in place a military government.

Question 9

Lopsided control:

Answer 9

Control upon left wing groups was to a much higher extent than control on right wing groups as the army and the judiciary were unlikely to prosecute right wing groups - out of 356 murders by RW groups, 326 went unpunished whereas used law for the protection of the republic fully against left wing groups and Hitler got minimum sentence of 5 years.

-although the Nazis were banned in 1922.

Question 10

What evidence was there that the people supported the WR?

Answer 10

-Voter turnout in each election was consistently high reaching as high as 84% in 1932.
-People were willing to support it.

Question 11

What support was there from political parties:

Answer 11

SDP consistently supported the constitution. Support varied in other parties e.g. the DVP was the most Lukewarm as well as the centre parties.

However, the fact that some parties supported the constitution was not enough as they were not prepared to actually work together

Question 12

Voter turnout for pro-constitution and anti-constitution parties:

Answer 12

1924: 56% pro, 30% anti.
1932: 35% pro, 58% anti.

Question 13

Support for democracy:

Answer 13

-people favoured the government when presented with something else they liked less e.g., 1923 in Saxony the people welcomed and cheered the Reichsexekution.

They liked the government as a template for democracy more than they actually enjoyed the WR.

In 1924-29 the people accepted the WR and supported parties that supported it. (conversely, when the government failed the people voted the Nazis in)

Question 14

Early support in WR:

Answer 14

-Once people knew defeat was imminent they accepted the Kaisers end and blamed him for the loss of the war.

Question 15

Worker support:

Answer 15

-Stinnes-Legien created ZAG - supported reforms for workers, recognised trade unions, 8 hour work day.
-workers in generals supported the WR due to this - shown by strike in Kapp Putsch.
(workers did show opposition in times of economic hardship however and they turned to the KPD)

Question 16

Middle class support:

Answer 16

-Tended to support more liberal parties.
-Afraid of the power of workers especially since the SPD was in power and favoured the workers
-Tended to support the Nazis.

Question 17

Political Persuasion: How did the government react to the occupation of the Ruhr:

Answer 17

-Create racist ‘black horror’ campaign to create international attention against the French
-Effective against their own people who believed the propaganda but less effective in the long run: French and America defended the troops and the occupation lasted until 1930.

Question 18

Referendum 1929:

Answer 18

-Nationalists ran a smear campaign against the Young Plan:
-The government responded by exposing their lies (‘factual corrections) and the nationalists only gained 14% of vote on a referendum for support for Young Plan.

Question 19

Failure of persuasion:

Answer 19

1929-32: Economic crisis meant that people didn’t believe in democracy as the SPD had failed them as the only party remaining
-The Gov. had lost credibility,

Question 20

Opposition 1924-29:

Answer 20

-No political assassinations.

1924 elections saw some rise for extremism e.g. rise in votes for KPD but this was short lived.
1928 elections saw SPD win lots of seats which led the DNVP to oppose democracy due to its support for socialism. The centre party also became more authoritarian.
-1928 big business were also starting to oppose state abritration in industrial disputes.

Question 21

Why did growth in support for the Nazi’s occur?

Answer 21

-Hitler’s involvement in campaigns against the Young Plan gained him significant industrial support e.g. Hugenburg.
-As unemployment rose, so did SS membership e.g. in 1933 membership was 500k.
-Posters targeted specific people e.g. targeting workers: “work and bread”

-By 1932 Nazis had 40% of vote compared to 18% in 1930.
-Disaster as Hitler was clear he wanted to abolish democracy.

Question 22

Control under Stresemann:

Answer 22

-Stresemann attempted control by creating economic prosperity. Whilst this worked to reduce levels of extremism overall, there was still some opposition. E.g. 6 million Germans opposed Young Plan and there was not overwhelming support for pro democracy parties e.g. 1928 pro democracy parties gained about 50% of the vote.

Question 23

Control under Hindenburg:

Answer 23

1930,31,32 - Hindenburg used article 48 extensively to support Bruning - he also used it to undermine democracy e.g. by seizing the democratically elected SPD government in Prussia.

Question 24

Controlling Extremism 1930-32:

Answer 24

-1930 ban on political uniforms.
-1932 ban on SA and SS.

Compromise with Nazi’s:
-1932 attempts were made to compromise with the Nazis:
Von Schleicher wanted a conservative elite led Government with Nazis in a supporting role.
Von Papen lifted ban on SS and SA and attempted to create a government with Hitler as vice chancellor.
-Von Schleicher also attempted to split Nazis by appointing Strasser, Hitler’s rival in the NP as vice chancellor which failed as he refused.