Opposition, control and consent: 1918-1989

Question 1

Spartacist uprising:

Answer 1

• January 1919
• Thousands of armed workers took over key governmental buildings
• Inspired by the Bolshevik revolution
• Government fled to the small town of Wiemar
• Friekorps crushed the uprising and executed the leaders
• showed weakness in the government as the army would not co-operate

Question 2

Kapp Putsch:

Answer 2

• March 1920
• Attempt to overthrow the government by Wolfgang Kapp and Freikorps leaders
• Supported by General Ludendorff
• Ebert called workers out on a strike, demanding an end to the Putsch
• Kapp government fell after 4 days of strikes

Question 3

Munich Putsch:

Answer 3

• November 1923
• Inspired by Mussolini’s march on Rome
• Hitler and SA stormed beer hall and announced that the government had been deposed
• Putsch failed as they marched to Berlin, met by the army
• Hitler sentenced to 5 years in prison, only served 9 months

Question 4

What opposition did the Nazi regime face from workers?

Answer 4

• Often passive resistance due to fear of Gestapo
• Anti-Nazi campaigns in the form of pamphlets and literature
• SPD group published “Red Shock Troop” newspaper
• Workers staging lightning strikes that lasted a few hours
• Sabotaged production by working very slowly
• Very effective during wartime

Question 5

What opposition did the Nazi regime face from the youth?

Answer 5

• Not giving the Nazi salute
• Disobedience
• Swing and Jazz music
• General non-conformity
• “Swing Youth” and “Edelweiss Pirates”

Question 6

What active opposition did the Nazi regime face?

Answer 6

• Attempts to assassinate Hitler
• 15 known attempts
• 7 of which were after 1939 by army members or leaders
• All plotters executed immediately if caught
• In 1944, Claus von Stauffenberg left a bomb in a conference room where Hitler was attending a meeting
• Hitler survived with minor injuries

Question 7

What opposition did the Nazi regime face from the Church?

Answer 7

• Hitler set up concordat with the Pope, promising to leave the Catholic Church alone if they did not interfere with German politics
• Pope condemned Hitler’s stance on the Jewish

Question 8

What opposition did the FRG face from the youth?

Answer 8

• Young people objected to the “year zero” principle and wanted to confront Germany’s past
• Adopted the slogan “What did you do in the war, Daddy?”
• Many young people felt genuinely dislocated by the lack of family history as a result of the “year zero” attitude
• Many young people protested about the development of nuclear weapons and the American war in Vietnam

Question 9

What opposition did the FRG face from intellectuals?

Answer 9

• APO came about partly because of the distrust of young intellectuals for the established conservative government
• Left wing intellectuals felt unrepresented
• APO had strong university membership, many of whom supported radical theories about how to oppose the government
• The Socialist Student Union (SDS) protested about the Vietnam war and development of nuclear weapons
• Protested about former Nazis holding positions of power

Question 10

What opposition did the FRG face from terrorists?

Answer 10

• Emergency laws made some groups feel more marginalised and so increased the level of violence by resorting to terrorism
• Regular gun battles with the police
• Most notorious terrorist group was the Baader-Meinhof gang, also known as the Red Army Faction (RAF)
• Trained with Palestinian terrorist group in Jordan (PLO)
• Responsible for bombings in Stockholm and Paris
• Gang leaders called for hunger strikes from prison
• Black September Palestinian terrorist group take Israeli hostages at the Munich Olympics, leading to the creation of GSG 9

Question 11

What was the Ebert-Groener pact?

Answer 11

• 1918
• Agreement that the army would support the new government as long as it opposed the more left-wing ideas of parties in the Reichstag

Question 12

How did the police exert control in FRG?

Answer 12

• BfV and BND set up
• Both entitled to investigate people suspected of working against the Basic Law
• BfV operated only in Germany and reported to the minister of the interior
• BND reported directly to the chancellor and conducted investigations both in Germany and abroad
• Both hampered by the basic law, forbidden to open mail, search homes or tap phones
• Emergency Law led to a drop in the number of open protest
• Allowed police activity that could track down terrorists
• After the shooting at the Munich Olympics, GSG-9 set up as special operations unit

Question 13

Ruhr Uprising:

Answer 13

• 1920
• Large scale worker’s revolt
• Left wing groups
• “Red Ruhr Army”
• 50000 members
• Took control of several towns and factories
• crushed by Freikorps

Question 14

Kiel Mutiny:

Answer 14

• 1918
• German sailors refused to launch an offensive against British fleet
• Mutiny spread to workers and “Soviets” groups of soldiers
• Demanded better working conditions and a change in leadership
• Resulted in abdication of Kaiser