Opposition to Government 1918-32

Question 1

what did bismarck say which gained him the name of Iron Chancellor

Answer 1

“Eisen und Blud”- iron and blood
-thought that strong prussia can only be achieved through war

Question 2

what does “weltpolitik” mean

Answer 2

-means world politics
-popular word in 1890-1914
-meant that germany had to assert itself on the international stage to “claim its place in the sun”

Question 3

when was the Kiel mutiny

Answer 3

November 1918

Question 4

what happened in the kiel mutiny

Answer 4

-german sailors at Kiel believed Kaiser and army leaders were using the navy to undermine peace negotiations
-sailors took control of their base and wanted an end of the monarchy
-led to strikes across major cities, didn’t support the new democracy
-they set soviet councils taking over government factories and towns

Question 5

when was the spartacist uprising

Answer 5

january 1919

Question 6

what happened in the spartacist uprising

Answer 6

-the revolution became a strike
-people barricaded berlin to protect the new revolutionary government
-Sparticus League wanted to replace capitalist government with soviet workers and soldiers
-led by rosa and karl

Question 7

how did the spartacist uprising end

Answer 7

-Ebert wanted to restore authority of his government
-Ebert used defence minister Gustav Noske to use the army to crush left revolutionaries
-Freikorps used brutal force to end the rebellion
-Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebnecht killed

Question 8

when was the Kapp Putsch

Answer 8

March 1920

Question 9

what happened in the Kapp Putsch

Answer 9

-disarmament and demilitarisation from the TOV caused anger from war veterans
-new government was reducing size of army since 1919
-march 1920 government disbanded marine brigade near berlin
-General Ludendorff and Wolfgang Kapp thought that disbanding the brigade so close to berlin made them unstable and vulnerable, thought that they would rebel and overthrow the government
-Walther Von Luttwitz (right wing) demanded end of demilitarisation but Ebert refused
-12000 members of Freikorp marched on berlin and occupied government buildings

Question 10

how did the Kapp putsch end

Answer 10

-Ebert and other ministers forced to flee berlin, Kapp announced a new government with him as the new chancellor
-Kapp putsch lacked support and most of the army stayed neutral
-Ebert called for strikes to show the lack of support and to defeat the Putsch
-pustch collapsed after 4 days
-Pustch leaders fled to Sweden, captured were treated leniently

Question 11

when was the ruhr uprising

Answer 11

march 1920

Question 12

what happened in the ruhr uprising

Answer 12

-communists in ruhr formed army (Red army) of 50,000 who controlled parts of the ruhr for several weeks

Question 13

how did the ruhr uprising end

Answer 13

-government relied on Freikorps to crush the uprising leading to deaths of 1000 workers
-led to other uprisings by radical lefts such as march 1921 KPD supported the uprising in Merseburg in hopes of communist revolution, crushed by army causing 145 deaths
-1923 during hyperinflation, KPD attempted a communist government in Saxony, overthrown again by army

Question 14

when was the munich putsch

Answer 14

november 1923

Question 15

what happened in the munich putsch

Answer 15

-Hitler thought 1923 a perfect time to gain power due to economic turmoil
-Hitler planned to make a “national revolution” and hoped the army in Munich and Bavaria would back him as he had the support of General Ludendorff
-wanted Ludendorff as president and him as Chancellor

Question 16

how did the munich putsch end

Answer 16

-Ebert declared a national state of emergency and ordered General Seeckt to use the army to crush them
-Hitler and Ludendorff put on trial for treason
-Hitler used his trial in Feb 1924 as a way to criticise Weimar
-Hitler sentenced to 5 years but only served 9 months

Question 17

how big was the threat of the munich putsch

Answer 17

-showed that judges revealed sympathy towards right wing
-huge threat as ebert had to announce national emergency, not just within a city
-had to again face support from army

Question 18

how big was the threat of the ruhr uprising

Answer 18

-big threat as government had to rely on Freikorps to crush them despite their uprising that happened in the same month
-showed fractured nature of german politics, both left and right were a threat

Question 19

what was the common belief about democratic politicians by the end of the war

Answer 19

“stabbed germany in the back”
Dolschstoss

Question 20

what did the treaty of versailles lead to

Answer 20

-loss of territory, lost alsace lorraine to france
-lost 1 million germans to poland
-lost empire and national pride, colonies in africa and asia given to league of nations
-germany forced to accept war guilt
-had to pay reparations
-forced to disarm and militarise
-army reduced to 100,000 men, no aircraft or tanks
-rhineland demilitarised

Question 21

why was their resentment to the TOV

Answer 21

-germans viewed the loss of land as unjust as they had never been invaded or occupied, most of german army on french or belgian land and they saw no reason to surrender territory
-people took pride in the empire and it was taken away, humiliated
-rejected reparations as they believed they were fighting a defensive war
-viewed demilitarisation as humiliation, soldiers had fought bravely and it punished them for fighting for their country
-they could never be a powerful nation again

Question 22

Why did nazi support grow in 1929

Answer 22

-hitler was involved in 1929 referendum against the young plan, he gained contact with Hugenburg who led powerful newspapers that hitler could use to spread nazism
-unemployment rose and so did membership is SA, 1933 it totalled 500,000, this helped to extend their influence as their involvement against communism persuaded business leaders to support them
-propaganda used to target audiences e.g. promised work and bread to working class, anti communist messages to middle class

Question 23

What were signs of opposition to the republic in 1924-29

Answer 23

-elections of may 1924 showed increased support for extremists ( KPD And DFVP ) but elections later showed increased support for moderate parties
-1928 elections showed rising support for left wing and SPD, DNVP then turned against democracy as they thought this would lead to socialism
-1928 big businesses opposed government right to arbitrate in industrial disputes, 1928 Ruhr industrialists refused to accept it
-industrialists sacked 220,000 workers and showed their willingness to oppose socialist led government

Question 24

How many members were in the SA in 1933

Answer 24

500,000

Question 25

What was Nazi vote in 1930- 32

Answer 25

1930- 18.25%
1932- 37.27%