(P2) Weimar Germany Flashcards
When was the Weimar constitution published?
August 1919
What was stated in the Weimar constitution?
- voting rights to men and women over 20
- proportional representation
- bill of rights gave germans freedom of speech
- article 48
What was Weimar’s government like?
democratic, though created instability as there were lots of tiny parties
What was Germany’s government before 1919?
monarchy
Why did the treaty of versailles cast a dark shadow over the weimar republic?
right-wing politicians (including Hitler) spread the idea that German army had not been defeated in war, instead ‘stabbed in the back’ by the November criminals
Who ended WW1?
the November Criminals
Why did German people not like the November Criminals?
they were considered traitors as they signed the armistice, ending the war and introducing the treaty of versailles
When did the French first invade Germany and why?
1923
Germans failed to pay the reparations
What lead to the public support of Hitler?
their hatred of the Treaty of Versailles and Hitler’s promise to destroy it
What were the German’s views of the ToV?
they were outraged by the unfairness, especially by the fact that Germany had not been included in the negotiations
They especially hated that they had to accept the blame
How was the treaty presented to Germany?
as a ‘Diktat’ ( a dictated peace)
When was the start of Germany’s economic meltdown?
1923
When was the Dawes plan introduced?
1924
What was the Dawes plan?
American loans to Germany that helped them pay the reparations
What was Germany’s views of the Dawes plan?
many citizens greatly resented the plan as a way of USA trying to dominate the economy
How many men was Germany’s army reduced to?
100,000
Why was the disarmament point in the ToV unfair?
it only applied to the countries that were defeated
Why was the self-determination principle unfair?
The policy was to let people of one nationality group rule themselves, yet the ToV left millions of Germans living under the rule of foreginers in Czechoslovakia, Danzig, Lithuania and Poland
How big was the Germany communist party?
it was very large, it had close links with the Bolsheviks who led a successful communist revolution in Russia
What was the communist party’s aim?
to take control of Germany’s factories and farms and bring in a Russian-style system government
When did the spartacists uprising happen?
January 1919
named after Spartacus, a Roman slave who rebelled
Who ended the spartacist uprising?
ex-soldiers who formed themselves into a volunteer private armies called Freikorps
Who led the Spartacist uprising?
Rosa luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht
When was the Kapp Putsch
March 1920
Who led the Kapp Putsch
Wolfgang Kapp
What was the Kapp Putsch?
a group of rebels took over Berlin and tried to bring back the Kaiser
How did the Kapp Putsch end?
the army refused to fight the rebels, however it came to an end when the workers of Berlin called a general strike and brought the city to a standstill
When was the first invasion of the ruhr?
1921
