Paper 1- Germany Flashcards
What is a republic?
A country without a king
What were the social problems of the the war on germany?
- women worked in factories- damaging to traditional family values and society as a whole
- huge gaps between living conditions of the rich and poor
- deepened divisions in society
- the war left 600,000 widows and 2million children without fathers
How many widows did the war leave?
600,000
How many children were left without fathers after the war?
2 million
What were germanys economic issues after ww1?
- virtually bankrupt
- german workers bitter at the restrictions placed on their earnings during the war, while the factory owners made fortunes from the war
- industrial production was about 2/3 of what it had been in 1913
- national income was about 1/3 of what it had been in 1913
What were the political problems that came out of the war?
- many ex-soldiers and civilians despised the New Democratic leaders
- germany had a revolution and became an unstable democratic republic
- stresses of war led to a revolution in October- November 1918
What is a democracy?
When you vote for the political leader.
The amount of votes=the amount of seats
What is the Weimar Republic?
The party that were in power over Germany after WW1
When was the weimar republic in power?
1919-1933
What is a proportional representation used for?
The voting system in germany
What is coalition?
When more than one party is in charge (joined together)
What is a constitution?
A set of laws/rules that govern the running of a country
Who is the Kaiser?
The German king
What is the Reichstag?
The parliament of germany
What is the chancellor in charge or?
The day-to-day running of the government
What is the role of the president?
To rule in crisis
What is article 48?
The article in the constitution which gave the president power over the people
Who is hindenburg?
The president from 1925-1934
What was the Treaty of Versailles?
The agreement that Germany had to sign after losing WW1 (set up june 1919)
What were the reparations?
The money that the germans had to repay for the war (£6,600 million)
What was the impact of WW1 on Germany?
- germany was in famine due to the naval blockade
- people were dying in thousands from the Spanish Flu
- people were desperate and were rioting in the streets
- the politicians called for a revolution
- Kaiser Wilhelm lost all control and fled in exile
- germany and was now a republic
What was the hyperinflation?
When money became worthless as prices rose after the german economy was in trouble. 1923
What is the Ruhr?
The area and that the french invaded in 1923
Who was Gustav Streseman ?
The chancellor of Weimar Republic
What is the League of Nations?
The world parliament
What is the young plan? 1929
The plan to extend the US loans
What was the Wall Street Crash?
In 1929 the stock market crashed in the US
What was the Locarno Plan ? (1925)
Streseman agreed the boundaries and borders of Germany
How many germans suffered from malnutrition after the war?
300,000
Who were the Freikorps?
Ex soldiers who believed in old methods not democracy
What was the Sparticists Revolt?
- 1918-1919
* threat from the left wing (communists)
Who was the Sparticists revolt led by?
Karl Liebkrecht and Rosa Luxemburg
Who also helped the Sparticists in the revolt?
The rebel soldiers and sailors helped as they set up soviets in many towns
What happened in the Sparticists revolt?
- Ebert (political leader of Weimar) made an agreement with the commanders of the army and the Freikorps to put down the rebellion.
- in the fight between the Freikorps and the Sparticists, the Freikorps won
- Liebkrecht and Luxemburg were murdered
- the revolution had failed
What was the Kapp Putsch?
- 1920
* threat from the right wing (nationalists+freikorps)
Who led the Kapp Putsch?
Dr Wolfgang Kapp
Who else took part in the Kapp Putsch?
Dr Wolfgang Kapp led 5000 Freikorps into berlin in a rebellion
What happened with the Kapp Putsch?
- Dr Wolfgang Kapp led 5000 Freikorps into berlin in a rebellion
- they delcared strike- capital comes to a halt
- supported by the richer people in society
- after a few days of rebellion Kapp realised he couldnt succeed- leaves country
- accused of stabbing Germany in the back twice
What was the role of the president?
To appoint judges, appoint the chancellor and to control armed forces
How many years were there between each president election?
7
How many years between each reichstag election?
4
Who were the electrolates?
The people.
What is “annus horribilis) about? What does it mean?
- means horrible year
* hyperinflation
Why was the hyperinflation especially bad for pensioners?
Because pensions are fixed so the value of their pensions would go down!
What was the reason for hyperinflation?
- the economy was doing very bad after the war
- prices began to rise
- inflation rises so much that the government tried to print more money to try and solve it
- more money printed= the less valuable it becomes
- this caused HYPERINFLATION
Why was the kapp putsch bad for the economy?
The government still had to pay the workers who weren’t making any money
Why did the invasion of the ruhr happen?
Because france did not believe that Germany could not pay the reparations and they were trying to make sure they paid.
How much was money worth during the hyperinflation?
- in 1919- $1=9marks
- in nov 1923- $1=200billion marks
- one egg cost 80million marks at one stage
What does gargle stand for?
German Land Armed forces Reparations Guilt League of Nations Empire
What does LAMB stand for?
Land
Armed forces
Money
Blame
What were the outcomes of the treaty of versailles on the army?
- German army limited to 100,000 men
- conscription banned- all servicemen had to volunteer
- no armoured vehicles, subs or military aircrafts were allowed
What were the outcomes of the treaty of versailles on the land?
- germany lost all its over seas colonies
- germany lost 10%of its land
- germany was split into two parts
What were the outcomes of the treaty of versailles on the money in germany?
- had to pay reparations of £6,600 million (100billion german marks)
- they lost 20%of their coal
- lost 42% of its iron factories
Why were the Weimar Government blamed for losing the war?
They signed germanys surrender in 1918
How did the Weimar Republic try to stop france?
By refusing to work for them until they left Germany
Who led the munich putsch?
Hitler &the nazis
What was the munich putsch?
- hitler and the nazis trying to take over munich.
* hitler put in prison- only a small amount of time as judge agreed
How had the weimar recovered after 1923?
- gustav stresemann- skilful politician solved germanys early problems
- dawes plan- reparations were spread out longer, 800million marks of US loans helped factories
- new currency- the reichsmark was much more stable than old currency
- joined peace treaty in 1925 with france
- invited into league of nations in 1926
- young plan- extended loans and decreased payments
- cultural revival- music, architecture etc flourished
How had the german currency changed?
- 1923- deutsch mark
- 1924- renten mark (temporary)
- 1925- reichsmark
Who formed the new government in 1923? And what did they do to improve germany?
Gustav stresemann formed a new government.
•he stopped printing worthless paper money in nov 1923
•he created the rentenmark
•he called off the resistance against the french occupation by german workers in the Ruhr. This helped the herman economy in its economic recovery.
What were the events of the munich putsch in 1923?
- hitler and the nazis tried to seize control of the Bavarian Government.
- the plan was to capture Munich
- on nov 8th at a political meeting at the Munich Beer Hall, Hitler forced Kahr (head of Bavarian Government) at gunpoint to join him
- on nov 9th bavarian police open fired on the nazis killing 16 nazis
- ludendorff (former ww1 general - now nazi supporter) and hitler were arrested
How was it clear that hitlers views had some support in germany after the munich putsch?
- many nazi supporters recieved light or minimum sentences
- hitler served his sentance in Landsberf Fortress (comfortable stay)
- hitler published Mein Kampf