part 1 topic 2 Flashcards
Describe hardships faced by people in Germany during and shortly after the war
- many German people faced starvation due to naval blockades set up by allies which blocked the transport of German goods, leaving many Germans living on turnips and bread
- shortages of medicine and clothing, and thousands were dying from the flu epidemic
- 60,000 war widows and 2,000,000 children without fathers
-wages falling despite extra work workers were doing to support the war: by 1918 miners were earning 60% of their pre-war salary
what caused the german revolution?
-hardships in germany like starvation and influenza
-the russian revolution
-embarassment due to war loss
describe two rebellion events in germany during the war
-1915 500 women stood outside parliament and demanded men come back from the war
-in 1916, 10,000 workers shouted “down with the government
describe 5 events of the revolution post-war to abdication
-29th oct 1918 german sailors at wilhelmshaven refused to follow orders and mutiny (overthrow)
-3rd nov kiel mutiny, sailors mutinied instead of following orders to attack british nacy
-4th nov 1918 40,000 sailors set up a council and take over a dock
-government breaks down soon after in many towns
-7th nov 1918 german workers in bavaria overthrow the local king ludwig iii and declare it a people’s state
-9th nov 1918 kaiser wilhelm ii abdicates and ebert takes over
describe the events of the revolution post-abdication
-Situation was almost a civil war, public protest in Berlin, members of SPD called for Kaiser to resign
- Nov 10th: state leaders appointed by the Kaiser resigned, new revolutionary state governments took over, monarchy was demolished
- Nov 11th: the leader (Friedrich Ebert) signed armistice and ended war. Some people didn’t support; believed Germany could still win
- After abdication of Kaiser, Germany was disorganised, workers, soldiers, and different governments were running towns. A temporary government was established, called the Council of People’s Representatives
describe the impact of the naval blockade
-led to severe food shortages
-293,000 germans died from starvation and hypothermia in 1918
-restricted germany’s ability to trade, especially as they were fighting a war on two fronts, resulted in economic problems as trading was the basis of germany’s economics
significance of the kiel mutiny
-sparked rebellions all over germany
-led to the collapse of the german government (final straw), forcing the kaiser to abdicate
when did the war end and why?
11th november 1918 when germany surrendered and an armistice was agreed
when did the kaiser abdicate?
9th november 1918
which party was ebert the leader of?
SPD
when was the weimar republic officially formed?
july 1919
what was ebert’s first actions as temporary president?
sign the armistice
who were the november criminals?
the people who signed and supported the armistice
why did ebert sign the armistice?
-money and troops were running out
-protests and unrest in major towns
-USA now fighting against them
-germans pushed back by allies at war
-kaiser had abdicated
-ultimately no choice
what was the role of the president in the weimar?
-elected every 7 years
-chooses chancellor and is head of the army
-can dissolve reichstag and call new elections
what was the role of the reichstag in the weimar?
-new german parliament
-members elected every 4 years
-proportional representation
What was the role of the Reichsrat in the Weimar?
-second, less powerful government
-members from each local region sent, not elected
-can delay measures passed by the Reichstag
What were the benefits of the Weimar Republic?
women could vote, voting age lowered to 20, even very small parties were given a voice as long as they got 0.4% of the vote
What was the problem with Proportional Representation?
-even parties with very few votes could get seats
-so it was hard to make any decisions in the Reichstag
-there were sometimes as many as 20 parties meaning there was no strong/clear party to make quick decisions
-mixed governments: coalition governments
What were the problems with the Weimar Republic?
- proportional representation made decision making hard
- when decisions couldn’t be made, the president would suspend the constitution and pass laws without the Reichstag’s consent (Article 48)
- this power was supposed to be used in an emergency, but was a useful way of getting around disagreements and problems in the Reichstag, so was actually undermining the democracy
-never full support of public/army
-extremist parties didn’t like it