part 1: weimar democracy Flashcards
where do the spartacists lie?
left wing
who were the spartacists led by?
rosa luxembourg and karl liebknecht
when was the spartacist revolt?
january 1919
3 strengths of spartacists
-money and support from russia
-40,000 members
-published 33 daily newspapers
why did the sparticists revolt?
ebert sacked the police chief of berlin
describe the spartacist revolut
- communist uprising aiming to take over Berlin
- they took control of important buildings like newspaper headquarters, and 50,000 workers went on strike in support
how did the weimar government respond?
-ebert sent in the freikorps to stop the protests
-luxembourg and liebknecht were arrested and shot
where did the freikorps lie?
right wing
who were the freikorps?
-ex-ww1 soldiers who returned to germany with their weapons
how many freikorps were there?
250,000
when was the kapp putsch?
march 1920
who led the kapp putsch?
wolfgang kapp
why did the freikorps challenge the weimar republic?
-ebert needed them but they were getting too powerful
-they were arresting and beating up communists on the street
-ebert wanted to reduce their size
describe the kapp putsch
freikorps marched into berlin and attempted to push ebert out of power
how did ebert stop the freikorp take over?
-regular army refused to attack them
-so government asked workers to strike
-they did strike, bringing the country to a halt and kapp was forced to retreat
-proved he didn’t have enough support
describe the red rising
-In 1920, a communist group (the Red army) made from 50,000 workers occupied the Ruhr and controlled the raw materials
- the German army and the Freikorps crushed the workers - over 1000 were killed
describe political assassinations
-376 of left-wing politicians
-however not one right-wing murderer was sentenced
-because many of the judges were right-wing and biased
-proves that even the judges undermined the weimar republic
why did the spartacist rebellio fail?
the uprising was badly planned as the spartacists didn’t get support from the other left-wing groups
Describe the threat that the Red Rising posed
- took control of Germany’s raw materials and main economic area, so posed an economic threat
- the Red Army had weak leadership and no clear plan
- some demonstrations over next few years, but nothing seriously threatened the government
- was a threat in 1919 when government was most vulnerable, but easily defeated by the Freikorps
describe hitler’s early career 1914
-joined the german army and fought in ww1
-received the iron cross for bravery twice
describe hitler’s early career 1918
-the army used him to spy on political parties to discover any threats
-regularly attended meetings of the german worker’s party (DAP)
describe hitler’s early career 1919
-hitler joined the german worker’s party (DAP) as he liked their ideas
-they had little money and few members
who was the leader of the DAP when hitler joined?
anton drexler
describe hitler’s early career 1920
-hitler became head of the DAP’s propaganda
-hitler changes the party name to gain wider support to NSDAP (nazi party)
-the NSDAP starts to use its logo (swastika and salute) to make the party stand out
-bought their own newspaper
describe hitler’s early career 1921
-hitler contested with drexler for the leadership of the NSDAP and won
-hitler created the SA (stormtroopers)
describe hitler’s early career 1922
-hitler stopped the election of leaders to the NSDAP which left him as leader without challenge
how did hitler take over the DAP party in 3 years (acronym)
BLAST
brownshirts
leadership skills
twenty five point programme
strategy/strong ideas
appeal
brownshirts
-kept control of his own party by using the SA led by ernst rohm
-ex-soldiers who were paid by the nazis
-controlled crowds at meetings and removed opposition
-made NSDAP look strong and official
leadership skills
-elected leader of party in 1921 due to popularity
-brought in his own supporters to help him
appeal
-talented public speaker
-rehearsed his speeches to sound passionate, powerful and attract attention
-hand gestures and eye contact
-knew the power of propaganda
strategy/strong ideas
-set up a permanent office
-better at raising money for the party
-changed name of party to include ‘nationalist’ and ‘socialist’ to broaden its appeal
-used swastika as logo
-bought own newspaper