Political and governmental change Flashcards
What was signed at the end of WWI?
The treaty of Versailles was signed 28th June 1919
What were the main effects of the treaty?
Land lost
Military consequences
War guilt
Reparations
What land was lost?
All land gained at the treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Alsace and Lorraine
The polish corridor
What were the military consequences?
Demilitarised the Rhineland
Army limited to 100,000 troops
No Air Force or submarines
No warships over 10,000 tonnes
How’d they accept war guilt?
Article 231 meant Germany accepted guilt for causing WWI
How were reparations decided?
In 1921 it was decided that Germany needed to pay 132,000 million gold marks
Why did the Kaiser abdicate?
28th October 1918 The navy refused to sail against the British fleet. This set off strikes and mutinies across Germany e.g 3rd Nov Kiel mutiny
Many wanted a revolution like Russia, Prince Max of Baden urged the Kaiser to resign, he refused until the 8th of November Bavaria broke from Germany and he fled to Holland.
What came after the Kaiser’s abdication?
10th November 1918 the new government was set up, led by socialist groups.
11th November the armistice was signed and Germany was excluded from treaty negotiations.
Who led the civilian government?
Ebert, head of the SDP became chancellor with a combined cabinet
What social reforms were made?
8 hour working day
Independent trade unions
Help for ex soldiers to find work
Widened health and unemployment benefit
Explain the fear of communism in Germany after WWI
The KPD were set up in December 1918.
Many feared the red plague of communism spreading from the east (Freikorps had units in the east to protect from a communist invasion).
KPD had political meetings attacked by private armies, between 1919-22 there were 376 political murders in Germany.
Many left wing politicians thought that Ebert’s policies were too generous towards the right wing.
What did the civilian government face in early 1919?
The Spartacist Revolt
What happened in the spartacist uprising?
January 8th several locations in Berlin were captured like the printing office.
Ebert moves the government safely to Weimar
KPD withdrew support for the revolt and 11th January the Freikorps surrounded the stronghold 13th January.
Rosa Luxemburg was executed.
Give details about the first Weimar election
January 1919
83% if electoral voted
The SPD formed a coalition with the DDP
What was the SPD?
Largest party
Left leaning, support from workers groups.
What’s the DDP?
Party of liberal educated professionals
What’s the DNVP?
Conservative, nationalist and monarchist
Supported the army
What’s the Centre party?
Conservative values but advocated for reform
Largely catholic
What’s the KPD?
Wanted a workers revolution and the establishment of a communist state
How did the Weimar constitution come to be?
11th February Ebert was elected fist president of the republic by 277 votes to 51
The Weimar constitution was finally passed by the National Assembly 31st July 1919
What was the structure of the Weimar constitution?
President elected every 7 years, chooses the chancellor
Reichstag elected by a secret ballot every 4 years, votes for party not person
18 local regions ran by Lander who control education, judiciary etc
What were some of the big challenges to the Weimar constitution?
Resentment for the treaty was widespread and many believed the war could’ve been won.
Government had to battle unpopularity and political groups.
End of the war meant that large numbers of trained soldiers were recruited by parties to form private armies.
What was the main problem with the government system?
Reichstag allowed a Parliament with many political parties, 60,000 votes to gain a seat.
There were 29 political parties in the Reichstag in the 1920s.
What was the main problem with the constitution?
Proportional representation meant that people voted for a party rather than a person.
This meant people felt politicians didn’t care about them and it was impossible to have a majority.
Between 1919 and 1923 there were 9 short lived coalitions, when they broke down the president had to rule by decree.
When did Weimar begin to overcome some of the challenges?
1924-29 the reichstag seemed to be overcoming its challenges and there was no need to rule by decree.
Hindenburg had been elected and despite his promise to uphold the constitution he favoured an authoritarian system.
What were some of the reasons for overcoming Weimar’s problems?
Reached agreements with other countries to undo some of the treaties of the TOV.
Stresseman urged parties to work together, parties were prepared to follow more moderate policies in hope of a “great coalition.
Economy improved, so did coalitions, violence was reduced.
Stresseman held together a coalition between the DDP, centre party, SPD and DVP, forming trust between leaders.
What evidence is there that some of these challenges were overcome?
Only 6 coalitions 1924-29
What evidence is there that these challenges were not overcome?
As economic conditions began to worsen in 1928 the Nazis and communists began to gain support.
What was public feeling about the Weimar government around 1930?
Public long disliked the association of the government with the TOV. (Shown by election of Hindenburg who called those who signed the armistice the November criminals.)
Wall Street crash, failure to deal with economic problems led to unemployment, high prices and low wages led to extreme party popularity.
What evidence is there that Hitler made gains?
Nazis had a big share of the Reichstag
Hindenburg stood against Hitler in April 1932 and only won by 6 million votes.
