Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

nazis; early years of weimar republic > political instability and extremism, 1919-24 > Flashcards

political instability and extremism, 1919-24 Flashcards

1
Q

Why was there a greater burden of responsibility placed upon the centre parties to form coalitions once German society became more divided?

A

Due to there being both small parties and large parties dedicated to overthrowing the new Republic.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What happened with political support in times of social, economic and political crisis?

A

Society became more polarised, with the more extreme parties on the left and right gaining support.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Why was it becoming increasingly difficult to form coalitions?

A

Due to the extremist parties becoming more popular, but refusing to join coalitions.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What party was the leading one in establishing the Republic during 1918-19 and how did this change?

A

The SPD.

This changed after June 1920 where the SPD could not take any leading role in government due to internal divisions, sometimes not being in the coalition at all.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

How many governments were there between February 1919 and November 1923?

A

No less than 10 coalition governments.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What did the constant changing of political parties cause?

A

It meant there was no continuity, and confidence in the political system was undermined.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Who benefitted from the political instablity?

A

The extreme anti-democratic parties.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What did parties on the left and right begin to do which provoked political violence?

A

They began to set up armed and uniformed paramilitary squads to guard their meetings, march through streets and beat up their oppponents.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Who was the Spartacus League led by?

A

Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What did the Spartacus League do on January 5th 1919?

A

They staged an armed uprising in Berlin to overthrow Ebert’s government and set up a revolutionary communist regime.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What was support like for the Spartacus League?

A

The revolt was poorly prepared, due to their poor support. They hadn’t secured the support of the majority of the working class in Berlin, in who’s name they’d been acting upon.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What did Ebert’s government rely on to suppress the Spartacist revolt and what was the problem?

A

The army, but General Groener had few reliable military units at his command.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What did Groener have to do to suppress the Spartacist revolt?

A

He had to use the irregular forces of the new Freikorps.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

By when had the Spartacist revolt been defeated?

A

January 13th 1919.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

Why had the defeat of the Spartacist uprising deepened divisions between parties on the left and right?

A

Due to the brutality with how it was suppressed, and Ebert’s reliance upon the army and the Freikorps.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What did Field Marshal Hindenburg and General Groener encourage at the end of 1918?

A

For former army officers to recruit volunteer forces into new Freikorps units, due to the army being demobilised as apart of the Treaty.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

Where did the majority of Freikorp recruits come from?

A

Demobilised junior army offices, as well as attracting students, adventurers and drifters.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

Who were the Freikorps placed under the command of?

A

General Walter Luttwitz.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

Why were the Freikorps less disciplined?

A

Despite being provided with uniforms and weapons, they were not actually apart of the army and were therefore more aggressive.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

Why were the workers who had played a role in overthrowing the Kaiser frustrated with the Weimar Republic?

A

They felt that they seemed too ready to compromise with the Right.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

What were the KPD keen to do?

A

Lead a communist revolution in Germany.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

How did the left-wing revolts damage the Republic?

A

The left-wing revolts were never very threatening to the government, but continuous working-class rebellion did damage the Republic as middle classes were frightened of a ‘red revolution’, scaring them into supporting right-wing parties.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

What did the Right not believe in and what did it accuse politicians of?

A

Democracy, and they accused politicians who now led Germany of having betrayed the Fatherland.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

What were the competing objectives of many right-wing groups?

A

Some wanted to restore the monarchy, whilst others advocated for a dictatorship.

Some groups in areas such as Bavaria fought for separation from the rest of Germany, others wanted a united country so it could become a great power again.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

What did the divisions within the right-wing do to them?

A

Weakened the strength of their cause and their ability to overthrow the Republic.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

When did the government need to put into effect the terms of the Treaty of Versailles?

A

January 1920.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

What did Gustav Noske order in February 1920?

A

For 2 Freikorps units, compromising 1200 men, to disband.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

What happened with General Walther von Luttwitz?

A

He refused to disband one of the Freikorp units and so the government ordered for his arrest.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

What did Luttwitz do in response to the order of his arrest?

A

He marched his troops to Berlin in protest.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
30
Q

Who was Luttwitz supported by?

A

Sympathetic offers and was also supported by the right-wing civil servant and politician Wolfgang Kapp.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
31
Q

What was Wolfgang Kapp adamant on doing?

A

Organising a putsch.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
32
Q

What did Seeckt tell Bauer and Ebert when called upon to use the army to crush the uprising?

A

‘Troops do not fire on troops’

33
Q

Why couldn’t the Kapp Putsch gain support?

A

Civil servants and bankers remained at best lukewarm to the cause, if not hostile.

Trade unions were encouraged by socialist members of Ebert’s government to strike.

34
Q

How long did it take for the Kapp Putsch to collapse?

A

4.

35
Q

What lessons did the Kapp Putsch teach?

A
  • The army was not to be trusted
  • Civil servants could be disloyal
  • The workers could show their strength when grouped together
  • The Republic was weak without the support of the army
36
Q

How did the prosecution of right-wing uprisings differ to left-wing ones and what message did this send?

A

Judges (tended to be right-wing supporters) were much more lenient towards the right-wing offenders, contrasting to how harsh they’d been upon the left.

This sent a message on how the government was not really in control.

37
Q

What did right-wing nationalists do that continued the violence?

A

They organised themselves into leagues that were committed to the elimination of prominent politicians, more specifically those associated with the ‘betrayal’ of Germany.

38
Q

What is the German term for these ‘Patriotic Leagues’?

A

Vaterlandische Verbande.

39
Q

What were these patriotic leagues usually formed from?

A

Old Freikorps units, acting as fiercely anti-republican paramilitaries

40
Q

Who was an early victim of the nationalist assassinations?

A

Hugo Haase, a USPD member and also a member of the Council of People’s Commissars.

41
Q

What happened to Hugo Haase?

A

He was shot in front of the Reichstag in October 1919, but died of his wounds a month later.

42
Q

Who was Matthias Erzberger and what happened to him?

A

He was the former finance minister, and in August 1921 he was assassinated in the Black Forest by 2 members of terrorist league Organisation Consul.

He had already been previously shot and left wounded in January 1921 but the assassins were determined to finish the job.

43
Q

Why was Matthias Erzberger targeted by the Organisation Consul?

A

Because he had led the German delegation for the signing of the armistice, and had signed the Treaty of Versailles.

He was also Germany’s representative on the reparations committee.

44
Q

Who was Walther Rathenau and when was he assassinated?

A

He was the foreign minister, killed on 24th June 1922.

45
Q

How was Walther Rathenau assassinated?

A

He was driving in an open-top car when 4 assassins shot and threw a hand grenade at him

46
Q

Why was Walther Rathenau targeted by the Organisation Consul?

A

His ‘crimes’ were being a Jew and a leading minister in the republican government.

He also was apart of the signing of the armistice, and negotiated the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.

47
Q

What was the German public’s reaction to the death of Rathenau?

A

He was a popular figure, and so the following day of his death over 700,000 protesters lined the streets of Berlin.

48
Q

How did the assassination of Rathenau have impact from abroad?

A

The value of the mark fell as other countries feared the repercussions.

49
Q

How many political assassinations had there been between 1919 and 1923?

A

376, 22 from the left and 354 from the right.

50
Q

What law did the Reichstag pass to try and stop rising lawlessness after the political assassinations?

A

A law ‘for the protection of the Republic’ which imposed severe penalties for those involved in conspiracy for murder and it banned extremist organisations.

51
Q

Why was the law for the protection of the Republic not effective?

A

Because the judges who had to enforce it were usually right-wing sympathisers.

52
Q

What did Bavaria refuse to do?

A

Implement the law for the protection of the Republic, inadvertently allowing the Nazi movement to establish itself.

53
Q

When was Germany most united after the war?

A

When the French invaded the Ruhr - it sent a wave of anti-French feeling.

54
Q

What did organisations representing the Mittelstand accuse the government of?

A

Failing in it’s responsibility to protect independent small traders and artisans.

55
Q

How did the left try to use the Ruhr crisis to their advantage?

A

They tried to stage uprisings in some areas.

56
Q

What did the nationalist right accuse the government of after passive resistance?

A

Betrayal.

57
Q

What was the backdrop of the Nazi’s last attempt to overthrow the Republic by force and when did this happen?

A

The occupation of the Ruhr and the subsequent hyperinflation crisis.

This happened in 1923.

58
Q

What were the Nazis almost alone in thinking?

A

Arguing that German patriots should first remove the ‘November Criminals’ from government before dealing with the French.

59
Q

Why was there an outcry from the Right in September 1923?

A

The government of Gustav Stresemann called off the passive resistance without winning any concessions from the French.

It was seen as yet another act of betrayal.

60
Q

What did Bavaria do in response to the stopping of passive resistance?

A

The right-wing government declared a state of emergency and appointed Gustav von Kahr as state commissioner.

61
Q

What was there a growing agitation for among right-wing nationalists in the Bavarian capital, Munich?

A

A ‘march on Berlin’ to overthrow the government and establish a national dictatorship.

62
Q

Who was at the forefront of the agitation for the ‘march on Berlin’?

A

Adolf Hitler.

63
Q

When was Hitler born?

A

In Austria, April 1889.

64
Q

What did Hitler grow up believing, despite not being German?

A

That all Germans should be united in a greater German Reich.

65
Q

Where did Hitler spend WWI?

A

On the Western Front of France, signed up for the German army. He gained promotion to corporal and was decorated for bravery.

66
Q

Where did Hitler go after the armistice was signed?

A

Back to Munich, which was rapidly becoming a centre of ultra-nationalist, anti-Semitic and anti-Weimar political agitation.

67
Q

What did Hitler work as after WWI?

A

A political agent for the army, and was sent to investigate a small, right-wing political group, the German Workers’ Party.

68
Q

When and what did the German Workers’ Party change its name to?

A

In 1920, and to the Nationalist Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP).

69
Q

When did Hitler become the undisputed leader in the NSDAP?

A

1921.

70
Q

When was the Beer Hall Putsch?

A

November 8th, 1923.

71
Q

What was Hitler’s aim of the Beer Hall Putsch?

A

To gain the support from Gustav Ritter von Kahr and Otto von Lossow to help him seize power.

72
Q

What happened at the Beer Hall Putsch?

A

Hitler burst into a Munich Beer Hall where Kahr and Lossow were meeting with 2000.

He surrounded it with his stormtroopers (SA) and announced that the revolution had begun.

Kahr and Lossow were persuaded at gunpoint to agree to his plan to march on Berlin and to install Ludendorff as the new Commander-in-Chief.

73
Q

What happened to the support Hitler gained from the Beer Hall Putsch?

A

It practically disappeared overnight as the Stormtroopers were unable to gain control of the Munich army barracks and by November 9th (the next day) it was clear his original plan had failed.

74
Q

What did Hitler do to try and save his attempt at seizing power?

A

He continued to march through Munich, where he fell and dislocated his shoulder.
He fled only to be captured the next day, whilst Ludendorff walked straight up to the police and allowed himself to be arrested.

75
Q

How did the Nazi Party use the Beer Hall Putsch failure as propoganda?

A

It became known as when the Nazis fearlessly marched the streets of Munich into the arms of a police cordon.

76
Q

How did General Seeckt deal with the aftermath of the Beer Hall Putsch?

A

He sent in troops, and central control over Bavaria was re-imposed.

77
Q

What happened to those involved in the Beer Hall Putsch?

A

The Nazis were banned and Hitler was imprisoned.

78
Q

How long was Hitler imprisoned for after the Beer Hall Putsch?

A

He received a 5 year sentence yet served just 9 months.

nazis; early years of weimar republic (6 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions