Pre hitler germany Flashcards
when was germany formed
1871
what was and what was the influence of prussia
-largest out of the 25 german states, -controlled the army
-had enough seats in the bundustrat to form laws 17/14 needed
- controlled legal and diplomatic areas by noble prussians known as junkers
what was the SPD
the socialist party
why did the SPD gain support
-all men could vote and the workers in industrial areas made the majority in germnay
what was the oposition to the SPD
-it threatened the riches power so the chansellor and the kaiser tried to pass laws reducing and banning the SPD support, but they couldnt pass it
-industrialists needed the workers to be loyal to the gov
what was world politics
expansion of the navy and trade to become a world power
pros of world politics
kaiser wanted garmanys place under the sun so supported
increased sensse of patriotism are peopke were united
won reistag support
cons of world politics
gov majority didnt last
they spent all of their budget on colonies and the army and were hugely in debt
became a huge rival to britain and made other countries angry
impact of ww1 on germany
-income hugely decreased as they had no money, mass poverty
-lots if families had lost their breadwinner
- brittish naval blockade lead to huge deaths from starvation and hypothermia
- the blockade and the war meant getmany couldn’t trade and lost its industries
- German money was losing value and inflation rising
four main impacts of the treaty of versailles
B– blame for war, had to fully take responsibility which angered germans and embarrassed them
R- repartation, had to pay 6.6 billion pounds they didnt have, poverty rises
A- armies limited to 100,000, navy to 15k and no tanks or submarines
T- terretory, they lost 13% of their land and all their colonies
who is friedrich elbert and the november criminals
ebert was the weimars first chancellor who signed the peace treaty two days after the kaiser abdicated, the germans had not anticipated the loss at war so soon and so saw the politicians who gave up as criminals
main basis of the weimar republic
they were a democratic constitution, the % of votes your party got was the number of seats- everyone could vote
there was a chcnacellor who was in charge of daily gov and a president who could take control using article 48 but usually stayed out
Bill of rights guaranteed every citizens could vote freely
cons of the weimar gov
article 48 was unspecific meaning the president could deem anything an emergency in order to get power
becuase germany was so unstable and divided the amount of small radical parties getting seats meant it was hard to find a majority for any laws
all the events that made hyperinflation
when germnay was completely drained after the first repartation they failed t pay for the second, but france didnt believe they were actually broke so they invaded germanies idustrial capital- the Ruhr. This was germanies main source of income so they toldthe worker to perfirm a ‘passive resistence’- if they peacefully refused to comply with the french they would still pay the. france mass expelled workers and slowed business so the money made wasnt enough to pay the workers, so te gov printed more more. but the more money the higher the prices and it kept rising until it was out of control
winners of hyperinflation
people who had loans could now pay it bacm with ease
farmers and physical sellerz products were still in demand
losers of hyperinflation
anyone on a fixed wage became incredibly poor
people who had been saving up lost all
the gov lost even more respect
what was the spartacist uprising
in january 1919 a communist party took charge in berlin, they went for several days until the friedkorps stopped them. this increased fears and would remain in memory of a close shave with communism
what was the Kapp Putsh
wolfgang kapp was not happy with the dismatlement of the friedkorps because of the rules in the treaty so him and the friedkorps rose to a takeover that could not be opposed by the army. the people backed the gov because they didnt want a dictatorship and were largely socialist, so they were stopped by strikes
how did the wiemar gov recover from hyperinflation
they ended passive resistence so work went back to normal and they stopped having to print money
stressman promised to pay the reparations so france left Ruhr
they started a new currency so values dropped
becuase of their compliancy they were able to form new reparation agreements, dawes and young, that let them pay over a long period of time with help
Reduced amount of gov spending by firing employees
signs of recovery from the crash
-production levels rose to pre WW1
-a german chemical business became the most successful in europe
-wages and export levels rose
-there were new schemes for health and unemployment
signs of unstableness from the crash
-germany was largely dependent on loands from the USA
-germany spent more on imports than gained on exports
-unemployemnt never dropped below 1m
-agricultural production never recovered to pre war levels
when and why did germany rejoin leauge of naitons
Signing the lorcano treaty showed them to agree with the Versailles agreements so they joined the leauge which unostracised them in september 1926
stressman used this to bring about the young pact whkch hugely dropped reparations
many germans hated the leauge for what they did to germany so were unhappy
what were the lorcano treaties
-agreement to keep all the borders the same and safe between germany and france- reaccepted germany as a ally and power
- oct 25
political stability levels between 24-29
germany had a laot less support for radical groups like the natzis and a lot more for old respected politicians like stressman
changes hitler made to the nazi party
he wrote his 25 point manifesto
created the short and catchy arm salute and swaztica
began to use jews as the scapegoat for germanies issues
developed the SA as his personal army
Weaknesses of the Bundesrat (pre 1918)
- chancellor had to appease the kaiser
- Prussia hugely dominated
- the chancellor and kaiser ignored the interest of the majority in urban areas
- each individual state controlled its own tax so the central gov didn’t make money
changes in Germany between 1870-1910
- agriculture was replaced for the Industrial Revolution and chemicals and electricals became thé center of the German economy
- Germans living in cities hugely increased
SPD social reforms passed
- banned sunday working
- health insurance extended
- heavy bans on child labour
Dif between reichstag pre ww1 and bundestrat
- Bundestrat was a council made of reps from each state that would propose laws
- reichstag/bunestag would vote on these laws
Other political rebellions in early 1920s
- National terrorists assassinated hundreds of government politicians
- communists took over minors governments such as saxony and Rhineland
- Munich putsh w the Nazis
Dawes plan explained
- september 24
- getmany still had to pay the 50b but only 1b per year for the first five years
- they were loaned 800m by the USA
Young plab explained
- agreed jan 1930
- reduced the 50b by 20 percent
- Germany was to pay 2b a year but could reduce by two thirds if needed
- USA would continue to loan
Kellog Briand pact
1928
Between dozens of countries
Commited to settling disputes peacefully
Berlins influence on Weimar culture
- science made huge Developements eg einstein lived in berlin
- philosophy
- cabarets became very popular for partying, music and homosexuality
- prostitution, drugs and gangs flourished
Music and cinema in 1920s Weimar
- music became very popular for: jazz, cabaret and classical
-film industry boomed, expressionist films and horror became very popular with low budgets and small sets
