Probs faced by Weimar 1919-23 Flashcards
When was the Spartacist uprising?
Jan 1919
When was the National Assembly elected?
Jan 1919
When was the German Republic declared?
Nov 1918
When was the Soviet Republic declared in Bavaria
April 1919
When were the terms of Versailles accepted?
June 1919
When was the Weimar constitution adopted?
July 1919
When was the Kapp Putsch?
March 1920
When were the Weimar elections that see a fall in votes for Weimar Coalition
June 1920
When did Germany accept the reparations terms?
May 1921
When was Walther Rathenau assassinated? Who was he?
June 1922
Minister of Foreign Affairs
When was the invasion of the Ruhr? By which countries?
Jan 1923
France and Belgium
When does Stresemann become Chancellor?
Sept 1923
When was the Munich Putsch?
8-9 Nov 1923
When was the Rentenmark introduced?
Nov 1923
How was the socialist attitude to the Republic divided?
Some supported parliamentary democracy
Others saw it as a ‘bourgeois democracy’ –> rejected full collaboration w/ other parties
What was the policy of fulfilment?
Carry out the terms of Versailles to show how unjust and unworkable the conditions were
What was the stance of the German Democratic Party (DDP) on the Republic from 1919-33?
Initially fully supportive
from 1930 onwards it was less supportive
Who led the German People’s Party (DVP)?
What system of government did it wish for?
Stresemann
More autocratic
What was the German National Peoples Party’s (DNVP) stance on the Republic?
What system of government did it wish for?
Consistently hostile
Imperial REich and restoration of Kaiser
What was the Centre Party’s stance on the Republic?
Initially supportive of republic as barrier to communist revolution
Less supportive 1930 onwards
Communist party (KPD) stance on republic?
Hostile and wanted revolution
What was the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP) stance on the republic?
extremely hostile
Condemned the ‘november criminals’
wanted the restructuring of society on racial grounds
In the National Assembly (Jan 1919) what % of the vote did the SPD win?
What was the % of voter turnout?
37.9% = SPD
85% voter turnout
What % of the vote did the Nationalist DNVP win in the National Assembly (Jan 1919)?
10.3%
What were the 4 main threats that challenged the regime?
Humiliation of Versailles
Elite challenged legitimacy of state and constitution
Revolutionary activity
Economic crisis
When did the Spartacists break away from the USPD?
Dec 1918
What was the Ebert-Gorener pact? When was it?
Nov 1918
Chancellor Ebert promised military supplies and protection of army status
Army promised to put down rev activity with force
What was the significance of the Ebert Gorener pact? (Nov 1918)
2 points
Saved Germany from widespread communist rev
Democratic republic using anti-democratic forces (army/freikorps) to restore order
What did the Spartacist Uprising achieve?
Seized newspaper offices and formed revolutionary committees
Why and how did the Spartacist uprising fail?
It was poorly planned
Easily crushed by the army and Freikorps
- Liebknecht and Luxemburg murdered
What and when was ‘Red Bavaria’?
Feb 1919 –> revolution triggered by Bavarian USPD leader
How did the Weimar government react to the declaration of the Bavarian Soviet Republic (April 1919)?
May 1919 sent 30,000 army and freikorps troops
800 known communists executed
Why was Red Bavaria a threat to the republic? (3 points)
The leader of the new Republic was seizing property of the wealthy, raising a Red Army, and was executing well known right-wingers
What was article 231 of Versailles?
‘War guilt’ clause that caused great resentment
Why was Germany essentially forced into signing the Treaty of Versailles?
Didn’t have the means to resist an Allied invasion
In what kind of state did the Versailles treaty leave Germany?
Humiliated but with the possibility of being strong again –> it was still a united nation
Why did the Allies not break Germany up in the Treaty of Versailles?
Needed to limit the threat of Communist Russia
What symbolically important territory did Germany lose in the Versailles treaty?
West Prussia and Posen –> given to POLAND (great upset as majority of population = german speaking)
How much economically important territory did Germany lose in Versailles?
20% of coal production
15% of agricultural resources
What happened to the Rhineland in the Treaty? 2 points
Demilitarised –> to act as a buffer between Germany and France
To be occupied for 15 years
What happened to the Saar in the Treaty?
Placed under control of League of Nations
Coalfields controlled by France
What was forbidden in the Treaty?
Anschluss
Give 2 military terms of the Treaty
Army limited to 100,000 men
Navy limited to 6 battleships, 6 cruisers, and 12 destroyers
Give 1 war guilt reparation from before reparations were set
Germany forced to hand over all merchant ships of +1.6 tons
What effect did Hindenburg and the ‘Stab in the Back’ myth have on politics? give example
Increased support for anti-republican right
DNVP vote 1919 = 10.3%
1920 = 14.9%
What effect did the treaty have on the German people?
Psychological damage on the national consciousness
How did Hindenburg perpetrate the stab in the back myth?
Gave evidence to the Investigation Committee of the National Assembly (Nov 1919) –> said the treaty shouldn’t have been signed and that it was the fault of the ‘november criminals’
Who were the ‘november criminals’? What did they supposedly do?
Ebert, Muller, Erzberger etc..
Blamed for stab in the back of armed forces that led to military defeat in 1918
How did the stab in the back myth help the army? 2 points
absolved the military of responsibility for its own failings
kept up the myth of invincibility
What 2 main reasons led the government to sign the Treaty?
It was advised by the army
Little public support for further conflict
How did the stab in the back myth shape German views on defeat?
Gave them an acceptable framework by which they could explain defeat
What kind of state was the new Weimar republic?
parliamentary democracy –> Chancellor and cabinet needed majority support in the Reichstag
How many regions was the country split up into?
18 regional states
How often was the President elected?
every 7 years
Why did the President have strong powers?
to counterbalance those held by central government –> to avoid a potential elected parliamentary dictatorship
What was the upper house of Parliament called? what did it have the ability to do?
Reichsrat
power to delay laws
How often was the Reichstag to be elected?
Every 4 years
What system of voting did Germany have?
How many votes were needed to gain 1 seat?
Proportional representation
60,000 votes
Who could vote?
Universal suffrage 20+
What did the Bill of Rights do? give 4 examples
Enshrined certain freedoms and rights
Freedom of speech and association
Right to welfare provision
Ensured workers rights
Right to free press
How did the constitution weaken the Republic? 2 points
Main features not widely accepted as they were too liberal
Constitution’s base = too narrow and unrepresentative
What 3 parties created the constitution?
SPD, Centre, DDP
Together what did the SPD, Centre, and DDP poll in the 1919 and 1928 elections?
1919 = 23.1mil
1928 = 14.3mil (next highest result)
What is the argument against the constitution weakening the republic? 2 points
Problem was not in its DESIGN but MISUSE by the state’s opponents
Had checks and balances –> strengthened political system
What was the significance of proportional representation on government?
Led to coalition governments –> virtually impossible to win majority –> political instability
Between 1919-33 how many Weimar governments were there?
20
What affect did proportional representation have on interests in government?
allowed sectional interested to continue to be represented
Why did coalition governments fail so often? give example
Parties choosing not to operate w/ one another e.g. SPD leaders habit of opposition and inability to compromise
How did the use of Article 48 change?
1930 onwards Hindenburg used it to legally undermine Weimar Democracy
1919-23 Ebert used it to overcome threats e.g. 1923 Munich Putsch - forced army to put it down
Why was Germany broken up into federal states?
to prevent any one group/region from dominating the Republic like Prussia had done
What effect did the complex relationship between regional parliaments (Lander) and central gov have on the new political system?
It reflected pre-1914 practice
To make the new Republic be seen as legitimate
Outline of the Kapp Putsch (1920) 3 points
Freikorps seize government district of Berlin
Army refuses to intervene
Government flees to Dresden
How was the Kapp Putsch (1920) overcome?
General Strike that paralysed Berlin
Lack of public support for Putsch
Kapp regime collapsed after 4 days
What did the leaders of the Kapp Putsch want?
Rejection of Treaty and return of the Kaiser
What was the significance of the Kapp Putsch (1920)?
3 points
Army’s reluctance to support Republic / dubious loyalty of Freikorps
Lack of support for Republic from judiciary –> only 1 army officer imprisoned
Republic reliance on unreliable forces to maintain order
When was the Ruhr revolution?
March 1920
What was the Ruhr revolution (1920)?
Workers in the Ruhr formed a ‘Red Army’ –> set up a government in Essen w/ the aim of setting up a Soviet State
What was the government’s reaction to the Ruhr revolution (1920)?
Sent army and Freikorps to crush rebellion –> shot suspected revolutionaries on the spot
How much of a threat were the revolutionary left?
Divided and weakened by lack of widespread support
MORE A PERCIEVED THREAT
How did the fear of a communist revolution help the right?
Encouraged anti-Republican sentiment that the Republic was based on weak government and should be replaced
Deflected attention from the threat that the right posed
What shift did the June 1920 election reveal?
What % of the vote did the Weimar coalition receive?
Polarisation and move away from Weimar parties
Weimar coalition = 44.6% –> majority of reichstag = hostile to Republic
Between 1920-22 how many political murders were committed?
376
Between 1920-22 how many of the political murders were committed by members of the RIGHT?
54/376
What happened to Walther Rathenau’s assassin?
Given a short prison sentence
How did the judiciary undermine the Republic?
misinterpretation of the constitution
lenient towards those who tried to destroy Republic –> Hitler sentenced 5 years for high treason
Failure of Law for the Protection of the Republic (1922) –> only unleashed its full potential against the LEFT
How did the constitution allow the judiciary to undermine the Republic
Article 54 –> allowed the judiciary to maintain their independence
How did the army threaten the Republic?
2 points w/ example
Only protected its own interests, not those of the state
-Only helped the state when it was also helping itself e.g. putting down attempted October Revolution (1923) in Saxony and Thuringia
Unreliable force used to maintain order
-Munich Putsch (1923) General von Seeckt initially refused to act and only did when Ebert forced his hand using article 48
What were reparations set at in April 1921?
£6.6bil and 26% of the value of its exports
What effect did reparations have economically?
Exacerbated problems of economic readjustment and debt after war
What led to the growing financial crisis at the end of 1922? 1 main point 2 arrows
Lack of significant currency reform / balancing of budget
–> more money printed to cover debts
–> allies perceived this as deliberate sabotage of reparations
How did the policy of passive resistance exacerbate hyperinflation?
Government still had to pay the workers and printed even more money to do so
By Aug 1923 how many marks were in circulation?
663 billion marks
How did hyperinflation affect people’s view of the Republic?
shook faith in republic
How did hyperinflation affect the middle class?
Saw their savings destroyed
How did hyperinflation affect the waged working class?
saw their income fall in real terms
How was the budget balanced following hyperinflation?
700,000+ state employees fired
What was the treaty of Rapallo, when was it signed?
1922 - treaty w/ USSR whereby both rejected reparations
