Revolts Flashcards
What date was the Spartacist uprising and who was it by?
5th January 1919, the Spartacus League known as Spartacists
Who were the Spartacists led by?
Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg
Where was the armed Spartacist uprising and what was their aim?
In Berlin
To overthrow Ebert’s government and set up a revolutionary communist regime
What did the Spartacists occupy in Berlin?
Newspaper offices and some public buildings
Why was the Spartacist revolt poorly supported?
Were not prepared
Had not secured the support of the majority of the working class in Berlin, which is who they claimed to be fighting for
Who did Ebert try to rely on and why did it fail?
The army but General Groener had few reliable military units at his command
What did Ebert have to rely on to end the Spartacist uprising?
The irregular forced of the Freikorps
When was the Spartacist uprising crushed?
13th January 1919
What happened to Liebknecht and Luxemburg after the Spartacist uprising?
They were executed along with others
How did German workers feel about how Ebert ended the Spartacist uprising?
They were frustrated that the Weimar Republic seemed too ready to compromise with the Right
What happened in March 1919?
There was another Spartacist uprising in Berlin and in Bavaria a communist government based on workers’ councils was established but these were both suppressed
What happened in April 1919?
A wave of strikes in Germany’s industrial heartlands of Halle and the Ruhr valley asking for shorter hours and more control over their industries plus a government based on workers’ councils
What troubles occurred in 1920?
• 50 000 communist workers formed a ‘Red army’ and seized control of the Ruhr - Freikorps struggled
• In Halle and Dresden over 1000 workers and 250 soldiers/police were killed
What happened in March 1921?
The KPD tried to force a revolution but the risings were crushed by police, 145 people killed
What did Left-Wing revolts cause the Weimar government?
• Not much of a threat
• Working-class rebellions damaged the Republic as fear of a ‘red revolution’ frightened middle classes into supporting right-wing parties
Was the Right-Wing a threat to the government and why?
Major threat
Did not believe in democracy, accused politicians who led Germany as betraying the Fatherland
Why was the threat of right-winged groups dulled slightly?
• Different objectives that clashed slightly:
-Some wanted the monarchy back
-Some wanted dictatorship in any form
Who did the Republic rely upon that were often conservative anti-republicans?
Freikorps, army, large landowners, industrialists, civil servants, police and judges
When was the Kapp Putsch?
February 1920
What caused the Kapp Putsch to begin?
•The government had to disband many soldiers due to the Treaty of Versailles
•The defense minister General Noske ordered 2 Freikorp units comprising 12 000 men to disband
•General Lüttwitz refused to disband one of the units and the government ordered his arrest
Who was involved in the Kapp Putsch?
•General Lüttwitz marched his troops to Berlin in protest and other sympathetic officers offered support
•Lüttwitz was support by the right-wing civil servant and politician Wolfgang Kapp
Which two Generals remained non-committal to the Kapp Putsch? Why?
•General von Seeckt
•General Ludendorff
They sympathised but were aware of the dangers of voicing open support
What were Ebert’s government forced to do by the Kapp Putsch and what happened when Ebert called on the army?
• Ebert’s government forced to withdraw from Berlin to Dresden
•When Ebert and his Chancellor Bauer called on the regular army, General Seeckt said “Troops do not fire on troops”
Why was there a lack of widespread support for the Kapp Putsch?
• Tension between the military and civillian elements
• Even the right wing lacked support
• Civil servants and bankers were not entirely unsupportive or supportive
What did socialist member of Ebert’s government do in response to the Kapp Putsch?
Encourage trade unions to strike
What happened to the Kapp Putsch due to the strike?
Berlin was brought to a standstill, within four days the putsch collapsed
Kapp and Lüttwitz forced to flee
What lessons were learnt from the Kapp Putsch?
•Army not to be trusted
•Civil servants could be disloyal
•Workers as a group had much power (inspired communists)
•Judges were extremely biased
Who was Hugo Haase and what happened to him?
•He was a jewish lawyer that became a member of SPD/USPD that helped form the new government in 1918
•He was shot in October 1919
Who was Matthias Erzberger and what happened to him?
•He was the former finance minister. He had led the German delegation for the signing of the armistice. He signed the Treaty of Versailles. He was Germany’s representative on the reperations committee
•In August 1921, he was assassinated by two member of the terrorist league Organisation Consul
Who was Walther Rathenau and what happened to him?
•He was the foreign minister. A leading minister in the republican government. Participated in the signed of the armistice. Tried to negotiate with the Allies in the Treaty of Versailles. He was popular.
•24th June 1922, he was assassinated by four assassins from Organisation Consul who shot at him and threw a grenade at him
How many political assassinations were there between 1919 and 1923?
376
How many political assassinations were carried out by the left and by the right?
22 by the left
354 by the right
What law did the Reichstag pass in an attempt to halt rising political assassinations in July 1922?
•Severe penalties on those involved in conspiracy to murder
•Banned extremist organisations
- Organisation Consul forced to disbanned
Why was the law the Reichstag passed to halt political assassinations in July 1922 ineffective?
•The judged who had to enforce it were often right-wing sympathisers
•In Bavaria, the conservative government refused to implement it
How were political assassinations dealt with by judges?
•Rathenau’s killers and accomplices received ~4 years each in prison
•326 right wing murderers went unpunished, only one convicted and sentenced to severe punishment
•10 left-wing murderere sentenced to death
Which popular general did Hitler secure the support of for the Munich Putsch?
General Ludendorff
Who was Hitler trying to gain the support of for the Munich Putsch?
• Gustav von Kahr
• Otto von Lossow (local Reichswer [army] commander in Bavaria)
What day did the Munich Putsch start?
8th November 1923
How many people were in the beer hall of the Munich Putsch?
Around 2000
How did the Munich Putsch start?
Hitler and his Stormtroopers (SA) burst into a Munich beer hall and announced that the revolution had begun
What were von Kahr and von Lossow persuaded into agreeing to at gunpoint in the Munich Putsch?
To march on Berlin and install Ludendorff as the new Commander-In-Chief
What did Hitler lose overnight in the Munich Putsch?
•Von Kahr and Von Lossow’s support
•His chances to persuade other to join him and gain support
What were the Stormtroopers (SA) crucially unable to do in the Munich Putsch?
Gain control of the Munich army barracks
What did Hitler do on the 9th November 1923 in the Munich Putsch?
•Started a march through Munich despite his plan obviously having failed
How was the Munich Putsch stopped?
• Gun battle between the police and Nazis
• Hitler fell and dislocated his shoulder due to the man he was linking arms with getting shot
What happened to Hitler and Ludendorff after the Munich Putsch?
• Hitler fled but was captured the following day
- Sentenced to 5 years but only served 9 months
• Ludendorff walked over to the police and allowed them to arrest him willingly
What happened after the Munich Putsch?
• General Seeckt sent in troops to deal with the aftermath
• Central control over Bavaria was soon re-imposed
• Nazis were banned
What did the Munich Putsch prove to the government about the army?
• Could not trust them but was also reliant on them
