Right Wing Rebellions

Question 1

What did right-wing Germans especially hate?

Answer 1

The Treaty of Versailles

Question 2

What myth did the right promote?

Answer 2

Dolschtoss - the stab in the back theory

Question 3

How did the right refer to the politicians involved with the Armistice and Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 3

As November Criminals

Question 4

What did right-wing supporters want?

Answer 4

Ideally, a return of the Kaiser

Question 5

Why did right-wing Germans like the Kaiser?

Answer 5

They believed under him Germany was a success. It had: - A strong army - An empire - Powerful industry

Question 6

What is meant by ‘putsch’?

Answer 6

A violent attempt to overthrow the government

Question 7

Who led the ‘Kapp Putsch’?

Answer 7

Wolfgang Kapp

Question 8

When was the Kapp Putsch?

Answer 8

March 1920

Question 9

What happened during the Kapp Putsch?

Answer 9

Dr Wolfgang Kapp led 5,000 Friekorps into Berlin and Kapp declared a new government

Freikorps units seized control of Berlin. The German army refused to fire on the Freikorps; Commander in chief von Seeckt stated: “Reichswehr does not fire on Reichswehr”. Weimar president Ebert called on the people of Berlin to go on strike. They did so and paralysed the city. Millions of workers across Germany joined in the strike and Kapp and Luttwitz fled to Sweden

Question 10

Why did the army (the Reichwehr) not defeat the Freikorps?

Answer 10

The Friekorps contained former soldiers. The leader of the Reichwehr declared: “The Reichwehr does not fire on the Reichwehr.”

Question 11

How was the Kapp Putsch defeated?

Answer 11

By a general strike in Berlin. There were no trains, gas, water or electricity throughout the city and it was clear Kapp was powerless. Strikes soon spread across much of the nation.

Question 12

What did Kapp do when it was clear the Putsch had failed?

Answer 12

Five days after the putsch began, Kapp resigned and fled to Sweden

Question 13

What other violence did the Weimar Republic have to deal with?

Answer 13

Political assassinations from nationalist terrorists

Question 14

Which two high-profile politicians were killed in 1922 and what positions did he hold?

Answer 14

Walter Rathenau (RATH-E-NAU) the Jewish Foreign Minister who believed Germany should honour its obligations under the Treaty of Versaille,

the foreign minister Matthias Erzberger (ERZ-BERGER)

Question 15

How did judges treat terrorists who had killed politicians?

Answer 15

Leniently. Many judges preferred the Kaiser’s government and so gave terrorists a light sentence or allowed some to go free

Question 16

was the kapp putch a success?

Answer 16

The uprising lasted five days. It showed the power of the Freikorps and that that army sympathised with them. It was the working classes and not the government that ended the revolt.

Question 17

what happened to the the Freikorps after the Kapp Putsch

Answer 17

they were disbanded

Question 18

what was the Organisation Consul

Answer 18

a group that shot Mathias Erzberger (leader of the Centre Party who had signed the Armistice in November 1918) and Walter Rathenau (the Jewish Foreign Minister who believed Germany should honour its obligations under the Treaty of Versailles).

Question 19

what did right wing extremists carry out between 1919 and 1923

Answer 19

354 political murders in Germany, none of the perpetrators were sentenced to death. Some 22 political murders were carried out by the extreme left, 10 were executed.