Rise of Authoritarian Regimes Flashcards
What was Germany like before WWI?
The authority was with the Kaiser, minister and army. They relied on the chancellor, minister and army commanders to rule.
The parliament and Reichstag was ignored by the Kaiser.
What was Germany like after WWI?
The economy was in ruins and debt as they had spent too much on war. The Kaiser had to step down (abdicate)
What was the Weimar Republic?
It was a Republican government that majority of the Reichstag approved. However, there are some that voted against it in 1919.
They promised freedom and democracy, but was deeply unpopular
Why was the Weimar Republic unpopular?
They signed the armistice. But the Germans didn’t know that they would lose if WWI continued, they also expected a negotiation treaty and was shocked when the Treaty of Versailles was announced.
They believe that the army backstabbed them, and they were called the “November Criminals”
What are the weaknesses of the Weimar government?
Proportional Representation, Coalition Governments and Article 48
What is Proportional Representation?
Proportional representation is when the people vote for a party instead of specific members, and the number of seats a party gains is according to the percentage of votes they received.
Why was Proportional Representation a weakness and what was its impact?
It caused Germany to have a divided parliament and there are small competing parties without having a majority party. There were about 28 different political parties that were represented which made it harder to work together.
Impact:
Germans lost faith in the Weimar Government and turned to more extreme parties such as the Nazis.
What are Coalition Governments?
They are governments that have separate parties co-operating to form the government.
What were the issues with Coalition Governments?
It makes it difficult to agree on many issues and those who had extreme ideas were unwilling to compromise and broke the coalition.
From 1919-1930, there were over 20 different coalition governments. Since it was difficult to make and pass laws, it was seen as weak.
What is Article 48?
It allows the President to dissolve the government in times of emergency.
During an emergency, there was no rights of free speech, of peaceful assembly and to form societies. This was later exploited by Hitler.
What were some threats to the Weimar Republic?
Spartacist Uprising and Kapp Putsch.
What is the Spartacist Uprising?
Communists in Germany wanted to be ruled under the Soviet Union. Joined by sailors and rebels, they took over buildings and hung up red flags.
On the 10th of January 1919, they lost to the German government and the Freikorps.
What is the Kapp Putsch?
Led by Wolfgang Putsch, a right-wing politician, they wanted to overthrow the government and have a more authoritarian rule.
Freikorps soldiers took over Berlin and announced a new government to be established with Kapp as the PM.
The Trade Unions rescued them and the government was stood by Ebert. Kapp realized he had no support and fled, the Putsch was then crushed.
What happened during the Ruhr Crisis?
French and Belgian troops occupied Ruhr valley. The Germans went on strike and did not cooperate with the French.
The sudden stop in production made Germany’s economy collapse further.
Why did the Ruhr Crisis occur?
In January 1923, Germany was unable to make payment (Reparation of the Treaty of Versailles of 6.6 billion pounds)
What did the Weimar Government do about the Ruhr Crisis?
They continued to print even more notes. The value of each note decreased and made their currency worthless.
This caused hyperinflation and the price of daily needs to rise rapidly.
What is the effect of hyperinflation on the Germans?
The middle-class Germans lost the most amount of money. German’s savings were wiped out and unemployment was widespread.
As such, the Weimar government lost the support of middle-class Germans as they felt that the government favored industrialists, politicians and workers over them.
How did Germany make a short recovery?
Under a new Chancellor, Gustav Stresemann, he replaced the currency with the new Rentenmark.
He negotiated the withdrawal of the French from Ruhr, and negotiated for the allies to stretch reparations.
He also made deals with the USA, the 1924 Dawes Plan and the 1929. The USA loaned money to Germany to help the economy.
What was the effect of the Great Depression on Germany?
USA bankers asked Germany to repay their loans.
There was an economic collapse in Germany, with 6 million people unemployed. Most sections of the German society was affected.
The overall income fell by 40%, and social ills became common. Examples of these illnesses are hunger, starvation, poverty and homelessness.
Why was Germany vulnerable to the rise in communism?
Democracy wasn’t working and Germany was under coalition. There were disagreements, and Hidenburg took advantage of Article 48 to appoint another Chancellor.
The Weimar republic not managing crises well and the support went towards extreme parties. This concerned many Germans and they didn’t trust the Weimar Republic to deal with the threat of Communism.
Why was there more support towards extremist parties?
They were organized and effective which gained the favour of many Germans. They also had youth movements that passed the ideology to the younger generation.
What were German’s reactions to the rise of Communism?
Many business leaders, middle-class people and land-owning farmers were threatened.
How did Hitler make the Nazi party?
He went to the German worker’s party (DAP) as a spy. He found himself agreeing with their ideas and criticisms. He took over as leader in 1921 and renamed it to the Nazi party (NSDAP).
What were the Nazi party’s main beliefs? When were they published?
The Nazi party’s main beliefs were published in 1920.
They wanted to abolish the Treaty of Versailles, make Anschluss (merger) between Germany and Austria and have the nationalization of large industries and businesses.
The Nazi party wanted a strong central government for Germany and generous provision for old-age pensioners.
They believed that only true Germans (Aryans) would live in Germany
