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History : Germany > Summary 1 : Germany 1918-1919 > Flashcards

Summary 1 : Germany 1918-1919 Flashcards

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1
Q

what were the democratic aspects of Germany before 1918?

A
  • had multiple political parties
  • electorate,men over 25 voted in Reichstag elections every 3 years
  • members who voted in Reichstag could agree to or reject laws proposed by Kaiser or the government
  • an assembly from the 26 states
  • members of reichstag were voted by the people
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2
Q

what were the anti-democratic aspects before 1918?

A
  • chancellor and other ministers appointed/dismissed by Kaiser
  • Kaiser (emperor),hereditary monarch could appoint/dismiss government,dissolve the Reichstag’s and controlled foreign policy’s and the armed forces
  • members of Reichstag could not remove the chancellor or the government
  • not everybody could vote
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3
Q

when was the German Reich established?

A

the Holy Rome empire lasting from 962 lasting until 1806

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4
Q

when was the second Reich established?

A

1871

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5
Q

what was the second Reich?

A

a loose confederation of mainly German states ruled over by the Holy Roman Empire

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6
Q

who the Kaisers were during the second Reich?

A
  • Kaiser Wilhelm I,1871-88
  • Kaiser Frederick,1888
  • Kaiser Wilhelm II,1888-1918
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7
Q

Germany before 1871 (before the second reich)?

A
  • number of separate states
  • many German-speaking people had wanted these states to unite to form a strong ,united and independent Germany (German nationalist)
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8
Q

how was the Reich formed?

A
  • unification was achieved through military victories by the Prussian army (against Denmark,Austria and France)
  • this was not what the nationalists wanted but there was a democratic election
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9
Q

what happened after 1871?

A
  • economy grew rapidly
  • Germany became leading industrial nation,transforming society leading to a wealthy middle class
  • political stability seen as best guarantee to success
  • alliances with the aristocratic land owners (junkers) to support the Kaisers rule
  • workers trade unions formed to campaign for higher wages and better conditions
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10
Q

effect of first world war?

A
  • transformed the political situation,a wave of popular support for the Kaiser’s declaration of war
  • political truce between the parties in Reichstag
  • by the winter of 1916/17 serve food shortages with rapidly rising food prices damaged civilian morale
  • Kaisers Wilhelm II to give more political power to military leaders
  • facing defeat advised to start peace talks with allied powers
  • military defeat was a profound shock to Germany and led to the end of the Kaisers rule and the establishment of a democratic system of government
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11
Q

political effects of the war?

A

-1914, most Germans rallied to nations
-1916,increasing military control of government
- 1917 April, radicals opposed to war formed USPD
- July/Sept Reichstag voted for peace and fatherland party founded by nationalist
- increasing military support
- kaiser abdicated
- split of SPD
-1916,criticism of the war

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12
Q

social effects of the war?

A
  • earning fell by 20-30%
  • meat production fell by 12%
  • major fuel and food shortage
  • 1918: 293,000 deaths from starvation
  • 2 million killed and 6 million wounded
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13
Q

economic effects?

A
  • cost £8394 million
  • 1913-18 the mark lost 75% of it’s value
  • industry made mass profits
  • inflation due to borrowing and printing money
  • only 16% of cost of war met from taxation
  • close to bankruptcy
  • national income at 1/3 of 1913 was
  • by 1925 1/3 of budget on war pensions
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14
Q

what was the revolution from above?

A

in October 1918 in the face on invasion/defeat General Ludendorff persuaded the Kasier to
- appoint prince Max of Baden as chancellor
- establish a parliamentary democracy (power in hands of civillian govt. answering to the reichstag)
- armed forces put under control of the civilian government

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15
Q

what did Ludendorff do in September before the defeat?

A

urged power to be given to civilian group supported by the reichstag and called for an armistice as he knew Germany were loosing and blamed it on the troops who he believed had been turned by communist and socialist views

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16
Q

why was there a revolution from above?

A

to try and gain better peace terms (the military generals thought the US president Wilson would be impressed by German moves towards democracy and would be more lenient) and to try and save the kaiser’s rule

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17
Q

what was the peace note?

A

prince Max wrote to president Wilson asking for an armistice,on the 24th of October he replied demanding Germany evacuates occupied territory,end of submarine warfare and fully democratize (not the soft deal they had wanted)

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18
Q

what was the public’s response to asking for an armistice?

A

morale was shattered as they were made to believe Germany was unbeatable,undermined respect for the Kaiser as the people had borne huge hardships for him,German armed forces started to rebel and on 28th of oct there was the first naval mutiny.

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19
Q

what was the revolution from below?

A

the unrest of German people during the last weeks of the war
- by August 1918 clear they had lost and as people were promised victory unrest erupted
- November 3rd Germany’s naval chiefs made a controversial decision of ordering ships in Kiel harbor out to sea,sailors were horrified and refused resulting in 100 arrests
- workers councils emerging for sailors,soldiers and workers mostly lead by patriotic Germans wanting the kaiser to go
- 8 Nov republic declared in Bavaria and Bavarian monarch dead
- 9 Nov SPD call for general strike to force Kaiser to go an
- 9 Nov SPD declared a new Republic in Germany and the army high command told Wilhelm they could no longer support him

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20
Q

what did the Naval mutinys lead to ?

A

socialists leading mass protests against the kaiser

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21
Q

who took over from the Kaiser?

A

Friedrich Ebert,leader of the largest socialist party

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22
Q

what was the stab in the back myth?

A

created by Luderndorff and Hidenburg, saying that Germany’s brave undefeated army was stabbed in the back by unpatriotic socialistis (SPD)/jewish politicians (associated with the Weimar republic)

23
Q

why was Germany defeated?

A
  • naval blockages of the Northern ports stopped supplies getting to Germany
  • overconfidence of German Generals, thinking they’d easily take France and thinking that America didn’t have an army ready when in reality they were able to send 900,000 men whilst Germany lost 900,000
24
Q

who were the KPD ?

A

Spartacists league
- founded in 1916
- lead by Karl Liebert and Rosa Luxembourg
- wanted republican govt. controlled by workers and soldiers’ councils,welfare benefits,nationalism,disbanding of army,opposed first world war
- extreme left wing
- little support,5000 members

25
Q

who were the USPD?

A
  • founded in 1917 by Hugo Hasse
  • aimed to have reichstag working with workers’ councils, welfare improvements,nationilsation of industry,reform of army,opposed ww1
  • support grew in strength during 1918 with 300,000 members
26
Q

who were the SPD ?

A
  • founded in 1917 by Freidrich Ebert and Philip Scheidemann
  • wanted moderate socialist republic with democratic elections and basic personal freedoms,supported Germany entering ww1
  • had lots of support from working class with 1 million members
27
Q

how did Ebert experience threats to his newly formed government?

A

from the left-wing
- the emergence of workers council at the end of the war was a dangerous parallel with Soviets in Russia,many viewing it as the way the revolution could be extended
- councils demanding nationalizing of industry,the break-up of aristocratic estates and the democratizing the army and civil service

28
Q

how did Ebert prevent a revolution and deal with the threat?

A

horrored by the idea of a communist Germany Ebert created the Ebert-Groener pact on the 10th Nov 1918

29
Q

what was the Ebert-Groener pact?

A

Gen Groerner offered the armys support to defend Germany against revoutlion in return he demanded Ebert resist councils calls for democratisation of the army and uphold command structure in the army

30
Q

What did Ebert’s critics say about the pact?

A

that the deal was a betrayal of the revolution,

31
Q

how did the army enforce order?

A

while the govt. prepared for Jan elections the army enforced order by
- killing 19 spatakists in Berlin after demonstration fired on by soilders
- sailors revolt put down
- mass protest in Jan 1919 to try and create revolution was stopped

32
Q

who were the Freikorps and what did they do?

A

a group of former soilders who had fought in ww1, but were being demobilised by the army,many held onto their weapons,remained loyal to the Kaiser and supported right wing parties
- organized by Ebert to supress the uprising
-

33
Q

when was the new Weimar constitution founded ?

A

on the 19th january 1919, elections held

34
Q

who had the most votes in the new Weimar consitution ?

A

SPD,but they did not secure a majority of seats in the reichstag due to the large number of political groups within Germany so the SPD were forced to compromise with other groups in order to establish a constitution

35
Q

what did the national parliament consist of?

A

directly elected Reichstag and the Reichstart (members drawn from the Lander)

36
Q

how was the president chosen and what power did they have?

A

elected every 7 years
- could appoint and dismiss governments
- responsible for appointing and dismissing the chancellor
- commander in chief of the armed forces
- able to suspend the reichstag’s authority in times of emergency and rule by decree (article 48)

37
Q

what were the concerns of the new Weimas constitution ?

A

the use of article 48 was supposed to be for emergency,Ebert used it 136 times, it was also used frequently in the future allowing president Hindenburg to undermine the reichstag and democratic government

38
Q

what is propotional representation ?

A

when the percentage of votes for a party is equaled by the percentage of the party which get a seat in parliament

39
Q

why was proportional represntation such an issue ?

A

due to the many political parties it was highly unlikely for any party to gain a majority of seats and so was unable to govern alone so parties had to combine (coalition)which can often be weak and unstable
it also meant un-democratic parties ended up with seats

40
Q

effect on army of new constitution ?

A

command structure of the second reich left largely intact so army was far from politically neutral.
- Gen Hans von Seeckt was appointed commander in chief in 1920 and didn’t believe the army owed any loyalties to the republic (seen as temp) but to traditional Germany

41
Q

effect on the civil service of the new constitution ?

A

govt. bureaucracy left in hand of those who had served the second reich and were notable anti-democratic,could be very powerful as coalition government proved fragmented

42
Q

effect on the judiciary of the new constitution ?

A

very little change from the judiciary that served in the second reich,most judges staunchly monarchists and anti-democratic,would deal with left wing threats much more severely than right wing threats.

43
Q

how and when did the war end?

A

with an armistice (a ceasefire) on 11th Novemeber 1918,this would last until peace terms could be agreed but Germany was not invited to the peace conference and their comments to first draft where largely ignored, on the 16th June Germany was given 7 days to accept the treaty

44
Q

did Germany accept the treaty?

A

the first coalition govt. didn’t but the second under Muller as they could see no alternative

45
Q

germany’s response to the treaty ?

A

much harsher than they expected,seen as a ditat,hatred of treaty and the politicians who signed it would have a long lasting effect on the weimar constitution

46
Q

what were the terms of the treaty ?

A

-Germany couldn’t join the league of nations
-lost 13% of its territory
-army cut to 100,000 volunteers,no new weapons or technology,limited navy (6 battleships) and rhineland demilitarised and to be occupied by allies for 15 years
- Germany had to accept blame for the start of the war and had to pay reparations

47
Q

what were the reasons for the Germans resentment ?

A
  • it was a diktat - no negotiation
  • germany signed the armistice on the basis of it being similer to wilsons 14s point and it was not
  • self-determination was denied to germany
  • war guilt was national humiliation and they felt they’de signed a blank cheque
  • was demeaning of such a great power
  • only defeated powers had to disarm and germanys proud military was destroyed
48
Q

what were the arguments against Germanys resentment ?

A
  • Germans reactions were mainly emotional rhetoric inflamed by nationalist propaganda
  • some aspects of wilsons points were applied
  • the treaty was moderate compared to the peace terms Germany had imposed on Russia in 1917
  • had the germans won their war aims made it clear they would have imposed similar terms
49
Q

what was the political impact of the treaty of Versailles ?

A

Philip Scheidemann resgined as chancellor rather than sign the treaty and a new coalition govt. had to be formed under Gustav Bauer,the army thought about fighting against the treaty but even Groener knew there was no chance of success

50
Q

how did the SPD respond to the treaty ?

A

they knew they would suffer for their actions,so they complied with the terms of the treaty in the short terms to try and lay fondations for revisions in the long term (fufillment)

51
Q

how did the treaty affect the support towards the new republic ?

A

turned supporters away,moderates who had accepted democracy and the new constitution no longer did as the treaty demorilized some at the centre of political press democracy - the weimar republic became associated with failure and defeat

52
Q

how did the right respond to the treaty ?

A

it cemented some groups determined to overthrow the republic,calling the democratic politicians the november criminals and perpetuated the stab in the back myth

53
Q

how did the freikorps and violent nationalist groups grow after the treaty ?

A

ex soilders who were humiliated by defeat gravitated towards them

History : Germany (16 decks)

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