the collapse of the Weimar Republic Flashcards

1
Q

who was Chancellor of Germany in 1929?

A

Hermann Muller

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2
Q

what did the Young plan outline?

A
  • reparations were extended to 1988
  • the total amount of reparations were dropped to £1.85 billion
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3
Q

who disagreed with the Young Plan?

A

the right-wing

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4
Q

what issue did the right-wing have with the Young Plan?

A

reparations still existed

therefore Germany’s war guilt was still being affirmed

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5
Q

who was the leader of the DNVP?

A

Alfred Hugenberg

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6
Q

what had Hugenberg created?

A

a national committe which opposed the Young Plan

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7
Q

what was the national committee set up by Hugenberg called?

A

the National Opposition

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8
Q

who did Hugenberg look to for support?

A
  • the Pan-German league
  • Hitler and the Nazi party
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9
Q

what did the National Opposition draft?

A

the ‘Law against the Enslavement of the German People’

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10
Q

what did the ‘Law against the Enslavement of the German People’ do?

A

denounce all reparations and demanded the punishment of ministers who agreed with them

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11
Q

what did the National Opposition push for?

A

a referendum regarding the Young Plan

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12
Q

what was the outcome of the referendum on the Young Plan?

A

the National Opposition only won 5.8 million votes

21 million were needed

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13
Q

what was significant about the National Opposition?

A

it had brought together many right-wing opponents to the Weimar Republic

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14
Q

why had the National Opposition been significant for the Nazi Party?

A
  • their membership rose
  • Nazism was propelled into German society
  • gave the Nazi Party access to Hugenberg’s media empire
  • wide use of propaganda to a great effect in gathering German support
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15
Q

when was Muller’s Grand Coalition brought down?

A

March 1930

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16
Q

what brought down Muller’s Grand Coalition?

A

issues of finance

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17
Q

what were the financial issues faced by Muller’s govt?

A

whether to support the SPD or DVP

the SPD wanted to increase welfare support
the DVP wanted to reduce benefits in favour of supporting big business

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18
Q

who followed Muller as Chancellor?

A

Heinrich Bruning

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19
Q

who started to exploit President Hindenburg and his powers?

A

Oskar von Hindenburg
Major General Kurt von Schleicher

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20
Q

why was Bruning chosen as the right Chancellor?

A

he was a conservative figure who could be controlled by men like von Schleicher

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21
Q

what did von Schleicher and co look to do with Hindenburg’s powers?

A

they wanted to use Article 48 to create a more authoritarian government

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22
Q

how did Bruning look to deal with the growing economic crisis?

A

he proposed cuts in govt expenditure in order to achieve a more balanced budget

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23
Q

what happened to Bruning’s economic proposals?

A

they were rejected by the Reichstag in July 1930

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24
Q

in response to it’s rejection by the Reichstag, how did Bruning look to pass his economic reform?

A

through the use of Article 48

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25
Q

what did the Reichstag think of Bruning’s use of Article 48 to bypass the Reichstag?

A

they voted for the withdrawal of the reform

deadlock formed

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26
Q

what did Bruning ask Hindenburg to do to deal with the deadlock in the Reichstag?

A

he asked Hindenburg to dissolve the Reichstag
and then call for a general election in September 1930

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27
Q

what was significant about the election in September 1930?

A

the extreme parties gained major ground
the pro-democratic parties had lost a lot of support
more extreme party members were given a seat in the Reichstag, meaning a democratic govt was harder to achieve

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28
Q

why did the SPD accept Bruning’s use of Article 48?

A

they believed that it was the only way the govt could deal with the threat from the left and right wings

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29
Q

what had Bruning’s rule effectively become?

A

a presidential government

he was effectively a semi-dictator through the use of Article 48 to force through reform

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30
Q

how many laws were passed through using Article 48 in 1931-32?

A

110

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31
Q

how many laws were passed through democratically with Reichstag backing?

A

39

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32
Q

what main measures did Bruning enforce through presidential decree?

A
  • to cut spending drastically
  • raise taxes
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33
Q

why was Bruning labelled the Hunger Chancellor?

A

he failed to increase demand, instead lowering demand, which led to more unemployed and a decline in state welfare

failed to introduce public works schemes

34
Q

what was a public works scheme?

A

an employment scheme financed by the state to provide more jobs

35
Q

what role did Bruning play in Hindenburg’s re-election?

A

he campaigned heavily for Hindenburg

36
Q

who ran in the 1932 Presidential election?

A

Hindenburg
Hitler
Thalmann

37
Q

what was the result of the 1932 Presidential election?

A

53% for Hindenburg
37% for Hitler

38
Q

how was Hitler’s loss in the 1932 Presidential election a success?

A

he had doubled the Nazi vote
he had created a stronger personal image

39
Q

when was Bruning forced to resign?

A

May 1932

40
Q

for what reasons did Hindenburg force Bruning to resign?

A

land reform
right-wing pressure

41
Q

what unpopular land reform did Bruning try to introduce?

A

he wanted to turn some Junker estates in east Prussia into 600,000 allotments for unemployed workers

42
Q

who was angered by Bruning’s proposed land reform?

A

landowners and the elite
including Hindenburg who himself owned a lot of land

43
Q

who tried to push for Bruning’s resignation?

A

men like von Schleicher who wanted to install a right-wing government

44
Q

why was Bruning able to stay as Chancellor for so long?

A

solely off of the backing of the President and his use of Article 48

without these, Bruning was a poor Chancellor who epitomised the republic’s failure to deal with the economic crisis

45
Q

what had Bruning’s chancellorship shown?

A

it was a period of presidential governance where Germany was ruled by decree and not through democracy

paved the way for the Nazis to run a very similar style of government early on

46
Q

who did von Schleicher propose to Hindenburg to be the new chancellor?

A

Franz von Papen

47
Q

why did von Schleicher see von Papen as the right candidate?

A

he saw a politician he could easily control and influence
von Papen was also close to those in high society

48
Q

what party did von Papen represent?

A

ZP
but he had nationalist views

49
Q

why was von Papen’s cabinet labelled the ‘cabinet of barons’?

A

it was made up of aristocratic landowners and industrialists
men who didnt even have a seat in the Reichstag

50
Q

with who did von Schleicher and von Papen hope to gain support from?

A

Hitler and the Nazis

51
Q

what concessions did Hitler want in return for not opposing the government?

A
  • the Reichstag to be dissolved and a general election
  • end on the govt ban on the SA and SS
52
Q

when was the election arranged?

A

31 July 1932

53
Q

to what extent did violence play in the Reichstag elections in 1932?

A

86 people died

54
Q

what did von Papen and von Schleicher use the violence as an excuse to do?

A

abolish the reigional state of Prussia

55
Q

when did von Papen remove the regional state of Prussia?

A

20 July 1932

56
Q

what did von Papen appoint himself as?

A

the Reich Commissioner of Prussia

57
Q

why was the abolishment of the regional govt of Prussia significant?

A
  • it was seen to be unconstitutional
  • it replaced democracy with presidential authoritarianism
  • the SPD and trade unions put up little resistance which showed that those who wanted democracy in Germany had little initiative
58
Q

what was the Nazi result in the July 1932 elections?

A

with 37% of the vote they became the largest party in Germany

59
Q

how many voted pro-democratic parties in the 1932 elections?

A

39.5%

60
Q

how many voted for the KPD and the NSDAP (the anti-democratic parties)?

A

51%

61
Q

what was the major conclusion of the 1932 elections?

A

that the German people had rejected democracy in favour of the extremes

62
Q

why was Hitler unable to become chancellor after the success in the 1932 elections?

A

von Schelicher and von Papen were in powerful positions from which they could heavily influence the actions of President Hindenburg

63
Q

what happened on the 12 September 1932?

A

a vote of no confidence in von Papen’s government was passed

64
Q

result of von Papen’s vote of no confidence

A

512 to 42

65
Q

what was von Papen’s reaction to the vote of no confidence?

A

he dissolved the Reichstag and called for another election

66
Q

why did von Papen want to call another election?

A

he new that the Nazis were bankrupt and morale amongst the party was low

67
Q

what was the Nazi result in the November 1932 election?

A

fall to 33%

68
Q

what was the differing opinion between von Schleicher and von Papen?

A

von Schleicher saw the importance of winning Nazi support
WHILE
von Papen was not willing to give Hitler chancellorship in ANY event

69
Q

what did von Schleicher do to convince the President to force von Papen to resign?

A

he informed the President of the army’s lack of confidence in von Papen

70
Q

who followed von Papen as chancellor and when?

A

2 December 1932
von Schleicher became chancellor

71
Q

how was von Schleicher looking to gain support from the left?

A

he looked to gain the confidence of the left-wing as well as the trade unions

INTRODUCING PUBLIC WORK SCHEMES

72
Q

how was von Schleicher hoping to deal with the Nazis?

A

he hoped to split the Nazi party up into left and right-wing
he would then offer the role of vice-chancellorship to Gregor Strasser who leads the more socialist aspect of the Nazi party

73
Q

how did the left-wing react to von Schleicher’s proposals?

A

they were suspicious of von Schleicher

the SPD ordered trade unions to stop negotiations with von Schleicher

the proposal of public work schemes backfired on von Schleicher as industrialists and landowners massively disagreed

74
Q

how did the Nazi Party react to von Schleicher’s proposals?

A

Strasser was keen to become vice-chancellor
HOWEVER
Hitler and Strasser had a massive row which culminated in Hitler forcing Strasser to resign

75
Q

what effect did the split in the Nazi party have on party morale?

A

the split was a major blow and led to worsening tensions in the party in the run up to 1933

76
Q

who plotted with Hitler to overthrow von Schleicher?

A

von Papen
he was still bitter about the way von Schleicher pushed him out of chancellorship

77
Q

when did Hitler and von Papen have their meeting?

A

4 January 1933

78
Q

what was agreed upon between von Papen and Hitler at their meeting?

A

Hitler would be chancellor of a Nazi-Nationalist coalition
AND
von Papen would be vice-chancellor

79
Q

what did von Papen see Hitler as?

A

a puppet who could be politically controlled

80
Q

when was Hitler made Chancellor?

A

30 January 1933