The Establishment of the Republic Flashcards
What were the October Reforms?
Prince Max of Baden was appointed as Chancellor; the Chancellor was to be responsible to the Reichstag, and a government was to be established based on the majority parties in the Reichstag; the armed forces were to be controlled by the civil government.
What and when was the Peace Note?
On October 3, Prince Max solicited an armistice from President Wilson, who failed to respond for three weeks, due to concerns, that this was an attempt to buy time by the German High Command to prepare a new offensive. Wilson demanded that German must evacuate all occupied territory, conclude submarine warfare and fully democratise its political system. Such terms were rejected by Ludendorff.
What sparked the November Revolution?
On 28 October 1918, German High Command ordered ships from Wilhelmshaven to attack British ships in the English Channel. This was an act of futile resistance and sparked a naval mutiny.
What occurred during the November Revolution?
On 3 November, sailors mutinied against officers and seized control of the base. On 4 November, the revolt escalated, with workers’ and soldiers’ councils being established, similar to the Soviets in the Bolshevik Revolution. By 6 November, these had been established across Germany. On 8 November, a Republic was proclaimed in Bavaria, and on 9 November the SPD demanded a general strike in Berlin to force the Kaiser to abdicate. Prince Max released a press statement on 9 November declaring the Kaiser had abdicated, resigned as Chancellor, and was replaced by Friedrich Ebert.
What sparked the January Revolution?
On 28 December 1918, the alliance between the SPD and USPD collapsed when the USPD withdrew from the Council of People’s Representatives due to dispute over a military operation, and discord over the future course of the revolution escalated into the Spartacist Revolt.
When was Friedrich Ebert elected President of the Reich?
11 February 1919.
How many members did the Spartacist League have in 1918?
5,000.
How many members did the USPD have in 1918?
300,000.
How many members did the SPD have in 1918?
1 million.
When and what was the Ebert-Groener Pact?
On 10 November 1918, General Groener assured Ebert that the army leadership would support the government. In return, he demanded that Ebert resisted the demands of soldiers’ councils to democratise the army and defend Germany from a communist revolution.
When was the Spartacist Revolt and how long did it last?
The Spartacists revolted against the government on 6 January 1919, and this was suppressed after a week.
When were elections to the Constituent Assembly first held?
19 January 1919.
What percentage of the vote did the SPD win in the first elections to the Reichstag?
37.9%
On how many occasions did Ebert use Article 48?
136.
What did Article 54 of the Constitution guarantee?
It guaranteed the independence of the judiciary, most of whom had served in the Second Empire, who were monarchist and anti-democratic, indicating this bias in their rulings.
When was Germany exposed to the terms of Versailles?
7 May 1919. They were offered seven days to accept the Treaty on 16 June. On 28 June, Versailles was signed by all powers.
What were the terms of the Treaty?
Germany was stripped of 13% of its territory and one-tenth of its population; reparations intended to cripple the nation’s economy; Article 231, the war guilt clause, compelled Germany to accept full responsibility for initiating the First World War; the army was to be restricted to 100,000 men and the navy 15,000, and Germany was to have no airforce, and was excluded from the League of Nations. Germany lost 75% of iron ore, 68% of zinc ore, 26% of coal, and 15% of arable land.
Who resigned due to Versailles, and who was he replaced by?
Philip Scheidemann resigned, and was replaced by Gustav Bauer.
In 1919, the Weimar Republic faced how much debt?
1.44 billion marks.
What happened to prices in the early 1920s?
Prices doubled between 1918 and 1919, and quadrupled between 1919 and 1920, 14 times higher than in 1913.
How much did Germany have to pay in reparations?
£6.6 billion.
Who resigned in protest to reparations, and who was he replaced by?
Konstantin Fehrenbach resigned, to be replaced by Joseph Wirth.
In November 1922, what did Germany request from the Reparations Commission?
A loan of 500 million marks and to be released from its obligation to pay for 3/4 years to stabilise its currency.
What was the Occupation of the Ruhr?
By the end of 1922, Germany struggled with its payments of coal reparations to France, prompting the French and Belgians to order a military force of 60,000 men to occupy the Ruhr industrial area in January 1923, forcing the Germans to comply with Versailles. The number of occupying forces increased to 100,000, seeking to seize the region’s coal, steel and manufactured goods as reparations.
