The Kaiser and his difficulties ruling Germany

Question 1

What were the tiers of parliamentary government?

Answer 1

Kaiser
Chancellor
Bundesrat
Reichstag

Question 2

What were the Kaiser’s ideals?

Answer 2

Keen to build a large army and navy - spent time in the army, saw empires as he was Queen Victoria’s grandson.
He had a strong sense of militarism
Wanted a large empire - Weltpolitik

Question 3

When did Germany begin to industrialise?

Answer 3

Late 1800s

Question 4

Why did workers become unhappy?

Answer 4

Business owners became very rich and they were annoyed at low wages and poor working conditions

Question 5

What did the workers do about this to complain?

Answer 5

They joined trade unions and organised strikes, hoping to force the government to improve pay and working conditions

Question 6

What was the Social Democratic Party (SPD)?

Answer 6

• It believed in socialism
• Hoped the Kaiser would allow the Reichstag to make more social reforms
• It disagreed with power held by businessmen
• It was very popular with workers - 1 in 3 voted SPD at the time

Question 7

What did other socialists do?

Answer 7

Took a more extreme view - wanted to rebel against the Kaiser and allow cities and towns to be governed by councils of workers

Question 8

When were the navy laws introduced and why?

Answer 8

1898 - 1912
To help pay for the Kaiser’s expansion of the navy to help him take over more countries and protect the German empire

Question 9

How did the naval laws work?

Answer 9

By increasing taxes to help pay for it
The taxes were very unpopular with workers which created even more tension
Germany would remain in debt for a very long time