The Origins Of The Republic Flashcards
What was the reichstag ? How was this different to what the Germans where used to ?
The Weimar republics government
It used to be that the Kaiser was in control of everything however it was now a republic
What happened in the revolution of 1918-19?
-The US would not discuss peace talks whilst the Kaiser was in power
- the German navy mutinied and refused to fire upon British navel vessels as they felt it endangered the peace talks
- Kaiser wilhelm decided to abdicate and two days later the chancellor of the new German government accepted the armistice
What was the type of government common in the Weimar Republic ?
Coalition governments
This was frequent as most of the time no single party had a majority
What where some initial difficulties the Weimar government faced ?
Widespread unrest and attacks on the new government from both Left wing protestors and right wing
Why is it called the Weimar Republic ?
Berlin was too dangerous for members of the constitution to meet
It was decided they should meet in the town of Weimar hence the name
What was the sort of system used? Who was at the top and what could they do/ who was bellow them?
At the top of the president elected every 7 years
Below him is a chancellor chosen by the president and had to have support from the reichstag
Article 48- another flash card explains this
Had control over the army
What was article 48?
It gave the president an extreme power to suspend constitution in emergency
He could make laws and keep the chancellor in office without support of the Reichstag
Might be the most stupid article ever
What where some key articles ?
Article 1- it was a German republic
Article 22- both men and women over the age of 20 could vote
Article 23- Reichstag is elected every four years
Article 48- reich president can have crazy power if in emergency
Article 54- the chancellor must have support of the Reichstag
What where four strengths of the new constitution? Hint:laws, chancellor, president, proportional representation
- laws of the Weimar Republic where very democratic (women+ men could vote aged 20+)
- head of the government(chancellor) had to have support of the Reichstag
- strong president was necessary
- voting by proportional representation means the number of seats a party got was based on how many votes.
What where four flaws of the Weimar Republic ? Parliament v president, army, civil service and judiciary and proportional representation
- parliament or president: who had more power article 48 gave them all our power so?
- challenge from the army: leaders of the military wanted the Kaiser reinstated for their status
- challenge from civilly services and judiciary: many of the previous states did not want the Weimar Republic due to its liberal politics
- proportional representation/ produced large numbers of parties and coalition governments so it was hard for political stability
What was so bad about proportional representation?
Produced large numbers of parties and made it difficult to maintain stability
No party could really ever win and created many coalition governments
