The origins of the Republic 1918-1919 Flashcards
How long was world war 1?
4 years- 1914-1918
How many Germans fought in the war?
11 million
How many Germans died in the war and how many were wounded?
Almost 2 million died, over 4 million were wounded.
What Percentage of German troops died?
55%
What did the cost of the war mean for german debts?
They trebled from 50 billion to 150 billion
How many Germans died of food shortages during ww1, why?
750000 because the British navy blocked German ports preventing german ships from bringing in food to the country
When did the german revolution begin? and Why?
1918, Because Kaiser Whilem lost control of soldiers and strikers. many town workers set up their own unofficial
councils to replace the kaisers officials
When did kaiser Whilem abdicate? Why?
9 Nov 1918, to restore order to Germany because officers at army heads refused to support him.
Who became chancellor after Kaiser abdicated?
Ebert
What 2 things did Ebert do on 10th November.
- Made an agreement with General Groener for the amry and government to work together to keep communists out of power
- Suspended the old Reichstag and named 6 politicians to be a council of people representatives, they would be the head of the government of Germany until new constitution was agreed
What was the armecist?
Formal agreement between Germany and the allies to end WW1. November 10th, 1918.
What did Ebert arrange for the civil servants to do?
Stay in office and work alongside soldiers, to ensure the state would keep running.
What was Ebert and General Goernor’s agreement?
Ebert reassured him that the army would not be reformed, Geoner lent support to keep new republican in power.
What did Ebert assure the leaders of the industry?
The economy can operate because the new republic would not confiscate their land or factories and would not nationalize private industries.
How did Ebert win the support of the trade unions?
He promised the new republic would try and achieve 8 hour working days.
What was the council of people representatives?
A temporary council made of six moderate politicians named by Ebert to head the government of the country until a new constitution was agreed. They took control of Germany in November 1918
What is a constitution?
Rules which set out how a country is run.
What was the role of the lected national assembly that came after CPR.
To creat a new constitution for Germany
When did the elections for the national assembly Happen? How many of the electorate voted? What were the results of the election?
The elections happened in 1919 January 19th, 82% of the electorate voted, Moderate parties got most the votes, the SPD got 40%, the center party got 20%
When did the national assembly meet for the first time and where?
February 1919, in Weimer because it was considered peaceful.
How long does it take the national assembly to reach an agreement on a constitution?
six months, on 31 July they agreed a new constitution 262 votes to 75
What did the new republic become known as?
the Weimer republic
What are the strengths of the Weimar constitution?
- democratic, article one of the constitution said that Germany was a democracy.
- Women were able to vote for the first time and the voting age dropped from 25 to 21.
- It had central and local governments.
- Reichstag was elected by proportional representation, even small parties had seats in the Reichstag.
- The constitution was designed so that no single party had too much power over Germany.
- The president had the power to choose the chancellor.
- The president could dismiss the Reichstag and call for new elections and assume control over the army.
- Every 7 years the electorate could change the president.
- The chancellor can decide which laws should be passed but normally these only became laws if the majority of the Reichstag and the reichstrat voted.
- Reichstag was more powerful but Reichstrat could delay laws unless Reichstag overruled it with a 2 thirds majority.
What were the weaknesses of the constitution?
- Coalition government, proportional representation meant a lot of small parties which meant no single party had a clear majority. The solution was for several different parties to join together in a coalition to form a government.
- Coalition parties had to compromise so there were no clear parties.
- coalitions frequently argued and fell apart.
-Weakness in crisis. The lack of a strong single-party government was problematic when swift decisions need to be made in a crisis.
Solutions for this were:
-Article 48: Allowed chancellor to ask the president to pass a necessary law by decree without the support of the Reichstag. Problem was that by 1930 the chancellor often relied on the president to pass laws, which defeats the point of democracy.
-This made the constitution seem weak which encouraged the opinion that a single all-powerful leader was better.
-The constitution was opposed by extremists and considered flawed by moderate parties.
