The origins of the Republic 1918-1919

Question 1

How long was world war 1?

Answer 1

4 years- 1914-1918

Question 2

How many Germans fought in the war?

Answer 2

11 million

Question 3

How many Germans died in the war and how many were wounded?

Answer 3

Almost 2 million died, over 4 million were wounded.

Question 4

What Percentage of German troops died?

Answer 4

55%

Question 5

What did the cost of the war mean for german debts?

Answer 5

They trebled from 50 billion to 150 billion

Question 6

How many Germans died of food shortages during ww1, why?

Answer 6

750000 because the British navy blocked German ports preventing german ships from bringing in food to the country

Question 7

When did the german revolution begin? and Why?

Answer 7

1918, Because Kaiser Whilem lost control of soldiers and strikers. many town workers set up their own unofficial
councils to replace the kaisers officials

Question 8

When did kaiser Whilem abdicate? Why?

Answer 8

9 Nov 1918, to restore order to Germany because officers at army heads refused to support him.

Question 9

Who became chancellor after Kaiser abdicated?

Answer 9

Ebert

Question 10

What 2 things did Ebert do on 10th November.

Answer 10

• 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

Question 11

What was the armecist?

Answer 11

Formal agreement between Germany and the allies to end WW1. November 10th, 1918.

Question 12

What did Ebert arrange for the civil servants to do?

Answer 12

Stay in office and work alongside soldiers, to ensure the state would keep running.

Question 13

What was Ebert and General Goernor’s agreement?

Answer 13

Ebert reassured him that the army would not be reformed, Geoner lent support to keep new republican in power.

Question 14

What did Ebert assure the leaders of the industry?

Answer 14

The economy can operate because the new republic would not confiscate their land or factories and would not nationalize private industries.

Question 15

How did Ebert win the support of the trade unions?

Answer 15

He promised the new republic would try and achieve 8 hour working days.

Question 16

What was the council of people representatives?

Answer 16

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

Question 17

What is a constitution?

Answer 17

Rules which set out how a country is run.

Question 18

What was the role of the lected national assembly that came after CPR.

Answer 18

To creat a new constitution for Germany

Question 19

When did the elections for the national assembly Happen? How many of the electorate voted? What were the results of the election?

Answer 19

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%

Question 20

When did the national assembly meet for the first time and where?

Answer 20

February 1919, in Weimer because it was considered peaceful.

Question 21

How long does it take the national assembly to reach an agreement on a constitution?

Answer 21

six months, on 31 July they agreed a new constitution 262 votes to 75

Question 22

What did the new republic become known as?

Answer 22

the Weimer republic

Question 23

What are the strengths of the Weimar constitution?

Answer 23

• 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.

Question 24

What were the weaknesses of the constitution?

Answer 24

• 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.