The Problems of the Weimar Republic (1920-24) Flashcards
When was the Treaty of Versailles signed?
- June 1919
In which 4 areas did the treaty have consequences for Germany?
- War guilt
- It lost 13% of its land
- It had to pay reparations
- There would also be military consequences
List 7 areas Germany lost.
- All of its colonies
- All of the land gained in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
- Alsace and Lorraine to France
- Eupen and Malmédy to Belgium
- North Schleswig to Denmark
- The Polish Corridor was created out of German land (1 million Germans then became Polish)
- Germany was forbidden from uniting with Austria (Anschluss)
List 7 military consequences imposed on Germany as a result of the Treaty of Versailles.
- 100,000 army
- Only 6 battleships
- No tanks
- No heavy artillery
- No submarines
- No air force
- The Rhineland was demilitarised
Describe 3 details about the reparations Germany had to pay.
- Germany had to at first agree to pay reparations, but was only told the amount in 1921
- The reparations were fixed at 132 billion gold marks/ £6.6 billion
- All coal production from the Saar was to be given to France until 1935
What was Article 231?
- It was a war guilt clause stating that Germany had accepted responsibility for losses and damage (Article 232 then regarded reparations)
Describe 4 reactions to the Treaty of Versailles in Germany.
- It was seen as a ‘Diktat’ (dictated peace) as Germany did not get a say
- The people felt betrayed by the politicians who had signed the treaty, who became known as the ‘November Criminals’, and they felt like the treaty was further confirmation of the ‘stab in the back’ myth
- They felt that the treaty was a humiliation
- There were fears that it would even lead to another war
Give 4 reasons why the German people were so against the treaty.
- They saw the loss of German territory as unfair as Germany had not been occupied at any point during the war
- The loss of colonies was seen as a national humiliation
- They believed other countries were also responsible for the outbreak of war, as they thought Germany had been forced into a defensive war
- They knew that disarmament and demilitarisation meant that they would never be a great power in Europe again
What event was the first major challenge from the right-wing to the Weimar government, and when did it happen?
- The Kapp Putsch
- March 1920
List 4 factors that led to the Kapp Putsch.
- The disarmament and demilitarisation dictated by the Treaty of Versailles
- The disbanding of army units stationed near Berlin made the government vulnerable
- General Ludendorff and Wolfgang Kapp recognised this and realised they could be used to overthrow the government
- General Lüttwitz demanded that Ebert stop demilitarisation and hold elections to form a new government, but Ebert refused
What happened in the Kapp Putsch? Give 4 details.
- Generals Ludendorff and Lüttwitz and Wolfgang Kapp used the Freikorps to march on Berlin and seize control of the central government buildings
- The government fled
- Kapp dissolved the National Assembly and declared himself the new chancellor
- He also announced that the Weimar Constitution was no longer in effect
What was concerning about the government’s response to the Kapp Putsch?
- The army did not support the rebels, but also refused to fight them when instructed to
How did the government respond to the Kapp Putsch as a result?
- Ebert called on trade unions to call a general strike
What brought the Kapp Putsch to an end? How long had Kapp’s government lasted?
- The general strike was almost universal, so Kapp could not govern effectively
- His government collapsed after 4 days
Describe what happened to Kapp and his fellow conspirators.
- Kapp died in prison while awaiting trial
- Others who were involved either fled to Sweden or were given lenient prison sentences
What 2 things did the Kapp Putsch show?
- The army could not be relied on
- Neither could the judiciary; it was conservative and favoured the right-wing
List 2 impacts of the Kapp Putsch.
- Workers organised themselves into groups and attacked the Freikorps in Saxony and Thuringia
- The Ruhr uprising
When was the Ruhr uprising and what happened?
- March 1920
- Communists in the Ruhr formed a 50,000 strong army- the ‘Red Army’
- They controlled large parts of the Ruhr for several weeks
How did the Ruhr uprising end?
- The army, backed up by the Freikorps, stopped the Red Army
- It ended with the deaths of 1000 workers
List 6 main facts about the results of the elections in June 1920.
- DNVP got 5% more votes
- DVP 10% more
- USPD 10% more
- KPD went from 0% to 2%
- DDP and SPD both got 10% less votes
- ZP’s percentage of votes went down by 2%
Which 2 states had an attempted communist takeover, and when?
- Saxony
- Thuringia
- 1921