The Weimar Republic Flashcards
What % of German troops became casualties?
55%
Germany’s debts in 1918
Trebled pre-war levels
How many Germans died from food shortages in WW1?
750,000
When did the Kaiser initially refuse to abdicate?
9th Nov
Who did the Kaiser lose the support of?
The army
When did Kaiser go into exile in Holland?
10th Nov
Who announced the Kaiser had gone and there’d be a new republic?
Philipp Scheidemann - leader of SPD
9th Nov - streets of Berlin
Full of people - some peacefully protesting, some collected guns and took over parts of the city
Who had the Kaiser’s chancellor been?
Max Von Baden
What did von Baden do on Nov 9th
Hand over his office to Ebert
What did Ebert do on 10th Nov with the army?
Agreed with General Groener to work together to keep communists out of gov
Who formed the Council of People’s Representatives?
6 moderate politicians
What did Ebert do to the Reichstag on Nov 10th
Suspend it temporarily so the Council of People’s Representatives could make a constitution
Who signed the armistice?
Erzberger
How did Ebert ensure the state kept running?
Kept the civil servant stay who’d been there under the Kaiser’s rule
What did Ebert assure General Groener?
The army wouldn’t be reformed - officers to keep ranks. Groener agreed to use the army to keep the republic in power
How did Ebert ensure the economy would continue to operate?
Reassured leaders of industry - like Hugo Stinnes - that the Republic wouldn’t confiscate land or factories, no nationalism of private companies
How did Ebert win the support of trade unions?
Promised their leader - Carl Legien - that they’d work towards an 8 hour working day
What would the National Assembly do?
Create the constitution
When were the elections for the National Assembly
19th January 1919
What % of the seats in the National Assembly were held by moderates?
60%
Who would chose all gov ministers?
Chancellor
How many votes was the new constitution agreed by?
262 to 75
Article 1 of the constitution
Democracy - voting age 21 (men + women),
What could the Reichsrat do?
Delay any new laws passed unless the Reichstag overruled with 2/3 majority
Which house controlled taxation?
Reichstag
What did the Lander governments control?
police, courts and schools
How many coalition govs between 1919-23?
Nine
How many parties in total during 1920s
29
Was the Weimar Gov the choice of the people?
No - gov had relied on violence + army to subdue Berlin riots
When was the Treaty of Versailles signed?
28th June 1919
Diktak
Versailles imposed, not agreed on with equal terms
What did Germany do to try and reduce terms of Versailles?
Asked for concessions but all were refused
What were reparations fixed at?
£6.6 billion
How many colonies did Germany lose?
11
German Navy
Six battleships, 12 destroyers, no submarines
What happened to the Rhineland under Versailles
Permanently demilitarised and occupied by allied troops
What land was lost to France?
Alsace and Lorraine
What land was lost to Belgium?
Malmedy and Eupen
What land was lost to Poland?
Posen and West Prussia
What land decided to become a part of Poland
Upper Silesia
What land voted to become a part of Denmark?
Northern Schleswig
What happened to the port of Danzig?
Became a free city for Poland’s access to the sea
What happened to the Output of the Saar coalfields?
Went to France for 15 years
What % of its population did Germany lose
10%
What % of its European territory did Germany lose?
13%
What % of its iron reserves did Germany lose?
50
How did Versailles make Germany politically weak?
Made people resent the leaders of the republic who’d signed it
What % of seats did moderate have in the June 6th 1920 elections
45% - no enough for majority coalitions
How many newspapers and members did the KPD have?
33 daily newspapers and 400,000 members
What did Ebert do on January 4th 1919?
Sack chief of police in Berlin - Emil Eichhorn, thousands took to the streets in protest
What did the Sparticists do on January 6th?
Called for an uprising and general strike - 100,000 workers took to the streets - seized gov newspaper and telegraph offices
How many Freikorps by March 1919?
250,000
When had the rebels in the Sparticists uprising been driven off the streets by?
13th January
When were Freikorps in Berlin due to be disbanded?
March 1920
How many Freikorps marched on Berlin?
5000
Ebert ordered head of Reichswehr to put down the Freikorp rebels
‘Reichswehr does not fire upon Reichswehr’
What did Kapp do?
Declare a new gov and invited Kaiser back from exile
Where did the gov flee to during the Kapp Putsch?
Stuttgart
Who was the foreign minister machine-gunned to death in Berlin 1922?
Walther Rathenau
E.gs of political murders
Erzberger in 1921, Hugo Haase, one of Council of People’s Representatives in 1919
How many political murders 1919-22?
376
KPD’s army
Red Front Fighters - Rotfrontkampfer
DNVP’s army
Stahlhelm
What did the French confiscate in the Ruhr
Raw materials, manufactured goods and industrial machienry
What did the Ruhr contain?
80% of Germany’s coal, iron and steel reserves
In 1923 how many printing shops were there?
2000
Impact of hyperinflation on food shortages?
Foreign supplied refused to accept marks - imports dried up
When did Stresemann set up the Rentenbank?
November 1923
When was the Reichsbank given control of this new currency?
August 1924
How much did US banks loan German industry?
$25 billion
Dawes Plan effect of reparations
Temporarily reduced to £50 million per year
What happened to industrial output 1923-1928
Doubled
What is a ‘virtuous cycle’ of economic growth?
Lower taxes = higher public spending power = boosted industry = more jobs = higher spending power
When did the French agree to leave the Ruhr?
After the Dawes Plan
When did the French agree to leave the Rhineland?
1930
1925 Locarno Pact
Germany accepted its new border with France, France promised peace, Rhineland permanently demilitarised, open talks to German membership of League of Nations
When was Germany accepted into the League of Nations?
Sept 1926
Kellogg Briand Pact
Promise to not use war to achieve foreign policy aims
May 1928 Elections vs May 1924 elections
58% moderates vs 45%
28% extremists vs 40%
When did Ebert die?
1925 - one of the November Criminals
Impact of Ebert being replaced by Hindenburg
Former field marshal of Kaiser’s army - reassured middle class + gave Republic a strong figurehead
When did Stresemann have a heart attack?
3rd October 1929
Unemployment 1926 —> 1928
2 million —> 1.3 million
Unemployment Insurance Act 1927
Pay 3% of wages for ~60 marks a week in unemployment and sickness benefits
How many workers payed into the Unemployment Insurance Act?
16.4 million
Real wages 1925 —> 1928
Rose by 25%
Working week 1925 —> 1927
50 —> 46 hours
What was introduced in 1925 to fund building associations?
A 15% rent tax
How many houses were built by private companies?
37,000
Housing shortage in 1923
1 million home
Who were paid pensions throughout the 1920s
750,000 war veterans, 400,000 war widows, 200,000 parents of dead servicemen
How many students were in higher education in 1928?
110,000
How many students were in higher education before the war?
70,000
In Weimar elections, what % of women voted?
90%
By 1932, what % of the Reichstag was female?
10%
How many female judges were there in 1933?
36
What happened to the number of female doctors 1925-32?
Doubled
What happened to the divorce rate compared to 1913?
More than doubled
Famous Weimar artist
Otto Dix - expressionism
One of the world’s first horror films
The Cabinet of Dr Claligari
How many cinemas showing films with sound by 1932?
3800
How many people were at the first NSDAP meeting Hitler attended?
23
