The Weimar Republic - 1918-29 Flashcards
what were the impacts of ww1 on Germany?
2 million german troops died;
by 1918 Germany was 150 billion marks in debt;
there were food shortages due to the British Navy blockading German ports - 750,000 people died of starvation
In 1918 what were conditions in Germany like?
starvation (1000 calories a day);
fuel shortages = power cuts, factories closing - job loss & transport problems;
influenza (Spanish flu) was spreading causing thousands of deaths a week;
How did Germany become a democracy after the armistice?
Allies made peace only if Germany became more democratic.
On 2nd Oct, Kaiser Wilhelm allowed the Reichstag to form a government - who took away many of Wilhelm’s powers
But a lot of the public hated the Kaiser and wanted to overthrow him
what happened during the Nov 1918 revolution?
in Stuggart, at the Daimler plant, workers went on strike and protested in the streets;
In Hanover, soldiers refused to control rioters in the street. In many places local people (socialists) set up workers’ and soldiers’ councils to take over their cities;
In Munich, on Nov 7th, workers declared a general strike and protested - led by Kurt Eisner (jewish communist) - announced Bavaria a republic/separate from Germany;
In Kiel and Hamburg, Oct 1918, German Navy crews mutinied and refused to follow orders in the ports. As the were asked to go and fight the British even though peace talks were going on and it would have been suicide.
By November 1918 what was the political state of Germany like?
What did the socialists do?
verging on civil war.
On the 9th Kaiser Wilhelm abdicated and 2 socialist parties declared a republic.
when was ceasefire?
11th November 1918
Who became the temporary Chancellor?
Ebert - SPD leader
what was Germany like by 1919?
No Kaiser, socialist government, upcoming elections (Jan 1919), WW1 over, peace treaty undecided
Who won the presidency in Jan 1919?
Friedrich Ebert, leader of SDP (moderate socialists)
in Feb members of the Reichstag met at Weimar to create a new constitution
Who was responsible for creating the constitution?when were they elected?
who was most popular?
The National Assembly was responsible,
elections were on the 19th Jan 1919,
the SDP were most popular - moderates won most seats
when was the weimar constitution agreed on?
31st July 1919
In the new constituion what was the role of the President?
elected every 7 yrs chose the Chancellor head of the army can dissolve the Reichstag, call new elections and suspend the constitution no role in day-to-day politics
what did the Chancellor do?
head of government
chose all government ministers
ran day-to-day politics
what did the cabinet do?
most important ministers
they worked closely with Chancellor to come up with decisions
main decision-making body of the gov.
structure of the parliament?
made up of 2 houses (Reichstag & Reichsrat)
normally all laws were passed through both houses
Reichstag
most powerful house
controlled taxation
directly elected by people every 4 yrs
elected using proportional representation (30% of votes = 30% of seats)
Reichsrat
elected every 4 yrs
represented each region (members from each region)
can delay measures put in by Reichstag
who could vote?
everyone over 21
strengths of the constitution?
Democracy - fairer, thing in the public interest more likely to happen (all over 21 could vote, for every 60,000 votes there was one representative);
Limits on power - so no one person could hold too much power (president chose Chancellor, president could do the large stuff but not the day-today stuff);
weaknesses of the constitution?
Article 22: proportional representation - meant there were many small parties, so the winner was unclear, coalitions were common (led to compromise and they fell apart frequently). 29 parties in the 1920s, form 1919-23 there were 9 coalition governments;
Limits on power - president had a lot of control over the Chancellor and Reichstag, dangerous to corruption. President chose chancellor, president could dismiss Reichstag, call new elections and assume control of the army
Coalition governments - common because of article 22, led to compromise on policy - governments were weak and not clear, they often fell apart so that nothing could be passed
Article 48: in the case of a crisis the President takes control assisted by the Chancellor - Chancellor often used this to pass laws that couldn’t get through parliament (as def. of ‘crisis’ was weak). This bypasses democratic law. So constitution seemed weak and people thought a dictator was better (got more done) than a democratic gov.
Opposition to the republic - gov. had used force/army to subdue riots and to start the democracy. Some parties in the Reichstag openly hated democracy (NSDAP and communists). The lack of public support and open internal hostility made it weak.
Where was the treaty of versailles decided - who was there?
At the 1919 Paris Peace Conference
Allies were there but Germany weren’t invited
when was the treaty of versailles signed?
28th June 1919
3 reasons the Germans didn’t like the ToV?
it was a ‘diktat’ (forced on them) - refused concessions
they hated the terms
Stab in the Back theory - Germans didn’t think they had been defeating as they had only been retreating in 1918. they blamed politicians for betraying the gov.
what made the german people feel a loss of pride about the ToV?
Article 231 - had to admit guilt, but many Germans didn’t agree with this
The allies could punish them as they admitted guilt
