The Weimar Republic

Question 1

What did the extreme left-wing party want?

(4)

Answer 1

They wanted Germany to be controlled by the people.

They opposed capitalism

wanted to abolish private ownership of land and business and put it in the hands of workers.

These people were internationalists who stressed coo-operation.

Question 2

What happened when coalitions disagreed and decisions needed to be made?

Answer 2

Article 48 of the constitution was activated (in a crisis, the chancellor could ask the President to pass a law without support from the Reichstag)

• By 1930, the chancellor relied heavily on the president
• It encouraged people to think a single, all-powerful leader was better

Question 3

How did the first world war officially end?

Answer 3

-Ebert’s representative, Matthias Erzberger, signed the armistice on the 11th of November

Question 4

What was Dolchstoss?

Answer 4

One of the many reasons why the Treaty of Versailles was hated by the Germans. They believed the German Army had not been defeated. Critics of the treaty said the army was betrayed by politicians and that they were “stabbed in the back” (dolchstoss)

Question 5

What did the SPD do after Scheidemann announced the new republic and to keep control of Germany?

Answer 5

• On the 9th November, Max von Baden (the Kaiser’s chancellor) handed his office to Friedrich Ebert (leader of SPD)
• On the 10th November, Ebert and Groener made an agreement so the army worked with the government to stop the communists
• Ebert also suspended the old Reichstag and named six moderate politicians to form the Council of People’s representatives until a constitution (rules to run a country) could be agreed
• This prevented an anarchy or takeover by communist extremists

Question 6

describe how extremist parties posed a threat in the 6th June 1920 election and how they continued to be difficult throughout the 1920s

Answer 6

Although the SPD, DDP and ZP had 77% of seats after the National assembly, after the election of 6th June 1920 they only had 45% of the seats.

On the other hand, extremists had risen to take nearly 20% of the seats.

For most of the 1920s, the centre parties struggled through coalitions and attacks from the right and left wing.

Question 7

What were the key roles in the Weimar Republic?

Answer 7

• President
• Chancellor
• Cabinet
• Reichstag
• Reichsrat

Question 8

What did the extreme right-wing parties want?

(4-5)

Answer 8

They wanted a strong government

strong army all headed by a strong leader.

They supported Capitalism

tended to place the interests of the nation over the individual

Question 9

When did Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicate?

Answer 9

The Kaiser abdicated on the 9th November and he went into exile in Holland in the early hours of the 10th November

Question 10

What was the role of the President?

Answer 10

• He had the power to choose the chancellor (usually the leader of the largest party)
• He could dismiss the Reichstag, call new elections and assume control of the army
• The electorate could change the president every seven years

Question 11

What does “diktat” mean?

Answer 11

terms of the Treaty of Versailles were imposed, not agreed.

the Germans were bitterly opposed to the treaty terms and asked for concessions- all were refused

most germans assumed that Germany would be able to negotiate the terms of the peace treaty , but the Allies refused to allow any German representatives to join in the treaty discussions

Question 12

Why did Phillip Scheidemann rush to the window to declare a new German republic?

Answer 12

• Told that armed rioters were preparing to announce a communist government in Berlin
• he was keen to retain control events and keep a more moderate form of government

Question 13

What happened in the German cities of Stuttgart and Hanover and to most cities after WW1?

Answer 13

• At the Daimler plant in Stuttgart, workers went on strike and demonstrated in the streets
• In Hanover, soldiers refused to stop controlling the people in riots.
• Generally, in most places, local people set up worker’s and soldier’s councils to take over their cities and to replace the Kaiser’s officials with their own

Question 14

What was the role of the chancellor?

Answer 14

• The chancellor decided which laws should be passed
• Most only became law if the Reichstag and Reichsrat voted for them

Question 15

What did the Reichstrat and the reichstag do?

Answer 15

Normally, all laws had to pass through both houses

• The Reichstag was the more powerful house in Parliament, it controlled things such as taxation and as directly elected by the people at least once every 4 years
• The Reichsrat had the ability to delay new laws by the Reichstag unless the Reichstag overruled them with a two-thirds majority. It was also elected every 4 years but it represented the regions of Germany. Each region sent a certain number of representatives depending on its size

Question 16

Strengths of the Weimar republic

(6)

Answer 16

• Article 1 of the constitution confirmed that Germany was to be a democracy,
• women were able to vote as well as men and the voting age was reduced from 25 to 21,
• Reichstag was elected under a system of proportional representation which meant that smaller parties had a fair share of seats
• the constitution was carefully constructed so that no one person or one group could have too much power
• The central government had more power than it did under the Kaiser but some traditional powers were retained by the local government
• The Reichsrat could regulate the power of the Reichstag by delaying new laws

Question 17

When was the National assembly decided and how?

Answer 17

• On the 19th January 1919 elections took place to select the National Assembly to decide on the constitution
• Moderate parties gained the most seats: the SPD won 40% while the Centre Party won 20%

Question 18

What was the result of the British Naval Blockade?

Answer 18

-750,000 German civilians died due to food shortages as a result of the British Naval Blockade

Question 19

Every party was allocated one representative for each … votes in its favour

Answer 19

60,000 votes

Question 20

What happened to Local Governments after the new republic?

Answer 20

• Each of the 18 regions of Germany (including Prussia and Bavaria) kept its own local government called a “land”
• These controlled key services like police, courts and schools

Question 21

How did the German navy rebel against the Kaiser

Answer 21

-October 1918, some crews in the German Navy mutinied (refused to follow orders) in the ports of Kiel and Hamburg

Question 22

What were the main impacts of World War One on the people and soldiers? (4)

how many people fought in the war

died to wounded

what was the debt

naval blockade

Answer 22

• 11 million German soldiers fought in World War One (1914-1918)
• Nearly 2 million died with 4 million wounded
• Germany’s debt went from 50 billion marks to 150 billion marks
• 750,000 German civilians died due to food shortages as a result of the British Naval Blockade

Question 23

Why was the Weimar republic especially unpopular (ie. stab in the back + TOV)?

Answer 23

-Most the politicians who surrendered at the end of the war and agreed to the terms of the treaty of Versailles, set up and ran the Weimar republic. Therefore, the Republic was always linked to the surrender and harsh peace treaty terms

Question 24

What were the main right wing parties in the Weimar republic?

Answer 24

DNVP-National Party-Grudgingly accepted Republic-Backed by landowners, the wealthy and big businesses

NSDAP-Nazi Party-Opposed Weimar Republic- Founded in 1920

Question 25

What were the main moderate parties in the Weimar Reuplic?

Answer 25

Social Democrats (SPD)-Supported Weimar Republic-Supported by workers and the middle classes

Democrats (DDP)-Supported Weimar Republic-Backed by intellectual middle classes

Centre Party (ZP)-Supported Weimar Republic-Conservatives,originally part of the Catholic church

People’s party (DVP) -Sometimes supported Weimar Republic

Question 26

What were the events that led to the Kaiser’s abdication?

Answer 26

• The Kaiser was in the army headquarters of Spa on the 9th November
• His ministers told him the only way to restore order in Germany was to abdicate but he refused
• General Wilhelm Groener, the army’s second-in-command, told the Kaiser he had lost support from the German Army as the officers refused to support him
• He had no choice but to abdicate

Question 27

What was the main far-left wing party in the Weimar republic?

Answer 27

KPD-Communist Party-Opposed Weimar Republic-Supported by workers and some middle classes

Question 28

What was the role of the cabinet?

Answer 28

the most important ministers worked closely with the chancellor

the main decision-making body of the government

Question 29

How did the treaty of Versailles weaken Germany?

Answer 29

• Economically
• Politically (the people who signed the peace treaty and were governing the country were seen as November Criminals)
• small support for government by people

Question 30

How were riots kept under control?

Answer 30

-The Government had to use the army to subdue public riots

Question 31

What was the result of the coalition governments and why did this happen?

*How many coalition governments between 1919 - 1923?

* How many parties with seats in total throughout the 20s

Answer 31

• As a result of proportional representation, many small parties won seats and often no single party had a majority so coalitions were formed
• This resulted in disagreements and lack of clear policies so many fell apart
• There were nine coalition governments between 1919 and 1923
• 29 parties with seats in total throughout the 20’s

Question 32

What did all the Reichstrat and Reichstrag make up?

Answer 32

-They made the central government which was now more powerful than it was under the rule of the Kaiser

Question 33

How did Ebert keep control of Germany from November 1918 to July 1919?

Answer 33

• He kept the civil servants under the Kaiser in office and they worked alongside the workers’ and soldiers’ councils to keep the state running
• He assured Groener the army would not be reformed and that officers would maintain their ranks
• Ebert won the support of trade unions by promising their leader Carl Legien to try and achieve an eight hour working day
• He promised private companies would not be nationalised to keep the economy going
• Riots remained common in cities but Ebert kept enough of a hold to form a new constitution

Question 34

How did the German Communist Party gain support?

Answer 34

The German Communist Party (KPD) was set up in December 1918

backed and well funded by the USSR.

It gained 33 daily newspapers and 400,000 members.

The communists were also backed by the Spartacist League.

Question 35

What happened in the German State of Bavaria right before the first world war officially ended?

Answer 35

-7th November, In Munich (Capital of the south German state of Bavaria) workers declared a general strike and protested in the streets. -The were led by Jewish communist Kurt Eisner. -Announced they were separate from the rest of Germany

Question 36

The weimar republic weaknesses

Answer 36

• Proportional representation led to coalition governments that were unstable or found it difficult to have strong policies and often fell apart
• lack of strong government led to weakness in a crisis that ended up with the president passing laws without the prior consent of the Reichstag. article 48 of the constitution enabled the president to do this.
• it was not the choice of the people so it was no that popular.

Question 37

How was the new constitution agreed and set up?

*National assembly

Answer 37

Set up by the National Assembly who took six months to agree on a new constitution

• On the 31st July 1919, a constitution was agreed by 262 votes to 75.
• The new republic, now governed by the constitution agreed in Weimar (250 km away from Berlin and riots), became known as the Weimar Republic