To what extent did the social and political tensions that existed in the second Reich continue during the first world war?

Question 1

What are the four factors that need to be discussed?

Answer 1

1) Burgfriede / Erzberger Peace Resolution / Poltical
2) Hindenburg/Ludendorff Political
3) Regional divides
4) Class

Question 2

What was the Burgfriede?

Answer 2

A term used in WW1 to signify that political opponents were putting aside their differences for the defence of Germany against its enemies. Industrial, upper, middle and working class germans were united in their support for the war, supposedly sweeping away the divisions of the old system and forging a new Germany based on a patriotic unity.

Question 3

What notable group did the Burgfriede include tat suggests that division got less?

Answer 3

Polish people, portrayed as enemies of the state from 1871

Question 4

Even which party supported the Burgfriede?

Answer 4

SPD

Question 5

What did the Kaiser about war begin necessary?

Answer 5

That war was necessary as a defence against the Tsartist regime of Russia

Question 6

When did the SPD vote for war credits?

Answer 6

August 4th 1914

Question 7

What did the Kaiser say after the war credit vote of August 4th 1914 about German unity?

Answer 7

I know no parties anymore, only Germans

Question 8

When was Erzberger’s peace resolution?

Answer 8

1917

Question 9

What did Erzberger’s peace resolution call for?

Answer 9

An end to the war without the achievement of the Kreuznach Programme

Question 10

When was Erzberger’s peace resolution approved by the Reichstag?

Answer 10

July 19th 1917

Question 11

What was the Peace resolution supported by?

Answer 11

Inter-party committee

Question 12

What did the war re-ignite after the Burgfriede collapsed?

Answer 12

Political divisions

Question 13

What was lost after the end of the Burgfriede?

Answer 13

‘spirit of 1914’ that had fuelled the Burgfriede

Question 14

How did the hunger problems of WW1 cause class division?

Answer 14

During WW1 750 000 Germans died from starvation, however a Prussian elite including Junkers was increasingly using its influence to gain food that others in Germany did not have access to.

Question 15

During WW1 750 000 Germans died from starvation, however a Prussian elite including Junkers was increasingly using its influence to gain food that others in Germany did not have access to. How did this end the Burgfriede?

Answer 15

An idea fundamental to the Burgfriede was that all in German society were making equal sacrifices for the war effort. By 1917 this notion was lost and the divisions of the Kaiserreich returned.

Question 16

What had Hindenburg been?

Answer 16

Hindenburg had been commander of the German forces during the Battle of Tannenberg in 1914, where the German Army had completely destroyed the second Red Army.

Question 17

What had Ludendorff been?

Answer 17

second in command

Question 18

How were Hindenburg and Ludendorff widely viewed?

Answer 18

heroes amongst the German people and widely respected for their military victories

Question 19

How was the popularity of Hindenburg and Ludendorff a problem?

Answer 19

Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg was distinctly limited in what he could do.

Question 20

What term describes what existed between August 1914 until the end of the war in 1918 under Hindenberg and Ludendorff ?

Answer 20

Silent dictatorship

Question 21

What were H & L both?

Answer 21

prussian aristocracy

Question 22

What did they do to the Chancellor and Kaiser?

Answer 22

The Kaiser and the Chancellor were sidelined by them and the country’s political system became suspended in favour of an unofficial military dictatorship.

Question 23

What military plan did they push through?

Answer 23

expansionist Kreuznach programme

Question 24

How did the expansionist Kreuznach programme get through?

Answer 24

Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg was forced to sign it even though he thought that it was a terrible idea and overly ambitious

Question 25

When did Ludendorff help to force the resignation of Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg?

Answer 25

July 1917

Question 26

Who did Ludendorff force the kaiser to appoint to replace Bethmann-Hollweg?

Answer 26

George Michaelis, a weak figure who the silent dictatorship could easily control.

Question 27

What party did Ludendorff help to found?

Answer 27

The Vaterlandspartei

Question 28

Who supported the Vaterlandspartei?

Answer 28

conservative and middle class industrials, supported by the military, industrialists and media tycoons

Question 29

How many members did the Vaterlandspartei have by 1918?

Answer 29

Over a million

Question 30

What did the Vaterlandspartei do?

Answer 30

With the assistance of the media and the army’s own propaganda machine, it disseminated a strong anti-Erzberger message, despite that having been passed in the Reichstag.

Question 31

The winter of 1916/17 was so cold that it was known as what?

Answer 31

Turnip winter

Question 32

What meant that Germany was ill-equipped for the self-sufficiency of war?

Answer 32

Before the war Germany had relied on imports for ⅓ of its food supply

Question 33

What combination meant that food prices rose as shortages grew?

Answer 33

A combination of the Allied naval blockade, the depletion of agricultural workers and the military requisitioning of food

Question 34

How did the lack of food antagonise rural and urban divides?

Answer 34

Starving urban areas felt that the rural areas were hoarding food and were able to live from their own produce. Poor, rural workers were angered by the urban criticism as well as growing prices and a shortage of labourers caused by the war

Question 35

What did workers in the cities resent?

Answer 35

Workers in the cities resented the growing controls and demands that government placed on them.

Question 36

Who did those in rural areas blame for their problems?

Answer 36

Those living in the cities

Question 37

In 1917 how many million people were striking across the country and by what event was this provoked?

Answer 37

1.5 million, bolshevism in Russia

Question 38

What did the middle classes get upset about?

Answer 38

Servants became harder and harder to find and wages stagnated

Question 39

The wartime economic incentives provided to big business and the focus on mass production meant that who felt threatened and felt that the government was not working in their favour?

Answer 39

Mittelstand

Question 40

What two things did the Prussian elite enjoy

Answer 40

The Prussian elite enjoyed taxation privilege until 1916 and used their status to acquire food not available to the normal german.

Question 41

How did the fat that the Prussian elite enjoyed taxation privilege until 1916 and used their status to acquire food not available to the normal german cause unity?

Answer 41

people were united in their anger towards the junkers