TOPIC 1 Flashcards
What is Article 48?
Where the President could suspend the constitution in an emergency. He could make laws without the support of the Reichstag.
Who were the Big 3? (The countries and the people who signed the Treaty of Versailles)
1.) USA- Woodrow Wilson
2.) GREAT BRITAIN- David Lloyd George
3.) FRANCE- Georges Clemenceau
What were the 4 terms of the ToV?
Land
Arms
Money
Blame
What did Germany lose in terms of land?
1.) Lost all oversea colonies
2.) A strip of land, Posea and West Prussia were all given to Poland.
What did Germany lose in terms of military (arms)?
1.) Army reduced to 100,000 MEN
2.) NO air force
3.) 6 SMALL BATTLESHIPS
4.) NO SUBMARINES
What did Germany have to pay in terms of money?
£6.6 billion (impossible amount) in reparations/ compensation
NOTE: paid via cattle and sheep, and Germany had to help the Allies make ships to replace the ones lost by U-boats
How did Germany take the blame?
1.) They had to take all the blame for starting the war
2.) They weren’t allowed to join the League of Nations
When was the Spartacist uprising, who led it and what side of the political spectrum did it come from?
1.) 1919 (before the ToV)
2.) Rosa Luxemburg/ Red Rosa
3.) Threat from the left
What did the Spartacist uprising believe in? (Ideology and what they wanted the impact to be)
Believed in the far left ideology, and wanted to give power to the workers
What year was Red Rosa (Rosa Luxemburg) released from prison?
1918
What happened during the Spartacist uprising? (3 points)
1.) Only lasted a few days
2.) Liebknecht and Luxemburg were captured
3.) JANUARY 6TH, 1919 was the date in which the Spartacists attempted to overthrow President Ebert and the Weimar Government
Who was the leader of the Kapp Putsch?
Wolfgang Kapp
What side of the political spectrum was the Kapp Putsch and why did the Freikorps support the Putsch?
1.) Threat from the right
2.) The Freikorps supported the Putsch because they were ordered to disband by the Weimar government
How did the public win against the Freikorps?
They WENT ON STRIKE. The Putsch collapsed because it didn’t have enough support
What was the German army called and why did they refuse to fight the Freikorps?
1.) German army was called the REICHSWEHR
2.) They refused to fight because “The Reichswehr does not fire on the Reichswehr” (basically they still acknowledged the Freikorps as part of the army and refused to fight them)
How many troops entered the Ruhr?
65,000 FRENCH AND BELGIAN TROOPS
Why did the French invade the Ruhr? (Two reasons)
1.) Germany couldn’t pay the reparations for that year
2.) Germany had no money. The Ruhr was the industrial heart of Germany
What did the Weimar Government tell workers in the Ruhr to do?
PASSIVE RESISTANCE
How did the government pay the workers and what did it lead to?
The Government printed out more money to pay the workers and it lead to hyperinflation because the worth of the money began to decrease as more notes were printed out
When was the Kiel Mutiny, who was included, what was the impact and why did it happen?
The Kiel Mutiny happened on the 3rd November 1918
It was the Navy Soldiers that mutinied
It led to the forced abdication of Kaiser Wilhelmina II on the 9th November
It happened because: 1.) The British navy were blocking German ports, which led to shortages of weapons and food
2.) Kaiser ordered people to fight the British (suicidal move) due to no food of weapons against one of the STRONGEST navies in the world
What were the 3 strengths of the Weimar Constitution and why were they strengths?
1.) Men AND women over the age of 20 could vote: very democratic! Not even the USA or the UK had this
2.) Bill of Rights: guaranteed every German citizen freedom of speech, religion and equality under law
3.) Power of the Reichstag: Made all laws, elected every 4 years and range of political parties
What were the three weaknesses to the Weimar Constitution and why were they weaknesses?
1.) Proportional representation- difficult to make decisions because of the amount of parties. It also allowed extremist parties to get represented
2.) Article 48- The definition of an ‘emergency’ was never properly specified
3.) Suspicion of new democracy- the amount of extremists (on both sides) rejected the Weimar’s authority so it was less effective
What party was on the far left, and what are the letters that symbolise it?
Communists. They were represented by the letters KPD
Who were the leaders of the Communists?
Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht
What were the ideas of the communists based on, their opinions on the Weimar Republic and where did they gain their support?
1.) They had ideas based on the communist revolution where the workers rise up and rebelled
2.) They detested the Weimar Republic
3.) They drew support from the workers
What side were the Social Democrats on and what letters represented them?
They were centre left, and were represented by the letters SPD
Who was the leader of the Social Democrats?
Ebert
Where did the Social Democrats get their support from and what were their opinions on the Weimar Republic?
1.) They gained most their support from workers and the middle class.
2.) They helped create the Weimar Republic- supported it
What letters represented the Centre Party?
ZP
What did the Centre Party voice, what were their opinions on the Weimar Republic and where did they get most their support from?
1.) They were the political voice of the Catholic Church
2.) They supported the Weimar Republic
3.) They were mainly supported by the conservatives
What side were the Germans People Party and what letters represented them?
They were centre right, and they were also known as the DUP party
Who started the DUP, who did they want back and who did they get support from?
1.) When it first emerged, Gustav Stresemann was their leader
2.) They wanted the return of the Kaiser
3.) They mainly get their support from big businesses/ powerful industries
What side were the Nazi’s on and what were they also known as?
Far right, and they were also known as the NSDAP
What were the NSDAP originally called and where did they get their support from?
1.) Originally called the German Workers Party (DAP)
2.) They got their support from the working class, but it soon grew across the middle class
What were the 2 things the NSDAP hated?
They hated the Weimar Republic, and they hated those who signed the Treaty of Versailles
How did the German soldiers feel when the Treaty was signed?
Backstabbed- Dolshtoss theory
What were the three people who signed the ToV called?
The November Criminals
