Topic 1 Flashcards
How many German troops died in First World War?
2 Million
What did WW1 do to German gov debts?
Increased them from 50 billion marks to 150 billion marks
How many Germans died because of food shortages?
750,000
What did the devastating effects of WW1 cause many Germans to do?
Strike and riot
On what date did army officers refuse to support the Kaiser leading to his abdication?
9th November 1918
Where did the Kaiser flee to on the 10th of November 1918?
Holland
Friedrich Ebert formed the Council of People’s representatives on the 10th of November 1918 after doing what?
Suspending the old Rechstag
Why were Berlins streets crowded on the day of the Kaisers abdication?
Some people were armed hoping to take over the city.
Who was Philipp Scheidemann?
Member of SDP who decleared the new Repulic to the crowds
When was the Weimar republic finally established?
August 1919
What was the armistice?
A peace agreement between Germany and the allies
When was the armistice signed?
11th November 1918
What was the first major decision of Ebert’s new republic?
The armistice
What did the Weimar electorate consist of?
All men and women 21 years and over.
Weimar Parliament had two houses. The less powerful one representing the regions of Germany was called the Reichsrat. What was the more powerful one called?
Reichstag
What did the Reichstag control?
Taxation
What did laws normally have to do under Weimar constitution?
Pass through both houses
What was the main decision making body of the Weimar government?
Cabinet
What did the chancellor chose under the Weimar constitution?
All government ministers.
What could the President of the Reichstag do known as Article 48 of the Constitution?
Suspend the constitution and pass laws by decree.
What did proportional representation mean?
Made sure small parties had a fair share of seats.
Weimar constitution reduced the voting age from 25 to what?
21
Weimar constitution said president should be reelected how often?
Every seven years.
Why wasn’t the Weimar constitution popular?
It was not the choice of the people
What did the Treaty of Versailles do making the Weimar Republic weak from the start?
It damaged Germany’s economy.
What clause did the Treaty of Versailles have that blamed Germany for the war?
Clause 231
How much did the allies want in reparations?
£6600 Million
Why did clause 231 anger ordinary German people?
They believed they had fought the war in self-defence and that other countries were to blame.
What did the Treaty of Versailles limit the army to?
100,000
How many battleships were allowed due to treaty of Versailles?
6
How many cruisers were allowed due to treaty of Versailles?
6
How many destroyers were allowed due to the Treaty of Versailles?
12
How many torpedo boats were allowed due to the Treaty of Versailles?
12
What was Germany no longer allowed due to the treaty of Versailles?
Submarines and an airforce
Where was Germany military no longer allowed to go following the Treaty of Versailles? HINT boarding land with France.
the Rhineland
How much of its European territory did Germany lose due to the Treaty of Versailles?
13%
How many colonies did Germany lose due to the Treaty of Versailles?
11
What did Germany lose Eupen and Malmedy to due to the Treaty of Versailles?
Belgium.
Germany lost what to Poland due to the Treaty of Versailles?
The Polish Corridor
What was the theory called that said the German army hadn’t been defeated in war. Instead stabbed in the back by politicians that ran the new Republic.
Stab in the back theory
What “wing” were The Spartacists?
Left-wing
Where did the Spartacists come from?
The Independent Socialist Party
What backing did the Spartacists have?
Soviet
Name the two leaders of the Spartacists
Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht
When did the Spartacists challenge the Weimar Republic?
January 1919
What did the Spartacists take over in 1919?
The governments newspaper and telelgraph bureau.
What did the Spartacists attempt to do during their challenge to the Weimar government?
Organise a general strike
During the Spartacist Revolt (January 1919) what was happening on the streets?
Fighting
How did the Weimar government put down the Spartacist Revolt?
Sending Freikorps units into Berlin
After the Spartacist Revolt what happened to the leaders of the Spartacists?
They were shot
What “wing” were The Freikorps?
Right-wing
Who made up The Freikorps?
Ex-soldiers who had kept their weapons
How many many men did the Freikorps have by March 1919?
250000
Who organised the Freikorps?
The regular army
When did the Kapp Putsch take place? Where?
March 1920 in Berlin
Why did Freikorps troops march on Berlin?
They feared unemployment.
Ebert asked the head of the army to resist the Freikorps. What did the head of the army say?
No
Name the nationalist politician that was put in place by the Freikorps
Dr Wolfkang Kapp
What did the Weimar government do during the Kapp Putsch seeking safety?
They fled Berlin
How did the government put down the Kapp Putsch?
The government asked trade unions to go on strike.
During the Kapp Putsch the government asked workers to go on strike. What did this cause?
Such chaos so Kapp couldn’t rule Germany.
Once Kapp fled Germany what happened?
The Weimar ministers returned to Germany
In the early years of the Weimar Republic how many assassinations took place?
376
What sort of punishments did right-wing extremists who used murders to weaken the new republic face from conservative judges that were sympathetic to the conservative cause?
Light punishments
Between 1914-1918 what did the government do? Why?
Print more money to pay for the First World War.
What was the Germany gov. in 1914-18?
Bankrupt
What did the Weimar government between 1918-22 do to cope with post war shortages of money?
Print more money.
What did the Weimar government ask in relation to its first reparations payment?
It asked for longer to pay it.
Why did French troops invade the Ruhr in January 1923?
To take reparations payments in goods and raw materals.
How did the Weimar government retaliate against the French occupation of the Ruhr (January 1923)? Bearing in mind it had a very small army (100,000 men).
Asked workers in the Ruhr to go on strike
80% of what was found in the Ruhr?
German coal, iron and steel reserves
What was the occupation of the Ruhr for Germany’s economy?
A disaster
After the occupation of the Ruhr what did the Weimar government do? Why?
Print more money to pay strikers and make up for the loss of coal, steel and iron production
What was the German mark by November 1923?
Worthless
What did hyperinflation mean for some people?
They couldn’t afford essentials like bread
During the 1923 hyperinflation period wages rose but not as quickly as what?
Prices
Due to hyperinflation in 1923 what did savings become? Who was affected the most by this?
Worthless. The Middle Classes
Who did the people blame for the hyperinflation of 1923?
The Weimar Government
Why did farmers benefit from the hyperinflation of 1923?
They were paid more for food.
What could some people pay of due to the hyperinflation of 1923?
Loans and mortgages
What could foreign visitors buy due to the hyperinflation of 1923?
More for their money
What was set up by Stresemann in November 1923? What currency did it issue?
The Rentenbank which issued the Rentenmark
Why did the Rentenmark have real value?
The supply of it was tightly controlled.
What did the Rentenmark get renamed to once it was handed over to the Reichsbank in August 1924?
The Reichsmark
What did the Reichsmark provide?
A much stronger basis for the recovery of jobs and businesses
Who came up the plan designed so that Germany could pay its reparations? When?
Charles Dawes in 1924
What did the Dawes plan temporarily reduce instalments to?
£50 million a year.
The Dawes plan made US banks do what? Making the Allies more confident that they would get their reparations payments.
Make loans to German Industry
A committee, set up by the allies in August 1929 came up with the Young Plan. Who led the committee?
Owen Young
What did the Young plan reduce total reparations debt from and to?
£6.6 billion to £2 billion
The Young Plan meant payments could be made up until 1988. Was this longer or shorter than had previously been agreed?
Longer
The Young plan reduced reparations payments to £2 billion what did this mean for the German people?
Lower taxes
There was opposition to the Young Plan from extreme political parties like the Nazi’s. Why?
They felt it was extending the burden for future generations
The Weimar Republic’s economy improved 1923-1929. What happened to industrial output by 1928?
It doubled.
The Weimar Republic’s economy improved 1923-1929. Besides employment what else increased?
Trade
Why was Weimar’s economic recovery 1923-29 fragile?
It depended on American loans
The Lacarno Pact of 1925 had Germany agree a new border with who leading to an improvement in its relations with them?
France
The Lacarno Pact had the allies agree to permanent demilitarisation of what?
The Rhineland
The Lacarno Pact increased what of the Weimar Republic?
It’s status and popularity
Lacarno Pact helped boost confidence in which parties?
Moderate ones
When was Germany invited to become a member of the League of Nations?
1926
What did Germany’s membership of the League of Nations show?
That Germany’s views counted.
The Kellogg-Briand Pact was an agreement between 62 nations. What year was it agreed?
1928
Aside from showing that Germany was once again a major power, and that moderate parties were able to build Germany’s strength internationally what else did the Kellogg-Briand Pact do?
Increased public confidence in how Germany was being led.
Between 1924 and 1929 living standards in Germany improved. Working hours were reduced, wages rose, working conditions improved. What did Well-of German think of this.
They resented workers benefiting
Between 1925 and 1929 approximately how many homes had been built which helped reduce the housing shortages?
100,000
