Topic 1: The Impact Of WW1 Flashcards
What did Kaiser Wilhelm II want pre WW1?
He wanted to rule a giant empire and create a navy to rival Britain’s
How did the German people feel about the government pre WW1?
Many groups in Germany felt overlooked and underrepresented by the gov
What were the problems in Germany in 1918?
Soldiers mutinied
Gov losing control
Kaiser abdicated
Citizens revolting
What is proportional representation
An electoral system in which parties gain seats in proportion to the number of votes cast for them
How often would a president get in elected in Weimar?
Every 7 years
Strengths of Weimar
Men and women over 20 vote
Proportional representation
Federal gov with state gov- everyone represented
Chancellor had support from most of reichstag
President in control in crisis
Weaknesses of Weimar
No majority party could win
State gov would be led by parties opposed to national gov
Many senior judges were opposed to gov
Article 48 gave too much power
Army leaders wanted Kaiser to return
When was the armistice signed?
11th November 1918
When was the TOV signed?
28th June 1919
Economic terms of TOV
£6.6bn reparations bill
Sheep+ cattle given to France
Coalfields to go to France
Territorial TOV terms
Loses 13% of land 48% of iron and 6 mil people
Anschluss with Austria banned
Poland gain west Prussia
Military TOV terms
100,000 person army
6 battle ships
No submarines
No airforce
What is Article 231?
The war guilt clause, German takes 100% responsibility
The German reaction to TOV
the Germans were mad about it as they were patriotic and proud
Leaders of opposition with TOV
George Clemenceau- France, hated Germany, wanted them to pay
David Lloyd George- Britan, felt sorry for Germany and found treaty unfair
Woodrow wilson- USA, wanted more balance, didn’t want another war, support strong Germany
Spartacist Uprising 1919
Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht in Berlin
Communist group
Wanted to overthrow gov and introduce communist councils
Freikorps ended the revolt after a short time
Rosa and Karl killed
Kapp Putsch 1920
Wolfgang Kapp was an extremist right wing leader
Didn’t want freikorp to disband, wanted Kaiser back
Weimar instructed workers to strike
Putsch ended due to lack of support.
Occupation of the Ruhr
French and Belgiums invaded the Ruhr
The Ruhr contained most of germanys industry
80% of coal iron and steel in 1923
65,000 soldiers
Why did the French invade the Ruhr
Germany was falling behind on reparations
France decided to get reparations by invading
The french also owed America money
Gov response to Ruhr invasion
People were ordered to passively resist the invasion
People stopped working and tampered with machines
Gov needed to print more money to pay strikers
Hyperinflation
The value of the mark dropped rapidly due to money being printed
Peoples savings became worthless
Foreign suppliers stopped accepting marks and food shortages started
People began burning money as it was cheaper than coal
Reaction to hyperinflation
People began resenting the Weimar and looking to extremist parties for help
