Versailles effects Flashcards
What is the debate about the effects of the ToV?
Burleigh believes Versailles was a stick used to beat the weimar by left and right wing extremists
Evans believes there was other reasons for Weimar’s problems
What was the most significant effect of the treaty/ did the treaty have a real impact on Germany?
Military and territorial was least significant, economic and political effects were significant
Economic most important
What did the Rhineland occupation lead to?
The Ruhrkamph, a government supported strike in the Ruhr.
How long did military terms last?
Inter-allied commission left 1926
Troops started secretly training in USSR from 1925
Allies left in 1930, 5 years before they were supposed to
When was Germany accepted into the LoN?
1926, given great power status, given the power to veto
What did Marks believe about Germany?
It became the pre-eminient member of the European family
What did the bitterness at losing land lead to?
Locarno, refusing to give up Eastern borders, then eventually WW2 (might not have happened if political effects were not too bad)
Why did people turn to extremist parties after Versailles
Weimar was born into hatred
Stab-in-the-back-myth
NSDAP offered people an authoritarian government who would regain control
How did NSDAP do in the 1920 election?
Gained 7% of the vote in 1920
What did NSDAP’s manifesto say about the ToV?
Article 2- ‘we demand the abolition of the ToV’
What did Henig believe about the political effects?
Versailles was a major factor in RW recovery
What else caused political instability?
Proportional representation caused weak coalitions that could not agree and did not have the support of the public
Ebert’s use of the Friekorps divided the left
What was wrong with having a spending deficit?
The Gove decided to get more money they would print more- 1800 printers working in 1923 Caused hyperinflation which led to many middle class people becoming poor
What did Snyder say?
Hyperinflation was the scar that never healed
What did ToV get Germany involved with?
The Dawes plan, which gave Germany a loan and helped the economic plan
However, also got involved in the young plan, which meant in the depression Germany was effected disproportionally compared to other countries
What did Peukert believe?
Young made Germany too reliant on US market fluctuations
What did the young plan cause?
Hitler’s rise in popularity, he worked on the anti-young campaign and also the depression made people turn extremist.
What is the background on German democracy before the ToV?
Ludendorff offensive, OHL bankruptcy
A new socialist gov was set up by Ebert- November criminals, also angered public by using Freikorps
ToV, signed by Müller- key terms
What was the debate on whether the treaty influenced German democracy?
Burleigh- Versailles was a stick used to beat the weimar by left and right wing extremists
McElligott believed it didn’t effect the parliamentary system too much
Did the treaty influence German democracy?
Yes it did, however other factors also influenced it that were not ToV
What happened to moderate parties?
There was a split from moderate parties
In 1924 only 52% of people voted for moderate parties
This caused coalitions with a wide range of views which were not successful
What did Hyperinflation cause?
Caused many people to associate the republic with failure and vote for anti-weimar parties
Were the actual terms of the treaty important in destroying democracy?
No as by the time Hitler took power a lot of the terms had been reversed, eg LoN and interallied military commission
Only term that caused major problems was reparations
How did the constitution effect democracy?
Proportioanl represtation
Article 48 gave the president potentially dictatorial powers by allowing him to make emergency laws
What does McElligott believe?
During Weimar, the parliamentary system was stable
What else contributed to the demise of democracy?
The inability of the left to work together, after Ebert used the Friekorps
Many believed Ebert had betrayed the socialist revolution with the Ebert-Groener pact, couldn’t fully support the republic.
What did Evans believe about ToV?
It was only one factor in the demise of Weimar
