Weimar Flashcards
Who led the Weimar government?
Friedrich Ebert
What was the democratic system in Weimar Germany and what were the issues with it?
Proportional representation
Lots of parties in the reichstag
No decisions made
Extremist parties had better chance of getting seats
When did the kaiser abdicate?
November 1918
Why did the German people blame the government for losing ww1?
They believed they were in a strong position in 1918
- breakthrough on eastern front
- Russia defeated
- Bolshevik government forced to sign treaty - 1/4 of its best land and 3/4 of its iron ore
What were the problems within Germany after ww1?
In the grips of a major food crisis Blockade of German ports led to lack of food Navy mutinied against kaiser 1916-17 potatoes ran out People questioned the benefit of the war
What happened in October 1918?
Sailors at Kiel mutinied against the kaiser setting off a chain reaction of mutinied and uprisings by workers and the German people
When did the kaiser abdicate?
9th November 1918
What happened in 1919?
Sparticist uprising in January
28th June treaty of Versailles signed
How was the sparticist revolution defeated?
Ebert made an agreement with the freckles who crushed it
Rosa Luxembourg and Karl liebknecht were murdered ending the revolution
What did the sparticists do?
Revolted against ebert
Captures the HQ of the governments newspaper and telegraph bureau
Who were the sparticists?
Left wing communists
Led by rosa Luxembourg and Karl liebknecht
Mainly civilians
Why did the sparticists attempt revolution in 1919?
Blamed the government for treaty of Versailles
Who were the allied leaders at the treaty of Versailles and what did they want?
Clemenceau - revenge and punishment , Germany stripped of its wealth and resources
David Lloyd George - Germany to remain stable and regain strength
Wilson - just and lasting peace
What were the conditions of the Treaty of Versailles?
£6.6 billion reparations France mine in the Saar No submarines Reduced army - 100 000 men No airforce Lose the polish corridor Lost 13% of its land Conscription banned Rhineland demilitarised
What was article 231?
Said that Germany was to blame for starting the war
Why did the German people resent the Treaty of Versailles?
Believed they didn’t start the war
Can’t afford the reparations
Damaged pride
Want compensation for their bombing damage
When was the Kapp Putsch?
March 1920
Who caused the Kapp Putsch?
Wolfgang Kapp and the Freikorps
Right wing
Why was there a Kapp Putsch?
They were angry at the reductions to the army
What was the Kapp Putsch?
Marched into Berlin and declared a new national government
Army didn’t stop them
How was the Kapp Putsch stopped?
Social democrats appealed to the works who went on general strike ending the putsch
What did article 48 do?
Gave the president emergency powers to rule by decree
Could even suspend the constitution
What happened to the Sparticists who survived the attempted uprising?
They formed the German communist party the KPD
What were Eberts problems?
Opposition from left and right
Blamed for losing the war
Berlin is violent and unstable
Allies insist on a democracy and he has to get the public behind it
Many Germans saw democracy as a foreign idea imposed on them by the allies
What followed the Kapp Putsch in 1920?
A communist uprising in the Ruhr that was bloodily suppressed by the army and Freikorps
What were the strengths of the Weimar Constitution?
Fair
Everyone in the constitution was elected
What happened in 1923 to make it a year of crisis?
Occupation of the Ruhr
Hyper-inflation
Munich Putsch
When was the occupation of the Ruhr?
11th January 1923
What happened in the Occupation of the Ruhr?
French and Belgium troops march into the Ruhr because Germany in 1922 Germany said it couldn’t afford the second reparation installment
The workers striker as passive resistance and production ground to a halt
What caused hyper-inflation?
Passive resistance in the Ruhr meant nothing was being made and no money was being made
Government just printed more money to give the workers strike pay
Economy collapses
What was hyper-inflation?
Value went down prices went up
1 million mark notes were being printed
Lose pensions and savings
Only people with debt benefited
When did Stresemann become chancellor?
August 1923
How was hyper-inflation stopped?
Stresemann called off passive resistance
Introduced new currency the Rentenmark
When was the Munich Putsch?
8th-9th November 1923
What was the Munich Putsch and why?
Nazi party launched attempted revolution because Stresemanns actions were seen as a betrayal
Collapsed by the police
Hitler put on trial
What and when was the Dawes Plan?
Loan from America that Stresemann negotiated to reduce the size of the repetition instalments and help the economy
1924
What happens in 1925?
Stresemann signs the Locarno treaty
What happens in 1926?
Stresemann gets Germany accepted into the League of Nations and reverses some terms of Treaty of Versailles
Hindenburg elected president
What happens in 1928?
Kellogg-Briand pact signed and Germany renounced war
Extremist parties 136 seats less
Germany achieves same levels of production as before the war
Why were the years 1924-1929 known as the Golden Years?
No more attempted revolutions after 1923
Accepted internationally
Wages going up
Higher standard of living
When and what was the Young Plan?
1929
Brought more loans and spread and reduced the reparations over 60 years
What two major events happened in 1929?
Wall Street Crash - America withdraws loans - start of the Great Depression
Stresemann dies
