weimar democracy C3 Flashcards
When did the Kapp Putsch happen and how many people did it consist of?
-March 1920
-Right-Wing politician Wolfgang Kapp gathered around 5,000 men, many police and ex-soldiers.
Why did Kapp want to takeover Berlin?
He wanted to takeover the whole country and recover the land lost in the Treaty of Versailles.
What happened in the Kapp Putsch?
President Ebert and the government fled Berlin. However, Kapp didn’t have the workers’ support and they went on strike.
This resulted in:
-No gas
-No water
-No electricity
-No trains
What was the result of the Kapp Putsch?
After only 100 hours as Germany’s leader, Kapp fled abroad. Ebert and his government returned to Berlin.
when did lots of assassinations occur and who carried them out ?
- between 1919 and 1922
- over 350 political murders in Germany
- mostly carried out by right wing extremists
why did all of the assassinations occur?
- they wanted to eliminate those responsible for the treaty of versailes
what happened with the assassinations?
- august 1921
- Mattias Erzberger, the man who signed the armistice in 1918 was shot dead by a right wing group
- in 1922 they killed foreign minister Walter Rathenau
- threw acid on Phillip Scheidermann an important Weimar politician
when was the red rising in the Ruhr and who carried it out?
- march 1920
- after the Kapp putsch
- left wing workers in the industrial Ruhr stayed on strike
what happened in the red rising of the Ruhr?
left wing workers took over several towns in what is known as the red rising of the Ruhr
what was the result of the red rising of the Ruhr?
- the government sent soldiers and some Freikorps units over to deal with the rebellion
- over 1000 workers were killed
when was the Munich putsch and what was it?
- November 1923
- Hitler and the Nazis tried to seize control of the Bavarian government on southern Germany
why did the Munich putsch occur?
- Hitler promised to overturn the treaty of Versailles
- destroy communism
- restore Germanys national glory
How did Hitler complete Munich putsch?
- he planned to capture Munich and march on berlin.
- key Bavarian politicians refused to support his plan to march on berlin
- Hitler pressed on with his plans nevertheless
what happened on the Munich putsch?
- Hitler marched with 2000 supporters through Munich
- they were met by armed police
- 3 policemen and 16 Nazis died in a short gun battle
what was the result of the Munich putsch
- Hitler and Ludendorff ( a former first word war general who was now a Nazi supporter) were arrested
how were the German government seen after the 1st world war?
they were seen as weak and ineffective and unable to deal with Germanys problems
between what years was the Stresemann era and what was it referred to as ?
- between 1924-29
- referred to as the ‘golden age’
who was Gustav Stresemann?
stresemann is best known as Germanys foreign minister from 1924 until his death in 1929
how did Stresemann stop the hyperinflation crisis?
- he stopped the printing of the bank notes
- replaced the worthless bank notes with a temporary note called the rentenmark
- in 1924 this was replaced with the reichsmark, a stable currency that lasted for the next 25 years
- hyperinflation ended however people who had lost their savings never got their money back and blamed Stresemann for it
what was the Dawes plan and what did it deal with?
- the Dawes plan was do deal with the French and Belgian troops in the Ruhr
-he arranged for the USA to lend money to Germany (800 million gold marks) - Germany then restarted its reparation payments
- the French and Belgian troops left the Ruhr
- some Germans however felt that Stresemann should have demanded an end to reparations
- in 1929 through the young plan Stresemann negotiated a reduction in the reparations
how did Stresemann help Germany economically recover?
- Stresemann used some of the borrowed American money to pay the reparations
- he also build new: houses, factories, schools and roads
- Germany began to look more prosperous
- however some, including Stresemann feared that Germany relied to much on American loans
what was the Locarno pact?
- 1925
- all promised to never invade each other:
- Germany
- Britain
- France
- Belgium
- Italy
in what year did Germany join the league of nations?
- 1926
- they were banned at first in 1919
what year was the Kellogg Briand pact signed ?
- 1928
- participants agreed never to go to war unless in defence
how did Stresemann improve foreign relations ?
- Germany regained its international status
- became an important member of the league of nations
- some Germans criticised Stresemann for not demanding back some of the land taken by the treaty of Versailles
what were some ongoing problems after Stresemann died in 1929 ?
- there were still many political parties. a government was made by several parties joining together. but they disagreed and wasted time arguing over decisions
- extreme political parties e.g the Nazis and communists did not support the Weimar system
- large groups of Germans were poor e.g farmers and middle classes who lost their savings to hyperinflation in 1923
- German prosperity was built on American loans. what if they wanted their money back ?
why did german writers and poets and performers excel in Weimar germany ?
- the kaiser kept a tight control on all types of entertainment
- these controls were removed in weimar germany
- many people decided to experiment and try new things
what was Weimar culture like in the 1920’s ?
- many people decided to try and things and experiment, this meant that lots of social acts became more popular, including:
- the cinema
- nightlife
- literature
- art and design
what were the German peoples reactions to these changes ?
- some embraced the changes and others hated them
- they wanted culture to celebrate traditional German values
- they thought that the new nightclubs, shows and painting were leading Germany to a moral decline
