Weimar Germany

Question 1

Why was inflation (not hyperinflation) a problem faced by Ebert’s government in 1918-19?

Answer 1

People blamed the government for the insecurity and shortages caused, making them ever more unpopular among the German public.

Question 2

Why was the agreement of an armistice/ceasefire (Nov 11, 1918) a problem faced by Ebert’s government in 1918-19?

Answer 2

The signing meant that the kaiser had to leave and Germany left with no leader. So Ebert had to step up and sign it this meant that he was blamed and called one of the “november criminals” Many Germans did not believe the ceasefire should have been signed as they thought the war could still have been won (dolchstoss).

Question 3

Why was the fact that there were no pace treaty (until June 1919) a problem faced by Ebert’s government in 1918-19?

Answer 3

It meant that the War was not officially over, so Britain and France could still attack even despite the ceasefire, which kept Ebert’s government in limbo.

Question 4

Why was the Treaty of Versailles a problem faced by Ebert’s government in 1918-19?

Answer 4

It led to more money and land being lost by Germany, which gave Ebert’s opposition more reason to dislike him, as well as being a setback for the economy.

Question 5

Why was Communist opposition a problem faced by Ebert’s government in 1918-19?

Answer 5

Due to Communist assassination attempts and riots, Ebert’s and other high-up officials’ lives were in danger, meaning they were unable to focus on Germany’s other issues

Question 6

Why was Conservative (moderate and extreme right-wing) opposition a problem faced by Ebert’s government in 1918-19?

Answer 6

Conservative figures, such as army officers and judges, were still very infuencial in Germany, so in order to remain stable Ebert needed to co-operate with them. However, this meant losing the support of left-wingers.

Question 7

Why were reparations a problem faced by Ebert’s government in 1918-19?

Answer 7

They meant that Germany lost money it needed to rebuild itself, which intensified Ebert’s unpopularity.

Question 8

Why was the cost of pensions a problem faced by Ebert’s government in 1918-19?

Answer 8

Pensions meant extremely large amounts of money that needed to be paid in full, which led to Ebert being forced to raise taxes, which meant losing support from the tax-paying public.

Question 9

What did Weimar’s left-wing opponents (communists) want?

Answer 9

Essentially, communism:
1. Complete equality
2. The abolition of all private property
3. A simplified economy
4. The withering away of all governments and nation states

Question 10

Who were the Freikorps?

Answer 10

A group of violently anti-communist German ex-soldiers. a private vigilante group hired by Ebert to crush spartacist revolt.

Question 11

What happened in the Bavarian Soviet Republic?

Answer 11

Communists murdered Kurt Eisner, the leader of Bavaria, and set up a ‘soviet republic’. The Freikorps took action and killed those who had set it up; they were asked to by Ebert but would have done so regardless.

Question 12

What happened in the Ruhr in 1920?

Answer 12

The Ruhr was Germany’s industrial district, and so of particular importance to Ebert’s government. The KPD was particularly strong there since they appealed to factory workers. A communist uprising was staged and the communists were eventually killed by the Freikorps.

Question 13

what was on the treaty of versailles?

Answer 13

1. germany had to pay reparationsto the british and French.
2. Germany was to have a very small army (100,000)
3. germany was to have a very small navy with only 35,000 men and 36 ships
4. germanys armed forces were to have no tanks, planes or submarines.
5. germany lost land in the east.
6. germany lost land to the west
7. all of germany’s colonies were taken away and given to the french or british
8. germany was not allowed to unite with austria
9. the rhineland region was to be demartialised.

Question 14

who were the main parties in weimar republic?

Answer 14

communist party, social democratic party, german democratic party, centre party, german peoples party, german national people’s party and the nazis.

Question 15

what was the principle aim of the weimar constitution?

Answer 15

to make germany a fair and democratic place.

Question 16

what is proportional reprosentation?

Answer 16

how many seats a party won was equal to the number of representatives they had. This was an issue as it lead to weak coalition governments.

Question 17

article 48

Answer 17

president could rule by decree in an emergency. never specialised emergency

Question 18

who were the spartakists?

Answer 18

a left wing group lead by Karl liebknecht and rosa luxemburg. they wanted the country to be ruled by a communist government and for everyone to be equal in status. They lead a revolution but failed and were executed.

Question 19

The kapp putsch 1920

Answer 19

DR wolfang was a right wing leader who had the support of the army and the freikorps. and he lead a coup. Ebert and his government could not do much and fled the country. It was only the defeated because the working class lead a general strike and this made wolfgang realise that he was defeated and fled. Not much happend to the leaders of the putsch as they were let off by lenient judges.

Question 20

the munich putsch

Answer 20

on 8 november 1923 in a beer hall in munich where Gustav von Kahr, the head of the bavarian government was speaking and Hitler shot a bullet into the ceiling and announced that he was taking over bavaria and then march into the capital and take over the country. Locked Kahr and his companons into a small room. General Ludendorff a great german war hero walked in and said he supported hitler. Around munich hitler’s stormtroopers took control of government bildings.

Question 21

extremist murders

Answer 21

walter ratheneu was the foreign minister who was assasinated
in august 1921 Matthias Erzerberger (who had signed the armistice) was shot.

Question 22

what went wrong for the munich putsch?

Answer 22

morning after kahr pretend to cooperate with hitler ans secretly made a phone call to the police resulting in a gun battle between nazis and police 16 nazis killed and hitler had a dislocated shoulder and was arrested and put on trial for treason.

Question 23

Mein kampf

Answer 23

during his time in prison hitler wrote a book

Question 24

Hyperinflation 1923

Answer 24

germany failed to pay the second instalment and its economy was in a bad shape after the war. so the german government printed more money and the value of money decreased.

Question 25

how was the german public affected by the hyperinflation

Answer 25

those who had borrowed large amounts of money could now pay it back easily. However those with pensions found that they were now worth barely anything.

Question 26

In what ways did weimar germany recover from its earlier problems in the years leading up to 1929?

Answer 26

government more stable by 1929. The introduction of the Reichsmark helped ease inflation. 70% of electorate was supporting pro weimar parties and gustav stresemann was in every government between 1923 and 1929 which also added to air of stability. political violence reduced. germany improved its international relations and was admitted to he league of nations.

Question 27

problems faced by weimar government 1924 to 1929

Answer 27

ongoing conservative opposition and lying hatred over signing of treaties and paying of reparations. Still a large number of unemployed.

Question 28

what were the effects of the wall street crash in USA

Answer 28

banks had gambled on stock market and lost money. scared depositors who tried to withdraw their money, so banks called in their loans and so businesses went bankrupt and people were made homeless.

Question 29

effects of wall street crash outside USA

Answer 29

many US banks had loaned money to foreign countries and this had to be recalled and many oversea subsidaries went out of busisness and demand for foreign goods declined sharply and this lead to sharp rises in unemployment .This was felt harshly in Germany as they relied heavily on us loans and this lead to the depression in 1929.

Question 30

why did the depression lead to a rise in support for extremist parties?

Answer 30

people were desperate and more willing to listen and even if they did not agree with all the points they may have agreed with the main ones such as the nazis wanting to stop paying reparations.

Question 31

By what stages did democracy in the weimar government break down?

Answer 31

bruning did not have enough support in the reichstag and so relied on hindenburg to pass laws uses article 48. Brunings decisions included raising taxes and cutting unemployment benifits making him unpopular. violent clashes between groups like the nazis and kpd made it difficult for people to express their opinions freely. The replacement of bruning by Franz von Papen was a bad sign for Weimar democracy because he also did not have much support in the reichstag.After the presisdential elections in 1932 as hitler came second who should have become chancellor however Hindenburg allowed Papen to stay on. Who then lost the post to Kurt von schleicher. Papen however was annoyed at having lost the chancellrship and convinced hindenburh that Hitler could be controlled.

Question 32

What was Ebert’s political views?

Answer 32

He was the leader of the SPD which represented workers
Was left wing but against communism
Wanted the most inclusive Germany possible

Question 33

Why did German’s hate the treaty of Versailles?

Answer 33

1. Parts of Germany were taken away because they had French Danish and polish speakers living in them.
2. Germans had no negotiation in the treaty
3. Germany had lost 1.8 million and r.2 million were wounded and so struggled to build back economy
4. The war started when a Serb shot the heir to the Austria-Hungary throne and declared war on Serbia German’s felt as if it wasn’t there fault the war started.
5. Dolchstoss

Question 34

How did the Weimar republic deal with right wing opposition?

Answer 34

Many were put on trial but let off by lenient right wing judges

Question 35

Timeline of how the Nazi party was born?

Answer 35

May 1919 Hitler first discovered the German workers party. Had thought of setting up his own party but joined the Deutsche Arbeiterpartei instead
l
February 1920 Nazi part formed it had a 25 point programme combing, left,right, nationalist, racist views to appeal to as many people as possible. The DAP became the NSDP.

July 1921 the formation of the SA. They brutally protected Hitlers meetings and invaded. Other parties first step in Hitlers dictatorship power.

August 1921 Hitler became the leader of the Nazi party. Charismatic speaker many people drawn to him.

1922 formation of the Hitler youth movement

November 1923 the Munich putsch

Question 36

Why did Hitler try to seize power in 1923?

Answer 36

Because the government was at its weakest hyperinflation, failure to pay second installment and invasion of Ruhr.

Question 37

What happened when Germany failed to pay the second installment?

Answer 37

Jan 1923 60,000 soldiers marched into Ruhr and took over factories and started taking what they believed they were owed. The government ordered people to strike and not help the French. However the soldiers were brutal 100 strikers killed and 15,000 kicked out of their homes. To pay the striking workers the government had to print more money as more money printed prices rose and so more money printed.

Question 38

What was the Dawes plan?

Answer 38

The US loaned lots of money to Germany.

Question 39

What was the impact of the Great Depression on Germany?

Answer 39

1. Lead ro rise in unemployment and homelessness. Conditions were so bad many were living in shacks.
2. The depression put a huge strain on government finances and with the recalling of US loans it was impossible for the government to to manage its finances.
3. The government needed to take quick and difficult decisions but the coalition government made it hard for actions to be agreed on. Rise in popularity of extremist groups.
4. After the collapse of the golden 1920’s people lost faith in the government and became desperate.

Question 40

How did the depression lead to rising support of Nazis?

Answer 40

There was a widespread fear of communist revolution
The nazis organised soup kitchens and shelters for the unemployed
Unemployment rose to 6 million
Actions of Burning and von Hindenburg made Weimar democracy seem an irrelevant failure.
They were suggesting simple but “radical” solutions

Question 41

What were the Weimar republics weak spots in 1923?

Answer 41

Politics
- distrust of gov (November criminals)
- short lived governments 14 in 14 years
-political violence
- extremist parties (KpD and nazis)
Economy
- hyperinflation
-reparations
-break down in international trade
- high levels of long term unemployment
Cultural life
- The kaiser’s gov had very strict censorship but the Weimar gov did not more freedom of expression good for artists but disgruntled conservative/rural/elderly
Foreign affairs
- Germany wasn’t a part of League of Nations
- Surrounded by enemies.

Question 42

What were opinions on Germany’s cultural life in the 1920s?

Answer 42

After the Weimar government abolished the strict censorship laws of the Kaiser’s rule, avant-garde artists flourished. However, many Conservatives viewed the plays, art, and music (including jazz) as ‘cosmopolitan’ and foreign. This viewpoint was primarily popular with those who lived in the countryside, who believed in the idea of a ‘true’ German cultured, centred around conservative family values and the church.