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Germany GCSE history > Weimar Germany > Flashcards

Weimar Germany Flashcards

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1
Q

when was the Nazi Party founded?

A

February 1920

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2
Q

when did Hindenburg become president?

A

February 1925

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3
Q

when did the government meet to make a new constitution?

A

February 1919

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4
Q

what was the outcome of the election in June 1919?

A

SPD won, putting Ebert officially in power

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5
Q

when was the Weimar Constitution established?

A

August 1919

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6
Q

who was the president and what did he do, under Weimar?

A
  • elected every 7 years
  • can call new elections, suspend constitution and dissolve reichstag
  • controls army, nary, air force, foreign policy
  • stayed out of day to day running
  • emergency decree Article 48
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7
Q

who was the Chancellor and what did he do, under Weimar?

A
  • chosen by president
  • must have support of over half of politicians to make laws
  • day to day running - law, taxes, schooling, healthcare
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8
Q

what was the reichstag and what did it do, under Weimar?

A
  • elected every 4 years through proportional representation
  • discussed and introduced laws
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9
Q

what was proportional representation designed to be?

A

fair

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10
Q

did everyone like proportional representation?

A

no: many disliked democratic governing (older army generals, judges, upper class families, factory owners, professors) - wanted kaiser back

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11
Q

what kind of people disliked democratic governing?

A

older army generals, judges, upper class families, factory owners, professors

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12
Q

what was an issue with proportional representation?

A
  • lots of small parties in parliament meant the leading party had to make deals with smaller groups
  • difficult to pass laws and make decisions
  • weak government and slow law-making
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13
Q

what were the strengths of the Weimar Constitution?

A
  • genuine democracy - Elections for parliament and the president took place every four years and all Germans over 20 could vote.
  • power of the Reichstag - The Reichstag appointed the government and made all laws. Almost all political power was exercised by politicians in the Reichstag. Before 1918 the Kaiser and the military took most of the important decisions.
  • Bill of Rights - This guaranteed every German citizen freedom of speech and religion, and equality under the law.
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14
Q

what were the weaknesses of the weimar constitution?

A
  • Proportional representation - Each party got the same percentage of seats in parliament as the percentage of votes it received in an election. This meant there were lots of small parties in parliament making it difficult to pass laws and led to weak and often short-lived governments
  • Article 48 - This gave the president the power to act without parliament’s approval in an emergency. However, it did not clearly define what an ‘emergency’ was, so the power was overused, which weakened Germans’ confidence in democracy.
  • became unstable - constant arguments about how to help unemployed and constant coalition gvts
  • bruning (hunger chancellor) only passed laws using emergency decrees
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15
Q

what evidence is there that Weimar Germany was the ‘Golden Years’?

A
  • improvements to living/working conditions
  • Freedom and public life for women
  • Film
  • music
  • Avant-garde artists
  • Nightclubs
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16
Q

what improvements to living/working conditions were made under Weimar?

A
  • help for unemployed - 1927 insurance system set up
  • improved housing - 1925-29, ~100,000 new homes built for workers
  • more food supplies
  • workers wages increased and working hours shortened
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17
Q

when was the insurance system in Germany set up?

A

1927

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18
Q

from 1925-29 how many new houses were built in Germany?

A

~100,000

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19
Q

how did freedom and public life improve for women under Weimar?

A
  • 1919-32 112 women elected into Reichstag
  • gained the vote - 90% did vote
  • Article 109 asserted gender equality in the workplace and home
  • divorce made easier and more common
  • new sports, clubs, societies - encouraged to attend uni
  • however, the no. of employed women dropped from 75% in 1919 to 26% in 1925 as lots of women worked during wwi but stopped after
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20
Q

from 1919-1932, how many women were elected into the Reichstag?

A

112

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21
Q

what % of women voted under Weimar?

A

90%

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22
Q

what % of women were employed in 1919?

A

75%

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23
Q

what % of women were employed in 1925?

A

26%

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24
Q

what are 2 examples of how film changed under Weimar?

A
  • Marlene Dietrich became a worldwide star
  • ‘metropolis’ - 1927 - was the most technically advanced film of decade
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25
Q

when was Metropolis made?

A

1927

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26
Q

what are 2 examples of how music changed under Weimar?

A
  • shaped by modern influences of america - jazz
  • cabaret emerged as an unrestricted form of entertainment
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27
Q

what are some examples of how creativity and innovation improved under Weimar?

A
  • new movement that thought art should show reality of everyday life, particularly social differences - expressionism
  • Otto Dix
  • George Grosz
  • Bauhaus - practical, modern, simple
  • ‘all quiet on the western front’ - anti-war - half a million copies sold in 3 months
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28
Q

how many copies of ‘all quiet on the western front’ were sold in 3 months?

A

1/2 a million

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29
Q

what were nightclubs like in Weimar Germany?

A
  • naked dancers
  • transvestite evenings
  • american jazz
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30
Q

what did people think about nightclubs in Weimar Germany?

A
  • moral decline - traditional values - some hated artistic change (nazis)
  • berlin seen as corrupt and sex obsessed
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31
Q

what evidence is there that Weimar Germany was not the ‘Golden Years’?

A
  • 1919 - poor, starving, influenza epidemic
  • farmers received 1/2 national average wage
  • wealthier german disliked that the state was giving workers support
  • republic still struggled with a shortage of houses
  • some people did not like new female independence and viewed these women as morally corrupt - feared traditional german values were being forgotten
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32
Q

Why was Weimar was able to expand artistically?

A

previously, kaiser controlled entertainment - artists now had new freedom and ideas

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33
Q

between 1919-1922 how many political murders were there in Germany?

A

over 350

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34
Q

when was the Ruhr Uprising?

A

March-April 1920

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35
Q

what was the Ruhr Uprising?

A
  • an army of between 50,000 and 80,000 left-wing workers conducted the ‘red rising’ ~1000 workers killed
  • initially took place in support of the call for a general strike issued by some members of gvt and the unions, in response to the RW kapp putsch
  • Red Ruhr army prevailed over government forces in the area in a very short time.
  • uprising possessed no common leadership nor a common political program, although turning ownership of important industries over to the workers was an important issue.
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36
Q

what were the consequences of the Ruhr Uprising?

A
  • government Reichswehr units marched into the Ruhr area to suppress the uprising - this force also contained units that had supported the putsch only days previously
  • fighting was followed by death sentences and mass executions. Those found to be carrying weapons at the time of their arrest were shot, including the wounded.
  • In response to the Reichswehr presence in the Ruhr, which contravened the Treaty of Versailles, the French occupied towns on 6 April. British occupation forces threatened to occupy some land due to the breach of ToV. By 8 April, the Reichswehr controlled all of the northern Ruhr area.
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37
Q

when was the Spartacist’s Revolt?

A

January 1919

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38
Q

what happened in the Spartacist’s Revolt?

A
  • Spartacists tried to take berlin; there were 1000s in streets and some had guns
  • ebert sent 2000 friekorps to retaliate; 2 days later they had recaptured the buildings and arrested leaders (rosa luxemburg and karl liekknecht)
  • leaders beat savagely and murdered
39
Q

who were the Freikorps?

A
  • recently returned soldiers who hated communists and blamed them for causing trouble at the end of wwi (argued they were a major reason for germany’s defeat)
40
Q

what were the effects of the spartcacist’s revolt?

A

Ebert had regained control of Berlin but had to heavily rely on Right wing Freikorps, undermining his credibility

41
Q

who were the Spartacists?

A
  • communist political party
  • wanted small councils not large parliament
42
Q

why were the Spartacists feared in Europe?

A
  • 1917 russia became world’s 1st communist country
  • took lands from lords and gave to peasants
  • banks under gvt control
  • murdered royal family
43
Q

when was the Kapp Putsch?

A

March 1920

44
Q

Why did the Kapp Putsch occur?

A
  • Freikorps had grown by 1920 and President Ebert could not control them. In March 1920, the Weimar government announced the Freikorps would be disbanded.
  • leaders of the putsch wanted to take over the country, make the army strong again and then recover the lands Germany had lost in the Treaty of Versailles. They wanted their empire once again.
  • deeply resented the Treaty of Versailles for their crippled economy.
  • Some wanted the kaiser to return from exile.
45
Q

Why was the Kapp Putsch important to the Weimar Republic?

A

it showed how unpopular the Weimar Republic was with right-wing parties, and that the army would not support it if the extreme right launched an attack.

46
Q

what happened in the Kapp Putsch?

A
  • led by wolfgang kapp
  • ~5000 freikorps took over berlin - aimed to take over whole country, overthrow the elected government, restore the monarchy and rebuild army as they wanted to recover lost land
  • ebert fled
  • regular army refused to attack freikorps as they were ex-soldiers
  • workers of berlin go on strike and refuse to co operate with kapp (no water, gas. trains, electricity)
  • after 100hrs kapp fled and ebert returned
47
Q

when was the Munich Putsch?

A

November 1923

48
Q

what were the causes of the Munich Putsch?

A
  • hitler tried to take advantage of the hyperinflation by trying to launch a revolution
  • By 1923, the Nazi party had 55,000 members and was stronger than ever before.
  • In September 1923, the Weimar government had called off the general strike, and German nationalists were furious with the government.
  • Hitler thought he would be helped by important nationalist politicians in Bavaria. (in Bavaria the majority of the population were Catholic and things were quite traditional - many intensely disliked new gvt & saw them as weak.)
  • Hitler had a huge army of SA members, but he knew he would lose control of them if he did not give them something to do.
  • Hitler hoped to copy Mussolini who had come to power in Italy in 1922 by marching on Rome.
49
Q

how many members did the nazi party have in 1923?

A

55,000

50
Q

what happened during the Munich Putsch?

A
  • Hitler plotted with two nationalist politicians - Kahr and Lossow - to take over Munich in a revolution.
  • Hitler collected the SA and told them to be ready to rebel.
  • on 4 October 1923, Kahr and Lossow called off the rebellion creating an impossible situation for Hitler, as he had 3,000 troops ready to fight.
  • On night of 8 November 1923, Hitler + 600 SA members burst into a meeting that Kahr and Lossow were holding at the local Beer Hall. Waving a gun at them, Hitler forced them to agree to rebel - and then let them go home.
  • SA took over the army headquarters and the offices of local newspaper.
  • 9 November 1923, went on triumphal march to take power
  • Kahr had called in police and army reinforcements.- short scuffle - police killed 16 members of the SA.
  • Hitler fled, but was arrested two days later.
51
Q

what were the consequences of the Munich Putsch/

A
  • Nazi party banned
  • Hitler prevented from speaking in public until 1927.
  • Hitler tried for high treason & sentenced to five years in prison - served 9 months in a comfortable prison where he wrote ‘Mein Kampf’. used his prison time as pr.
  • Hitler realised that he would never come to power by revolution and that he would have to use democratic means, so he reorganised the party to enable it to take part in elections.
52
Q

what was ‘mein kampf’?

A
  • a propaganda book setting out Nazi beliefs. - Millions of Germans read it, and Hitler’s ideas became very well-known
53
Q

when was the ToV signed?

A

28th June 1919

54
Q

what were German attitudes towards the ToV?

A
  • gvt not invited to discussion - told to accept it or face invasion - diktat
  • hated by germany people - too harsh, humiliated, angry
55
Q

what were the clauses of the ToV?

A
  • War guilt clause
  • £6.6 bill reparations paid in instalments until 1988
  • Large areas of land taken and used to create new countries for people previously ruled by others eg Poland
  • hand over colonies
  • lost 10% of land and 12.5% of population
  • Small army (100,000 men, no tanks, no air force)
  • small navy (15, 000 sailors, 6 battleships, no submarines)
  • Never unite with Austria again - anschluss banned
  • demilitarise Rhineland
56
Q

when and how were the first German reparations paid?

A
  • 1921
  • 2 billion gold marks to france and britain
  • some in gold; rest in goods (coal, wood, iron)
57
Q

when did Germany announce they could not pay their reparations, so French and Belgian troops invaded the Ruhr?

A

January 1923

58
Q

what were the army’s actions during the invasion of the Ruhr?

A
  • arrested resistors
  • took control of factories/mines/railways
  • took food/goods from shops
59
Q

how did the workers resist during the invasion of the Ruhr?

A
  • passive resistance - strike
  • over 100 workers killed
  • 15000 people thrown out of homes
60
Q

how did hyperinflation occur in 1923/

A
  1. gvt payed striking workers
  2. no money - ruhr not making goods
  3. printed money
  4. workers spend money quickly
  5. shops put up prices
  6. print more money (wheelbarrows)
61
Q

what were the Effects of hyperinflation?

A
  • people paid debts off easily
  • german money worthless
  • small businesses collapse
  • normal trade impossible
  • savings worthless
  • elderly on fixed pensions couldnt survive
  • politicians lost support
  • germany’s war debts and interest payments meant they had debts worth 175% of their total national output
62
Q

in 1918, how much did a loaf of bread cost?

A

0.6 marks

63
Q

in November 1923, how much did a loaf of bread cost?

A

201 billion marks

64
Q

what was stresemann’s response to hyperinflation?

A
  • called off passive resistance in the ruhr
  • nov 1923 set up ‘rentenmark’ - unlike previous currency, it was tied to the price of land and held real value
  • aug 1924 rentenmark renamed reichsmark and placed under control of reichsbank
65
Q

when was the Rentenmark set up?

A

November 1923

66
Q

when was the Rentenmark renamed the Reichsmark?

A

August 1924

67
Q

who was Stresemann?

A
  • MP since 1907
  • chancellor 1923
  • foreign minister 1924-1929 (deaD) - in this period, there were no attempts to overthrow the gvt
68
Q

when was the Dawes Plan?

A

August 1924

69
Q

what was agreed in the Dawes Plan?

A
  • new realistic repayment schedule agreed - troops left ruhr
  • USA lent 800 million gold marks
  • could pay reparations
  • some money used to build new factories/houses/roads/hospitals - more jobs
  • some american companies built german factories
70
Q

how did some people respond to the Dawes Plan?

A

some felt stresemann had given into bullying

71
Q

when was the Locarno Pact?

A

1925

72
Q

what did the Locarno Pact agree?

A

Germany, France and Belgium would respect their shared borders

73
Q

when did Germany join the LoN?

A

January 1926

74
Q

what was the effect of Germany joining the LoN?

A
  • re-established germany as an international power
  • some RW criticised this - too weak - should have demanded back land
75
Q

what was the effect of unemployment insurance being introduced?

A

some of the middle class felt ingored

76
Q

when was the Kellogg-Briand pact?

A

1928

77
Q

what did the Kellogg-Briand pact agree?

A
  • no war, unless in defence
  • signed by germany and 62 others
78
Q

when was the Young Plan?

A

1928

79
Q

what did the Young Plan agree?

A
  • planned to lower total reparations from £6.6 billion to £2 billion
  • payments would continue until 1988
80
Q

what arguments are there that Stresemann was a success?

A
  • industrial production levels had increased
  • international reputation had increased
  • exports had risen
  • due to his domestic and foreign achievements, the population became more confident in the republic and support for extremist parties weakened for a bit
  • new pension, health, and unemployment schemes had been set up
81
Q

what arguments are there that Stresemann was not a success?

A
  • economic recovery depended on USA
  • unemployment still a big issue
  • germany spent more money on imports than they received on exports - trade deficit
  • people still resented the ToV and its LoN
  • though support had weakened, the communist and nazi parties still existed
82
Q

when was the Wall St Crash?

A

October 1929

83
Q

why did the Great Depression affect Germany so significantly?

A

german economic recovery was dependent on usa: american banks recalled loans which undermined the Young Plan

84
Q

what were the short term effects of the GD in Germany?

A
  • industrial production declined (almost halved)
  • factories closed creating mass unemployment (Oct 1929 1.2 mill unemployed, Feb 1932 6 mill) which heightened gvt expenditure
  • banks went bankrupt
  • by 1933 world trade had fallen by over 60% (removed any chance of german succes through exports which had risen by 40% from 1925-29)
85
Q

in October 1929, how many people were unemployed?

A

1.2 million

86
Q

in February 1932, how many people were unemployed?

A

6 million

87
Q

how did the great depression help the nazis?

A
  • nazism gave unemployed youth a purpose
  • RW and LW extremist political groups grew in popularity creating political polarity and loss of faith in democracy
88
Q

how did Bruning deal with the GD?

A

1930-32
- increased tazes
- cut spending, benefits, and wages
- tried to seize rich people’s land
- hindenburg withdrew his support

89
Q

how were the KPD affected by the GD?

A
  • from 1928-1932 grew from 130,000 to 300,000
  • competed with nazis
  • wanted a workers’ revolution so wealthy businessmen began to finance nazism
90
Q

when were the KPD founded?

A

1918

91
Q

how many people belonged to the KPD in 1928?

A

130,000

92
Q

how many people belonged to the KPD in 1932?

A

300,000

93
Q

how was Article 48 used during the GD?

A
  • used to rule throughout most of great depression;
  • undermined democracy and weakened reichstag’s power
  • middle class felt gvt should be stronger so voted nazi

Germany GCSE history (15 decks)

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