Weimar Germany Flashcards
What were the main features of the Weimar Constitution?
President was elected every seven years by universal suffrage.
The President had emergency powers under article 48. Could dissolve the Reichstag.
President chose the chancellor who formed the government.
Elections were to be conducted using proportional representation.
What were the Bill of Rights?
Freedoms of speech.
The right to work.
Protection of workers.
Welfare rights.
The right to property.
What were the criticisms of the Weimar Constitution?
Gave too much power to the President under Article 25 and Article 48.
Proportional representation created a fragmented party system which made it difficult to form durable coalition governments. It also meant that small extremist parties could gain representation and exposure. There were 20 separate coalitions in Weimar Germany.
What was the legacy of WW1 in Germany?
Democratic politicians had no real option but to sign the armistice to end WW1. This made many Germans unfairly blame the democratic politicians for the defeat.
This resulted in them being labelled the ‘November criminals’ by the right as well as the birth of the ‘stab in the back myth’.
When the ToV was signed, disillusionment set in due to a punitive peace treaty and economic problems.
What was the ‘stab in the back myth’?
A myth which falsely portrayed the cause of the German loss to have been the revolution and betrayal by democratic and socialist politicians. This was widely believed in some sections of German society and served to undermine support for the Weimar government.
What were the terms of the Treaty of Versailles?
Germany’s armed forces were restricted to 100,000 men in the army.
Only six battleships, no submarines and no air force.
Lost overseas colonies as well as territory in Europe such as West Posen and West Prussia to newly created Poland, and Alsace Lorraine to France.
The Rhineland, which bordered France, was demilitarised and the Saarland placed under LoN control.
Anschluss was banned.
Reparations to the victors for damages in WW1.
Why were reparations becoming a problem?
Most of the reparations had to be paid in gold or foreign currency. As inflation increased buying gold or foreign currency became an ever more expensive burden. In 1922, the Germans asked to suspend reparation payments but the Allies refused. By early 1923, Germany was failing to meet all of its reparation payments.
What was the Ruhr crisis?
Jan 1923, French and Belgian governments responded to German failure to meet reparations by invading the Ruhr and seize raw materials and factories. With gov support, workers and business owners followed a policy of passive resistance by refusing to cooperate with the forces. This added to government expenditure.
What was the hyperinflation crisis?
Inflation ran out of control after the Ruhr crisis as confidence in the German currency collapsed. The government printed more money which added to the problem. In 1923, 300 paper mills and 150 printing presses worked 24 hours a day to print money.
Nazis launched a failed putsch.
Standard of living dramatically reduced.
How did Gustav Stresemann solve the crisis of 1923?
Called off passive resistance in the Ruhr which calmed the situation.
Restarted reparation payments by cutting gov spending - 700,000 state employees were sacked - and negotiating the Dawes Plan which provided US loans and investment.
Created a new currency, the Rentenmark, which was worth one trillion of the old.
What were the early threats from the left in Weimar Germany?
The Spartacist Uprising 1919 - a communist uprising which was crushed by the Freikorps, a group of armed ex-servicemen.
Widespread strike action and communist street violence.
Fear of communism - the success of the Russian revolution caused many to fear a similar uprising in Germany.
This fear of the left led many to overlook the more serious threat from the right.
What were the early threats from the right in Weimar Germany?
The Kapp Putsch - after an order to disband the Freikorps, a group of right wing politicians and soldiers seized control of government in Berlin for several days. The Putsch failed as it lacked support from the general public and the elite.
Assassinations - 354 political assassinations were carried out by right wing death squads.
What are the political assassination facts 1919-1922?
Total of 376 political murders in Germany.
354 were done by the right of which 326 went unpunished.
22 were done by the left of which there were 10 death sentences and 3 life sentences.
Shows that judges sympathised with the right and feared the left.
What was the Munich Putsch?
Due to the crisis of 1923, Hitler felt confident to launch an attempted takeover of Germany. Him and the Nazis took control of a conservative political meeting and announced a national revolution. However, the conservative politicians who Hitler had counted on reported him to the authorities and the Bavarian police were able to stop the Putsch. Hitler was arrested and sentenced for five years but only served nine months.
What were the weaknesses of Weimar’s opponents?
Poor leadership and planning - Spartacists acted opportunistically when they tried to turn a protest into a revolution, did not plan like Lenin had in Russia. Hitler dithered over night about whether to launch the Putsch, which gave time for people to report to police.
Lack of support from the public - a general strike brought down the Kapp government, 700,000 people demonstrated in Berlin against political violence.
