Weimar Germany

Question 1

What was the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 1

Peace treaty between Germany and their opponents in WW1. Signed in 1919.

Question 2

How much did Germany have to pay the Allies in reparations?

Answer 2

£6.6 billion in Gold Marks.

Question 3

What did the Treaty of Versailles order Germany to do to its military?

Answer 3

> Abolish conscription and reduce it’s army to 100,000 men.
Demilitarise the Rhineland.
Limit Germany’s navy to 6 battleships, no submarines.
No airforce.

Question 4

Where did Germany lose territory?

Answer 4

Overseas colonies, West Posen, West Prussia (become part of Poland), Alsace and Lorraine (to France).

Question 5

What did the Treaty of Versailles forbid Germany to do in relation to Austria?

Answer 5

Anschluss (political reunification) was forbidden.

Question 6

What event triggered the hyperinflation crisis of 1923?

Answer 6

The French occupation of the Ruhr in 1923 resulted in the governments ordering German workers to adopt passive resistance. The Weimar government had to rely on expensive imports of essential raw materials printing more banknotes to pay for it -> hyperinflation.

Question 7

How much did Germany borrow by 1918?

Answer 7

85%

Question 8

What was the Dawes Plan?

Answer 8

Stresemann negotiated a fixed timetable for Germany’s reparation payments.

Question 9

What evidence is there of a more stable economy under Stresemann 1924-1929?

Answer 9

> Certain sectors of the economy prospered -chemical company.
Exports rose by 40% between 1925-29.
Inflation & unemployment remained low.

Question 10

What evidence is there that the German economy had not fully recovered by 1929?

Answer 10

> Farmers’ incomes was 44% below national average - Agriculture was in recession by 1927.
Unemployment did not fall below 1.3 million and levels were climbing before 1929.
Germany always imported more than it exported.

Question 11

Name 4 effects the Depression had on Germany’s economy?

Answer 11

> National income shrunk by 39% between 1929-32.
Number of unemployed rose to over 6 million, 1/3 of people of working age were jobless.
50,000 businesses went bankrupt.
5 major banks collapsed in 1931.

Question 12

What was the impact of the depression on Weimar government?

Answer 12

> The Grand Coalition collapsed as parties disagreed over unemployment.
Subsequent governments lacked Reichstag support and there were 4 chancellors between 1928-33.

Question 13

What evidence is there that the German political system became more authoritarian after 1929?

Answer 13

Chancellors Bruning and von Papen relied extensively on emergency presidential decrees rather than on parliamentary government, for example 44 emergency decrees in 1931 (and only 5 in 1930).

Question 14

What evidence is there of an increase in politically motivated violence?

Answer 14

During July 1932 election there were 461 riots in Prussia in which a number of people died. Street violence added to air of instability in Germany and served to increase people’s discontent. Hey

Question 15

Name the 2 right wing uprisings?

Answer 15

Kapp Putsch (1920) and Munich Putsch (1923).

Question 16

Describe the events of the Kapp Putsch?

Answer 16

> Wolfgang Kapp and Freikorps leaders wanted to overthrow the government.
They were a right wing group.
They were supported by Ludendorff.
They took over Berlin on 12 March 1920.
The leaders proclaimed a new government.
The trade Unions didn’t support the putsch and carried out a general strike.
4 days after the strike the Kapp government fell.

Question 17

When did Hitler carry out the Munich Putsch?

Answer 17

November 1923.

Question 18

Who supported the Munich Putsch?

Answer 18

The Nazis and Ludendorff.

Question 19

How many political assassinations were there between 1919 and 1922 from left/right and what does this suggest?

Answer 19

376 political assassinations, 354 committed by sympathisers of the right and 326 went unpunished. 22 were committed by the left and only 4 went unpunished. Suggests lack of support for democracy.

Question 20

What percentage of people supported pro-Weimar parties in 1919, 1924 and 28?

Answer 20

1919 - 80%
1924 - 49%
1928 - 76%. This shows support for democracy when Germany was stable.

Question 21

What percentage if people supported the Nazis in 1928?

Answer 21

2.6% - shows lack of support for extreme right wing parties.

Question 22

Who upheld the constitution despite his authoritarian past?

Answer 22

President Hindenburg.

Question 23

What evidence is there that support for extremists still existed 1923-29?

Answer 23

A 1/4 of people voted for parties that wished to see Weimar democracy end: KPD (Communists) gained 10.6% of the vote in 1929.

Question 24

How did education remain under the WR?

Answer 24

Remained diverse: 29,000 Protestant schools, just over 15,000 Catholic schools, 97 Jewish schools, over 8,000 common schools and 295 secular schools in 1931.

Question 25

Did WR encourage more working class to go to university?

Answer 25

They wanted to but only 2.3% of students who went to university had middle class parents.

Question 26

How many people owned a radio by 1932?

Answer 26

1 in 4 Germans.

Question 27

Name one American movie and 2 German movies that had an impact?

Answer 27

American - Gold Rush 1925 (Charlie Chaplin silent movie).

German - Blue Angle 1930 (Marlene Dietrich) and Metropolis 1926 by Fritz Lang.

Question 28

Example of a playwright in Weimar culture?

Answer 28

Brecht - used innovative techniques to introduce protest and politics into plays.

Question 29

What was the German civil code of 1900?

Answer 29

Said women could not vote, couldn’t practice law or other professions, married women has no legal status. A woman’s role was seen as Kinder Kirche Kuche (Children, Kitchen, Church).

Question 30

What does Kinder Kirche Kuche?

Answer 30

Children, Kitchen and Church.

Question 31

When did women get the vote?

Answer 31

November 1918.

Question 32

How did the war help women in employment?

Answer 32

Led to more work - 75% of working women in work 1918.

Question 33

How many women had seats in the Reichstag 1919-32?

Answer 33

112 women.

Question 34

Why did the depression affect women less that men?

Answer 34

Women were cheaper to employ so less likely to lose jobs. 1932, 46% of men unemployed, only 33% of women.

Question 35

Give examples of change for women in work?

Answer 35

More women in white blouse jobs, more women qualified as lawyers (by 1933 there were 36) and number of women doctors double from 2,500 in 1925-33.

Question 36

Give examples of continuity for WR?

Answer 36

Women paid 33% less than men in office work, employer still preferred single women, hard to find childcare, in 1925 over a 1/4 of a million women were doing poorly paid jobs. This doubled by 1935.

Question 37

Give examples of integration between Jews before 1918?

Answer 37

In 1915, 1/3 of married Jews were married to non-jews and businesses were integrated.

Question 38

What contribution did Jews make to society?

Answer 38

% Jews held cabinet posts in the government, including Rathenau, Jewish literature and films, 85,000 jews had fought in WW1.

Question 39

What was the German Peoples Offensive and Defensive Alliance?

Answer 39

An anti-semitic organisation with 170,000 members - banned in 1923.

Question 40

Give another example of anti-Semitism at the time?

Answer 40

Conservative judges were anti-semitic and jews were blamed for the loss of the war and there was an increase in anti-Semitism during the depression.