Weimar Germany - Key Terms Flashcards
Inflation:
The increase in prices. This can be caused by a budget deficit or the excessive printing of paper money
Deflation:
The decrease in prices - caused during a depression when there are too many goods for demand
Budget deficit:
When the governments income is lower than its expenditure. Can lead to an increase in the national debt
Gross national product:
The monetary value of all that is produced (goods and services) in one country over the space of a year
Direct taxes:
Taxes which are paid by workers or investors to the government
Indirect taxes:
Taxes which are placed on goods
Tariffs:
Taxes placed on imported goods. Designed to protect domestic industries
Real wages:
A measure of how much workers can buy with their wages
What is meant by the ‘stab in the back’ myth?
Idea that the German army was betrayed by the German government and civilians as they began to make negotiations with the allies for the end of the war yet the German army believed they were not defeated in 1918
Why the Weimar government managed to survive the crisis years of 1919-1923?
Weaknesses of their opposition - right didn’t have support and left were not organised or powerful
Had majority of support shown when the general public ended the Kapp Putsch
Despite economic problems they still had the support of the people - democratic parties 60% of votes in 1924
Had support of the army at major events such as the Munich putsch in 1923
In Ebert the republic had a president genuinely committed to democracy
Threats of the Weimar Republic 1919-1923
Communist uprisings - many communist uprisings
Treaty of Versailles - Germans believe that as Weimar accepted War Guilt had “stabbed them in the back”
Kapp Putsch - Weimar Republic lacked trust of army leaders
Munich Putsch - had support of generals and judges showing their contempt of Weimar
Inflation - crippled economy could not afford 6.6 billion of reparations
Extent of recovery and growth of stability in the mid 1920s:
Economic stability - in 1925 number of days lost through strikes was less than 25% of what it had been in 1923
Political stability - Stresemann was only Chancellor for 3 months but during that time he laid foundations for economic and political recovery
Weimar Culture - became a more liberal society that upheld toleration and reduced censorship
Foreign policy - made Germany more stable due to the tweaks to the TOV as well as benefitting from the Dawes Plan, 1924
What problems were caused for the German government by the Treaty of Versailles?
Germany lost territory, 13%, and economic resources as result
Lost 12% of German population
Reparations - made to pay 132,000 million gold marks over 30 years
War guilt - had to take blame and responsibility
German people felt they had been “stabbed in the back”
Impact of the Great Depression and how it undermined the Weimar Political system?
Unemployment more than quadrupled, reaching nearly 6 million
5 party coalition could not reach agreement on what to do about the crisis therefore opportunity for radical parties to undermine
50,000 businesses went bankrupt thus foreign investors lacked confidence in the German economy
Government income fell to 27%
Reasons for the Nazi party’s rise to power:
Germany’s unstable political institutions and parties
Hindenburg and his conservative clique
Charismatic genius of Adolf Hitler
Weaknesses and failures of other parties
Hitler had a combination of demographic gifts and political instinct
