Weimar - Opposition, Consent + Control

Question 1

‘Stab in the back myth’

Answer 1

The war was not lost by the military, but by the betrayal of socialists, communists, Jews and politicans

Question 2

Social resentment of the ToV (4)

Answer 2

Guilt Clause - Soley German Blame
Armistice not a surrender
Territorial losses were unpopular, Germans living under foreign rule.
They Treaty was essentially a Diktat

Question 3

Political resentment of ToV

Answer 3

Not allowed into LoN
Only given a few weeks to sign the ToV

Question 4

Impact of the legacy of War

Answer 4

ToV was signed at the same time as the constitution, leading both to be rejected - November Criminals
The tight restrictions on the army (ToV) were resented

Question 5

Spartacist Uprising

Answer 5

Jan 1919
Significant -
Many were fearful of the ‘Red Plague’
Wanted to install a Communist Govt.
Many of the men involved were skilled fighters

But -
Poorly Planned
Minimal support: only 15,000
Ebert showed no mercy
Freikorps were better organised
Leaders were murdered

Question 6

Bavarian Republic

Answer 6

(March 1919)
Significant -
Communist uprising in Bavaria
They declared a soviet republic

But-
Freikorp suppressed the efforts
A right-wing govt. was installed in Bavaria

Question 7

Ruhr Uprising

Answer 7

(March 1920)
Significant -
20-50,000 workers formed a Red Army

But -
Suppressed by the army + freikorps

Question 8

The Red Fighting League (RFL)

Answer 8

1924 - 1929
Significant -
At its highest, they had 130,000 member
Paramilitary wing of the KPD
Street fights

But -
Banned in 1929
Not compltely united with the KPD, 1/2 were not members

Question 9

Kapp Putsch

Answer 9

(March 1920)
Significant-
Took over the Reichstag
Army refused to help suppress

But-
A general strike was called
Kapp couln’t govern with people on strike

Question 10

Organisation Consul

Answer 10

(1919-22)
right wing
Significant -
Paramilitary terrorist group
They peaked at 5,000 men
Killed Matthias Erzberger
Murdered 350 people

But -
Forced to disband by legal order in the mid 1920s.

Question 11

Munich Putsch (1923)

Answer 11

Significant -
Attempted to overthrow Munich and then Berlin
Endorsed by War hero - Luddendorf
3000 men
SA took control of the military headquarters in Munich
Ebert declared a state of national emergency
Showed right-wing judiciary sympathy

But -
Hitler + Luddendorf arrested
Luddendorf found not guilty
Hitler’s sentence was lenient

Question 12

Junkers

Answer 12

Owned 1/6th of Germany’s land, part of Reichslandbund, a conservative nationalist organisation with anti-communist views. Eg. When Brunning called for unemployed to be settled on their land, they successfully appealed for his removal.

Question 13

Industrialists + Businessmen opposition

Answer 13

Large businesses such as Krupp Armaments and Mercedes-Benz, Attacked social policies eg. Arbitration agreements. For example, Hugenberg was Weimar’s biggest media magnate - leader of the DNVP, helped Hitler.

Question 14

Administrators + Bureaucrats

Answer 14

Dominant in the Weimar insitutuions, they were able to undermine the prinicples of democracy. For example, the Judiciary were sympathetic to the right-wing + Freikorps’ refusal to suppress the Kapp Putsch (1920)

Question 15

Supporters of the Weimar Republic

Answer 15

Working Classes - Majority supported, Civil Rights, Trade Unions, Stinnes -Leigen Agreement, 8hr working day

Middle Class - Fairly well supported, struggled during economic crises

Women - Somewhat supported, New women - not always popular, rural women were more traditional

Question 16

Methods of Control

Answer 16

1923 - NSDAP banned in Bavaria (Munich Putsch)
1929 - RFL banned
1932 - NSDAP + SA banned (briefly)
Law for the Protection of the Republic (1921) - following Rathenau’s assassination - prevented ‘dangerous’ parties from gathering
Article 25 - President could disolve parliament