Weimar Republic Flashcards
Kaiser abdicated on
9th Nov 1918
Kaiser’s refusal to abdicate resulted in [3]
kiel mutiny
socialist uprisings
independent socialist republic delared in Bavaria
National income ? of 1913
1/3
Industrial production ? of 1913
2/3
? widows
? children w/o fathers
600 000
2 000 000
spending how much of budget on war pensions?
1/3
? milk
? meat and butter
? dead from starvation and hypothermia
50%
60 %
300 000
Debt increased from
50 bil to 150 bil marks
Social impacts [4]
huge gaps between living standards of rich and poor
german workers resented factory workers as they profited
angry about war, didnt think they lost
1.5 million demobilised soldiers returned to society
Kiel mutiny
Oct 28th 1918
Communist state in Bavaria date
7th Nov 1918
Constitution [4]
1) germans >20 could vote
2) system of proportional representation
3) Chancellor responsible for day to day government but needed half of Reichstag support
4) President head of state, Article 48
Spartacist revolt date and leaders
5th to 12th January 1919
Karl Liebknecht, Rosa Luxemburg
Spartacists captured what and on when?
HQ of German Newspaper and Telegraph Bureau
5th January 1919
Spartacist revolt casualties [2]
100 spartacists dead
13 Freikorps dead
Bavaria Spartacist revolt date + casualties
May 1919, 600 commies killed
Ruhr Spartacist year and casualties
1920
2000 casualties
Kapp putsch date, where and leader
March 1920
Berlin
Dr Wolfgang kapp and 5k freikorps
Why did kapp putsch fail, what happened to kapp
workers on strike
fled and was hunted down
Gustav Stresemann government set up date
August 1923
What did stresemann do [4]
1) called off passive resistance in Ruhr
2) replaced currency w/ rentenmark
3) negotiated dawes plan
4) renegotiated reparations payments
Stresemann political achievements [4]
1) no more attempted revolutions after 1923
2) moderate parties 136 more seats in reichstag than radical parties by 1928
3) Hitler gained less than 3% of votes in 1928
4) parties began to cooperate again
Stresemann cultural achievements [4]
1) allowed free expression of ideas, writers and poets flourished
2) Bahaus style of design and architecture
3) first Bahaus exhibition 15000 visitors
4) 1920s golden age cinema, star Marlene Dietrich, director Fritz Lang
What was the Bahaus style?
rejected traditional styles to create new and exciting things
Stresemann foreign policy achievements [5]
1925 locarno treaties
1926 LoN
slowly reversed ToV
Young plan to 2 bil over 59 years, still 50 mil per year
led to removal of british french & belgian troops in rhineland
How many dance bands by 1927 in Berlin
900
artists performed songs that
criticised political leaders, sex
Stresemann economy problems [3]
1) USA loans could be called back
2) increased inequality
3) middle class and farmers lost
Main winners during economic boom and why [3]
1) big businesses as they controlled half of German industry
2) landowners
3) workers in big industries as government symnpathetic towards unions-better pay and working conditions
price of land rose by
700%
unemployment rose to ? by ?
6% of working population by 1928
Political problems during Stresemann [5]
1) nazis and commies building up parties
2) 30% of votes went to parties opposing Republic
3) right wing weren’t destroyed, allied w/ nazis
4) 4 different Chancellors during ‘stable years’, weak coalitions
5) in 1925 elected president opposed to democracy
Culture problems during Stresemann [2]
1) represented moral decline, made worse by american immigrants & jewish artists
2) Bauhaus college in Dessau bc forced out of Weimar
Wandervogel movement [3]
called for return to simple country values
wanted more help for countryside
less decadence in towns
Foreign policy problems during Stresemann [2]
Nationalists attacked Stresemann for joining LoN, signing locarno, as it meant Germany accepted ToV
Commies attacked as they saw as part of plot against commie government in USSR
Chancellor how long
4 years
President how long
7 years
Reichstag how long
4 years
What was the Dawes plan? [4]
The Dawes Plan gave Germany a massive loan.’
‘The Dawes Plan was a plan in 1924 to restart the German economy.’
‘The Plan was arranged by Charles Dawes/American banker.’
‘Stresemann negotiated the loan on behalf of the German government.’
‘The loan was 800 million marks.’
‘The loan helped pay reparation payments.’
‘The loan helped pay for public works.’
‘The Dawes Plan meant Germany only had to pay reparations which it could
afford.’
‘France and Belgium agreed to stop their occupation of the Ruhr.’
‘Because of the Dawes Plan the German economy had recovered by 1928.’
‘The loan stopped in 1929 and this led to economic chaos.’
‘As a result of the Plan, the German economy was reliant on American loans.’
Why did Germany introduce a new currency in 1923? (question b)
‘The impact of the French and Belgian occupation of the Ruhr.’
‘There was hyperinflation.’
‘High reparations made the problem worse.’
‘Money became worthless.’
‘The existing currency was in crisis.’
‘To stabilise Germany’s economic situation.’
‘The German workers and pensioners were faced with high prices and could
not afford food.’
Describe the German reaction to the occupation of the Ruhr by Belgian
and French troops. [4]
‘The German government ordered passive resistance to the French.’
‘Germans refused to work in factories or mines.’
‘The Germans protested and refused to cooperate with the occupiers.’
‘The German government printed lots of money and this led to
hyperinflation.’
What were the aims of Kapp and the Freikorps in the putsch of 1920? [4]
‘To overthrow the Weimar government.’
‘To put a right-wing Nationalist government into power.’
‘To destroy democracy.’
‘To defeat communism in Germany.’
‘To undo the German Revolution of 1918–19.’
‘To oppose the disbandment of the Freikorps.’
‘To bring back the Kaiser.’
