weimar republic 1918-1929 Flashcards
what was the kiel mutiny
3 november- at main German naval base in Kiel ,German sailors mutinied instead of following orders to attack the British Royal Navy.=sparked rebellions all over Germany and led to the collapse of the German government
forced the ruling monarch, Kaiser Wilhelm II, to abdicate on 9 November.
Following his abdication Friedrich Ebert, leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) became Chancellorand took power over Germany.
who were the november criminals
those who signed the armistice behind the back of the german army. 11 november 1918
explain formation of weimar republic
electrions in jan 1919 gave the sdp the most power, ebert becomes first democratically chosen president as the party wins majority seats in the election. = began to draw up new constitution in germany. (met in weimar because berlin was too unsafe after spartacist uprising)
august 1919- weimar republic is declared
explain formation of weimar republic
electrions in jan 1919 gave the sdp the most power, ebert becomes first democratically chosen president as the party wins majority seats in the election. = began to draw up new constitution in germany. (met in weimar because berlin was too unsafe after spartacist uprising)
august 1919- weimar republic is declared
strengths of weimar republic
A genuine democracy - Elections for parliament and president took place every four years and all Germans over 20 could vote.
The power of theReichstag - The Reichstag appointed the government and made all laws. This was very different from its powers before the war under the Kaiser.
A Bill of Rights - This guaranteed every German citizen freedom of speech and religion, and equality under the law.
weakness of weimar republic
Proportional representation - Each party got the same percentage of seats in parliament as the percentage of votes it received in an election. This meant there were lots of small parties in Parliament making it difficult to pass laws and led to weak and often short-lived governments.
Article 48 - This gave the president the power to act without parliament’s approval in an emergency. However, it did not clearly define what an ‘emergency’ was, so the power was overused, which weakened Germans’ confidence in democracy.
why did people not like the signing of the armistice
hated the government for signing the armistice in November 1918 - they called them the November criminals. = brave German army had been ‘stabbed in the back’ by the politicians.
- germany called treaty a diktat- forced upon germany, blamed ebert for accpeting terms
-Allies met to discuss how to punish Germany and on 28 June 1919: German government was forced to sign a peace settlement called the Treaty of Versailles.
=punished Germany militarily, territorially and financially.
=Germans felt their country had received a very harsh deal in the treaty and resented the government for agreeing to its conditions.
(However, German government had been given an ultimatum – sign within five days or risk invasion.)
explain the terms of the treaty of versailles
Blame - forced to accept the blame for starting the war under article 231 of the treaty, War Guilt Clause.
Reparations -had to pay for the damage suffered by Britain and France during the war. = the amount to be paid was set at £6.6 billion.
Armed Forces - army and navy were significantly reduced in size and its air force abolished.= maximum of 100,000 troops were allowed in the army and conscription (compulsory service) and tanks were banned. navy reduced to 15,000 , allowed only 6 battleships and no submarines.
Territory - lost land on all sides of its borders and its overseas colonies (other countries under Germany’s control).
lost empire
banned from rhineland
give examples of opposition to the weimar republic
left wing= spartacist’s league-communist
right-nationalist, monarchists(responsible for war defeat)=
freikorps(rightwing, ex army soldiers, hated communists)
explain the spartacist uprising of january 1919
1919- spartacist uprising
communist revolution led by rosa luxemburg and karl liebknecht trying to take over berlin, took control of newspaper headquarters, 50,000 workers went on strike,
Ebert asked from freikorps to stop rebellion, over 100 workers killed, freikorps use of violence led to split on left inbetween sdp and communists
may 1919 freikorps crushed all uprisngs
explain the rebellion
kapp putsch march 1920
right wing attempt to eradicate german government and reinstate kaiser
revolt led by wolfgang kapp
-freikorps marched into berlin to try overthrow weimar regime
(HOWEVER german workers opposed, held a strike, kapp forced to give up,
( Treaty of Versailles meant Germany’s army had to be significantly reduced and the Freikorps had to be disbanded.)
but even though kapp putsch failed, threat remained
other violence= freikorps assassinated walter rathneau(jewish foreign minister)
what happened when germany failed to pay its reparations in 1922
the french believed that germany was just choosing not to pay reparations so french and belgian troops occupied the ruhr, confiscated industrial goods as a form of reparations, occupied coal mines, railways, steel works and factories
what happened when germany failed to pay its reparations in 1922
the french believed that germany was just choosing not to pay reparations so french and belgian troops occupied the ruhr, confiscated industrial goods as a form of reparations, occupied coal mines, railways, steel works and factories
what happened in retaliation of the occupation of the ruhr
german government followed a policy of passive resistance where they refused to cooperate with foreign troops and in return government continued to pay their wages
(french retaliated in krupp steel works, those who refused to take orders were shot or expelled = 132 killed, 150,000 expelled )
what was a consequence of the occupation of the ruhr
they decided to print more money to pay the workers in the region, contributing to hyperinflation. A general strike (when all the workers in the country stopped work) was called, and political instability was rife
explain what hyperinflation was like in germany
-germany suffering from high levels of inflation alrready due to effects of war and increasing government debt
- ‘passive resistance’ = workers went on strike, there were fewer industrial goods,weakened economy
- government printed out more money to pay striking workers
-more money printed =prices rose
e.g. a loaf of bread in jan 1923= 250 marks
nov 1923= became 200,000 mill marks
it cost more to print money than the money itself
who benefitted off hyperinflation
Borrowers, such as businessmen, landowners those with mortgages, paid back loans easily with worthless money.
-People on wages renegotiated their wages every day. However, even their wages eventually failed to keep up with prices.
Farmers coped well, since their products remained in demand and they received more money for them as prices spiralled.
who received negative effects of hyperinflation
People on fixed incomes, like students, pensioners or the sick, found their incomes did not keep up with prices.
People with savings and those who had lent money, for example to the government, were the most badly hit as their money became worthless.
examples of rebellions following hyperinflation
A nationalist group called Black Reichswehr rebelled in September.
Communists took over the governments of Saxony and Thuringia in October.
Communists also took over the Rhineland and declared it independent in the same month.
A fascist group called the Nazis attempted a putsch in Munich in November.
how did weimar germany slowly achieve economic stability in the years 1924-29
gustav stressemann becomes chancellor
he serves as germany’s foreign minister
he restores and rebuilds germany’s economic statu until his death in 1929
how did stressemann help restore economic stability for germany
- he called off passive resistance, helped german economy because goods were back in production, government stopped printing money for striking workers
-promised reparation payments = persuaded french and belgian to end occupation of ruhr in 1925
-new currency =rentenmark, helped stabilise proces, limited how much of it that was printed so money rose in value
helped restore confidence in the german economy
how did stressemann bring about international cooperation,
= repayment plans
dawes plan =signed in 1924
germany secured withdrawal from french and belgian, agreed on more realistic dates for reparations, us loaned germay £40 million to pay off debts= (german success was dependent on american loans)
young plan= agreed in 1929
agreed to reduce reparations to a quarter of its original amount , germany given 59 years to pay =US banks would continue to loan Germany money, coordinated by J P Morgan, one of the world’s leading bankers
what were signs that there were recovery in the weimar republic economically
by 1928, industrial production levels were higher than they were of 1913
-1925 to 1929, exports rose by 40%
- IG Farben, german chemical manufacturing company =largest industrial company in europe
- pension,health,unemployment insurance schemes introduced from 1927
-wages for industrial workers rose
-government launched launched housing projects(2 million), provided extra employment
what were signs of continued weakness in the weimar republic
- german industry was dependent on american loans
- unemployment rose to 1.9 million
-agricultural production did not recover from its pre war levels
-germany spent more on imports than what they earned from imports itself.
