Weimar Republic (1919-1933)

Question 1

What were the key terms of the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 1

Blame; Army (100,000 men / 6 ships / no airforce); Reparations (£6.6billion); Territory (13% land taken away). (LAMB)

Question 2

Why were the German people so angered by the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 2

They felt it was too harsh

Question 3

What is the ‘stab in the back’ theory?

Answer 3

The belief that the army could have won the war and the politicians who signed the treaty had ‘stabbed the army in the back’.

Question 4

How were the key features of the Weimar Republic constitution?

Answer 4

It was a Democracy. They used Proportional Representation which led to many parties but no majority, so many weak coalitions. Contained the Emergency Law Article 48.

Question 5

How did the Spartacist Uprising threaten the Republic?

Answer 5

It was a left-wing or Communist challenge to the new government.

Question 6

Why was the Kapp Putsch not a success?

Answer 6

The right-wing challenge did not have the support of the public and were defeated by a general strike.

Question 7

How did Hitler become involved in and then become leader of the Nazi Party?

Answer 7

He was sent to spy on the party by the army but liked their ideas so joined and took over.

Question 8

What was the 25 Point Programme?

Answer 8

It outlined the beliefs and promises of the Nazi Party.

Question 9

Why did the French occupy the Ruhr in 1923?

Answer 9

To try and reclaim the money Germany owed in unpaid reparations.

Question 10

How did the Invasion of the Ruhr lead to hyperinflation?

Answer 10

The government told the people to go on strike but kept paying them. They printed more money. Money then became worthless, people lost all their savings.

Question 11

Why did Hitler carry out the Munich Putsch?

Answer 11

It was an attempt to seize power in the belief that there was lots of public support for the Nazis.

Question 12

How did Hitler benefit from the Putsch?

Answer 12

The trial gave him a platform to speak and he wrote Mein Kampf in prison. He also realised he must gain power by legal means.

Question 13

Explain the role of Gustav Stresemann in bringing about German economic recovery.

Answer 13

He stabilised the economy by introducing the Rentenmark and then the Reichmark. He helped gain loans from America through the Dawes and Young Plan.

Question 14

How did Gustav Stresemann help improve foreign relations?

Answer 14

Germany was involved in signing the Locarno Pact which led to them being allowed to join the League of Nations. They also signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact showing Germany was respected and stable.

Question 15

Why was there limited support for the Nazi Party between 1924-28?

Answer 15

Germany was relatively stable so people were less desperate. Hitler was in jail/re-planning so the party were not so active.

Question 16

How did the Wall Street Crash increase support for Hitler?

Answer 16

People became desperate so looked for extreme solutions to the problems. They lost trust in the Weimar Government. Hitler was promising jobs and to destroy the Treaty of Versailles.

Question 17

How did Hitler become Chancellor of Germany?

Answer 17

Von Papen made a deal with Hindenburg in the belief that they could control Hitler.

Question 18

Why was the Reichstag Fire an important event in the rise of the Nazi Party?

Answer 18

The event gave Hitler the excuse to initiate Article 48 and ban the Communist Party.

Question 19

How did the Enabling Law help Hitler secure power?

Answer 19

The Enabling Law meant he could make laws without support of the Reichstag.

Question 20

Why did Hitler initiate the Night of the Long Knives in 1934?

Answer 20

Hitler needed the support of the army and to remove the threat of the SA.

Question 21

What key event helped Hitler turn his rule into a dictatorship?

Answer 21

The death of President Hindenburg.

Question 22

How did the Nazis control the people of Germany?

Answer 22

Through Propaganda and Fear.

Question 23

Explain the use of Indoctrination (propaganda) and the role of Goebbels.

Answer 23

Nazis took control of all media – cinema, art, music, theatre, newspapers so they only printed the Nazi message. Radios were produced cheaply which meant the message could go into every home/workplace. Mass rallies were held which encouraged participation.

Question 24

Explain the use of Fear (terror) and the role of Himmler.

Answer 24

People were frightened they would be reported to the gestapo, people were sent o concentration camps, the legal system was under Nazi control.

Question 25

Why did the Nazis not destroy the churches?

Answer 25

The Nazis did a deal with the Pope to leave the Catholic Church alone. This was called the Concordat.

Question 26

How did Neimoller oppose the Nazis?

Answer 26

He spoke out against Nazi policies and set up the Confessing Church.

Question 27

How successful were the groups who opposed the Nazi regime? (Edelweiss Pirates, Swing Youth)

Answer 27

They resisted joining the Hitler Youth but were not a real challenge to the regime, although some were dealt with very harshly.

Question 28

How were minorities treated under Nazi rule?

Answer 28

Minorities were isolated and removed from society. They were persecuted and put in concentration camps.

Question 29

What impact did the Nuremberg Laws have on Jewish people?

Answer 29

They removed citizenship which meant they were not Germans and were not given the rights German people had.

Question 30

What was ‘Kristallnacht’?

Answer 30

The escalation of violence against the Jewish people where shops, homes and synagogues were destroyed.

Question 31

How did treatment of the Jews change between 1933 and 1938?

Answer 31

Many restrictions were put on their lives and treatment worsened becoming more violent.

Question 32

How did Nazi policies impact on the lives of Women in Germany?

Answer 32

Women were not allowed to hold professional jobs. They were encouraged to marry with loans and praised for being mothers. Slogan Children, Kitchen, Church. The freedoms of Weimar were removed.

Question 33

What was the purpose of school and education?

Answer 33

To train the next generation to be Nazis and prepare them for their future roles – boys in the army, girls as mothers.

Question 34

How did the Hitler Youth groups (HJ and DBM) help with the plan for a 1000 Year Reich?

Answer 34

Organised youth groups which supported the education of children in Nazi ideas and behaviours.

Question 35

What were the aims of the Nazi economic policies?

Answer 35

To reduce unemployment, stabilse the German economy, make them self sufficient

Question 36

How was unemployment reduced?

Answer 36

Public work schemes were set up which built roads, hospitals and other large buildings. All men 18-25 had to serve in the Labour Service (RAD). Rearmament schemes increased jobs and men in the army.

Question 37

Who were the invisible unemployed?

Answer 37

People who were not counted in the unemployment statistics – women, Jews, minorities. Men in the RAD did not count as unemployed.