weimar republic Flashcards
what happened in 1914?
7 countries went to war; Germany and Austria against French, british, Russians, Belgians and surbs
why did many german soldiers die apart from the war?
Spanish flu
what did the british do in 1915?
used navy ships to cut of food supplies
why else did Germany have a shortage of food?
winter, crops died
what happened in 1918?
the kaizer abdicated after everything disasterous was happening
who stepped up for Germany?
friedrich ebert
what did ebert do?
give into what people wanted
how was Germany affected by the war?
national insurance was 1 3rd of what it was before
more than 600,000 women were left with no man
industrial production was at 2 3rds
revolution
huge gaps between living standards
women were forced to work in factories (damaging to society)
what did the bill of rights allow?
every man and woman freedom of speech and religion and equality under the law.
all men an women over 20 were given the vote
elected president and parliament
the Reichstag made the laws and appointed to government
what was article 48?
a law that agreed the president could make laws without going through the reichstag
what were the limitations on the treaty of Versailles?
guilt army cut down to 100,000 men and 6 battle ships 6,600 million repayed lost land kicked out of league of nation
when did kaiser william 2 abdicate?
when Germany was clearly losing the first world war
who became the new chancellor in November 1918?
Fredrick Ebert
what was the new Weimar republic under threat from?
extreme political groups
who was kurt eisner and what did he do?
in november 1918 in bavaria he created an independant socialist state
what were communists in Germany known as?
spartacists
who were kurt eisner and Rosa Luxemburg?
communist activists
when did they seize power in Berlin and the Baltic ports?
in January 1919
how did the weimar republic deal with these communists?
the communist leaders were assassinated and the Freikorps (a group of ex-soldiers) crushed the regular troops
why did people hate the weimar government?
because they thought it was the symbol of defeat in the war
what happened in March 1920?
a man called wolfgang Kapp an extreme nationalist and a group of Freikorps units seized power in Berlin
who dealt with Wolfgang Kapp?
workers who supported the government went on strike so gas water and coal industries came to a stop until they left
what happened in august 1921?
the German finance minister Matthias Erzberger was assassinated by extreme nationalists
what happened on 24 June 1922?
four extreme nationalists shot the popular German jewish foreign minister Walther Rathenau
how much did Germany have to pay in reparations?
132,000 million gold marks in annual instalments
what did the German government ask for in 1922?
more time to give the money back
what happened in January 1923?
The french and belgium governments sent troops to the ruhr the centre of German industry
when the french and belgium invaded the ruhr how did this affect Germany?
the German economy ground to a halt
German workers refused to cooperate
how did the government try to resolve the problem of the reparations?
by printing more money out which caused hyperinflation
what were the problems of printing more money out?
prices rose in shops almost every hour
workers had to be paid twice a day to afford food
people on fixed incomes suffered badly
how did Gustav Stresseman resolve the issue?
he stopped printing money in 1923
he created a new currency called the rentenmark
he also called off the resistance against the French occupation
the German economy began to recover slowly
when to Hitler first come to prominence?
in 1923
what was Hitler’s plan?
to seize control of the Bavarian government . The plan was to capture Munich and from there march to Berlin
what did Hitler do on 8 November?
Hitler forced at gunpoint kahr the head of the bavarian government to join him in the beer hall
what happened the day after?
the next day Bavarian police shot 16 Nazis
Hitler and Ludendorff the former first world was general were arrested
what was the book called that hitler created?
Mein Kampf (my struggle)
what was the Dawes plan?
under the plan, Germany received huge loans from the USA and reparation payments were made easier
what was Stressemans aim by the 1920’s?
to get Germany accepted again as a member of the international community
what happened in 1926?
they were accepted into the League of Nations
what was the structure of the new democratic government?`
the reichstag was elected by proportional representation
the reichstag was made up of representatives from each of the German states. It could delay new laws
how did the dawes plan affect Germany?
German industry began to benefit form new investment and unemployment fell sharply
what was the locarno treaties?
where Germany accepted the terms of the treaty of versailles
in the elections of 1924 and 1928 how many seats did the nazis win?
14 and 12 in the reichstag
how were the communists organising themselves?
they created red fighting league and regularly fought street battles and the SA
what cultural achievements did the Weimar government achieve?
German cinema developed in the 1920’s
artists led new movements in visual arts
Theatres flourished
what happened in 1929?
the wall street crash
what effect did it have on Germany?
US banks were forced to recall their loans. German companies were unable to pay
German businesses were closing people were left without a job
how did the depression help Hitler?
it caused a period of chaos in Germany
no government could take control and resolve the issue
Hitler promised to help the unemployed and had the solution to the problem (wealthy business people)
why was their fear of communism?
some workers turned to communism to sort it out whereas farmers and businessmen turned to Nazis who opposed communism
who was running Germany at the time and how?
president Hindenburg was using his emergency powers
when did Hitler stand against Hindenburg for presidency?
in the 1932 elections
who did Hitler blame for the problems Germany were facing?
Jews and those who had signed the treaty of versailles
who did Hindenburg elect chancellor instead of Hitler in the 1932 elections?
Franz Von Papen
why did Von papen declare another election to take place?
so he could gain more support in the Reichstag however he did not
when did Hitler become chancellor?
1933 27 February
when was the Reichstag fire?
27 February 1933
who was arrested for the crime?
marinus van der lubbe a communist
how was Hitler able to exploit the reichstag fire?
they put the blame on KPD
Hitler persuaded Hindenburg to pass an emergency law restricting personal liberty
what are left wing people?
communists
when did Hindenburg come into power as president?
1926
