Weimar Republic and Early Problems

Question 1

Who were the November Criminals?

Answer 1

Name given to the German politicians who signed the armistice which ended WWI

Question 2

What is a plebiscite?

Answer 2

Public vote held on whether an area wanted to leave Germany

Question 3

What is a coalition government?

Answer 3

Government made up of two or more parties (often unstable / indecisive)

Question 4

What were Friedrich Ebert’s two jobs during the period of the Weimar Republic?

Answer 4

Chancellor (Nov. 1918-Jan.1919) and then President

Question 5

What was the Reichstag?

Answer 5

The German state parliament

Question 6

What’s a constitution?

Answer 6

The basic principles or set of laws by which a government is governed by

Question 7

What is meant by PR?

Answer 7

Proportional representation (system of voting where political parties get a number of seats equal to their share of the vote)

Question 8

What are some of the problems with PR?

Answer 8

PR:

• often leads to coalition governments, which make it difficult to create political stability
• coalition governments can be indecisive
• extremist parties can get elected

Question 9

What were some of the key features of the presidency?

Answer 9

• Elected every 7 years by the people
• Appoints Chancellor from the Reichstag
• Supreme Commander of the Army
• Using Article 48, he could suspend the constitution in an emergency and make laws without the Reichstag (ruling by emergency decree)

Question 10

What were some of the key features of the chancellorship?

Answer 10

• Head of government
• Chose ministers to run the country
• Needed majority support from the Reichstag to pass laws

Question 11

What was the Dolchstoss?

Answer 11

The idea that politicians had ‘stabbed the army in the back’ by signing the Treaty of Versailles

Question 12

What was the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 12

The treaty that formally ended the WWI and set the terms of peace

Question 13

What was the ‘War Guilt Clause’?

Answer 13

Part of the ToV that stated Germany had to accept all responsibility for starting the war

Question 14

What is meant by Diktat?

Answer 14

‘Dictated Peace’ - Many Germans referred to the ToV as this because the Germans were not allowed to participate in the negotiations for the treaty

Question 15

Who could vote in elections?

Answer 15

All German men and women over the age of 20

Question 16

During the Wiemar Republic, what did ‘reich’ mean?

Answer 16

‘Reich’ meant republic (this meaning changed later under the Nazis, to mean ‘empire’ or ‘Germany’)

Question 17

What did Ebert mean by ‘Gewaltfrieden’?

Answer 17

‘An enforced peace’ - referring to the ToV

Question 18

What was the Bolshevik Revolution and what was its significance?

Answer 18

In October 1917, the communist Bolsheviks had overthrown Tsar Nicholas II in Russia. There was widespread fear in Germany of a similar revolution.

Question 19

Who led the Spartacist League?

Answer 19

Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg

Question 20

What did the Spartacist League seek to do?

Answer 20

Create a state that was based on Communist ideals

Question 21

What did the Spartacists do in December 1918 and what was the result?

Answer 21

They led a demonstration against the government which led to clashes with the army and the death of 16 Spartacists

Question 22

What did the Spartacists form at the end of December 1918?

Answer 22

The German Communist Party (KPD)

Question 23

Who were the Freikorps?

Answer 23

Private armies set up by senior German army officers at the end of WWI. They mainly comprised of ex-soldiers.

Question 24

What was the Sparticist uprising?

Answer 24

On 6 Jan. 1919, the Spartacists attempted to overthrow the Wiemar government to create a communist state. Ebert and his defence minister, Noske, used the ‘Reichswehr’ (regular army) and the Berlin ‘Friekorps’ to quickly put down the rebellion.

Question 25

What happened to Liebknecht and Luxemburg as a result of the uprising?

Answer 25

They were captured and killed.

Question 26

In March, when another Communist inspired uprising was put down, how many were killed?

Answer 26

1000

Question 27

Who crushed the Communist rising in Munich in April?

Answer 27

The Freikorps - with great severity

Question 28

What caused the Kapp Putsch?

Answer 28

The Weimar govt. announced in March 1920 measures to
1) reduce the size of the army
2) disband the Friekorps
The leader of the Berlin Friekorps, Ehrhardt, refused to comply.

Question 29

What was the plan of the Kapp Putsch?

Answer 29

Ehrhardt and a Berlin politician, Wolfgang Kapp, planned to seize Berlin and form a new right-wing govt.

Question 30

What idea did Kapp stress?

Answer 30

The Dolchstoss theory (stab in the back)

Question 31

Who also supported Kapp?

Answer 31

The Reichswehr (regular army) in Berlin

Question 32

What did Kapp do on 13 March 1920?

Answer 32

He seized Berlin

Question 33

When asked to put down the Kapp Putsch, what did the Commander-in-Chief of the Riechwehr say?

Answer 33

‘The Reichswehr does not fire on Reichswehr.’

Question 34

Why did the Kapp Putsch fail?

Answer 34

Ebert and Schneidemann called on the people of Berlin not to support it. Trade unionists and civil servants did not support it (because they supported the govt.).

Question 35

How many Reichswehr officers were involved in the Putsch and how many were punished?

Answer 35

Over 400 were involved - v. few were punished

Question 36

What happened to the Communist uprising in the Ruhr area?

Answer 36

It was brutally put down by the army and hundreds were killed.

Question 37

Which two leading Weimar ministers were assassinated during this time?

Answer 37

Matthias Erzberger (leader of the Central Party) in 1921 and Walter Rathenau, the Foreign Minister in 1922.