Year 1- booklet 1, 2, 3 Flashcards
Second Reich
-1871 to 1918
-Kaiser Willhelm II (1888-1918)
Key figures in army
Hindenburg & Ludendorff
1918 divisions
-RW= blamed the democratic politicians for armistice
-LW=diversions between communists and socialists
-2/3 ger protestant, Prussia dominated
East and West border tensions
-Ger invaded France via Rhineland 1871 & 1914 capturing Alsace-Lorraine
death toll/impacts ww1
-Br= 900k
-Fr= 1.3mill
-Ger= 1.7mill & 4.2 wounded. 293k civilian deaths due to starvation etc
-Financial ruin= $37,000,000,000
Revolution from above
-elites
-nov 1918
-Ger army commanders attempt Kaiser to be figurehead to distance themselves from the defeat
-aim: prevent real revolution, best terms for armistice, distance themselves from defeat
-Parliamentary democracy: Kaiser figure head, socialists nominated
First chancellor
-Prince Max of Baden, started ceasefire talks via peace note to Wilson Oct 3 1918
-Ludendorff thought Wilson’s demands (democratise Ger, evacuate occupied territory and end sub warfare) were too big so ran away
November revolution
-Sailors mutinied 3rd November 1918
-workers councils established
-9th Nov SPD call general strike
-Price Max resigned, Kaiser abdicated
-Ebert (SPD) formed socialist interim govt
October reforms
-8th Aug 1918 (Black day of Ger army)
-war going terribly so military/ conservative elite sought to introduce a more democratic form of govt to please the ppl
SPD
-moderate socialist party
-1 mill members led by Ebert, largest party pre-ww1
-Founded 1875
USPD
-more radical left wing
-broke away from SPD 1917 bc SPD weren’t doing enough
-300k in 1917
Spartacists
-most radical lw
-founded: 1916
-complete workers revolution
-communist systems
-5k
DDP
left leaning liberals. most support from intellectuals and mc
Z/ centre party
-formed: 1970
-Catholic interests in a protestant germany
-popular in Catholic Bavaria and Rhineland
DVP
-right leaning liberal party
-support from upper mc and businesses
DNVP
-Based on old conservative party
-landowners and small business owners
-quite RW
Armistice
-Ebert signed it 11/11/1918 and was blamed
Ebert Groener Pact
-Ebert’s govt depended on army support
-10th Nov 1918
-army to support govt if Govt resist soldier demands and democratise the army
-Groener= general & deputy chief of general staff
Stinnes- Legien agreement
-Legien= leader of trade unions, Stinnes= leader of industrial businesses
-TU not to overthrow capitalism, industrialists would improve conditions inc 8hr days and legal recognition of TU
Rate
-councils of workers/ soldiers etc
-Ebert needed their approval as only way he remains in power is through them
-22nd Nov 1918= govt signed saying it could only exercise power in name of these councils
Spartacist revolt
-Karl Leibknicht & Rosa Luxemburg
-wanted Soviet state
-Dec 1918 demonstration, 16 killed
-Jan 1919 siezed govt buildings to overthrow govt but crushed by Freikorps
Weimar constitution
-Feb 1919
-19 Jan 1919 elections for constituent assembly
-Ebert elected as first president (1919-25)
-Scheidemann chancellor
-used proportional representation
presidential powers
-article 48= emergency powers to bypass reichstag
-Ebert used it 136 times
Judicial system
-article 102 guaranteed independence
-22 lw political murders, 10 sent to death. 354 rw political murders, 0 sentenced to deathh
positives of the weimar constitution
-everyone had same right to vote
-clear rights for individuals
-voted every 4 years (power to the ppl)
-full democracy
negatives of the weimar constitution
-proportional rep split govt but small parties used it as publicity
-coalition govt
-article 48 used regularly
-undemocratic institutions from under the Kaiser survived
Peace treaty
-armistice 11/11/1918
Treaty of Versailles
-June 1919
-USA, BR, FR, ITA present
-Ger only had 7 days to sign (Diktat)
-War guilt= article 231, Ger take responsibility
-Army= 100k, demilitarise Rhineland
-Reparations= 1921, £6.6bill
-Ger lost land= lost 70,000km (13%) e.g. Sloan (75% of iron ore), polish corridor
-League of Nations
-Extra= can’t ally w/ Austria Hungary
Brest Litovsk
-1918, march
-peace between soviet russia & ger
-ger gained baltic states, russia lost 1/3 of european russia (45mill pop)
-6 bill marks compensation to ger
who signed ToV
Bauer’s SPD govt- seen as humiliation
economy
-payed for war via printing/borrowing money
-ToV took away repayment methods (industrial areas taken)
-avoided making ppl redundant and increased benefits
-1921 1.8% unemployed
-1923 hyper inflation
Fehrenbach
chancellor 1920
reparation impact
-£6.6 bill in annual payments
-1921
-Nov ger asked for 500mill gold mark loan and 3-4 year release from payments
-only 2% of national gross interest
cost of war
-national debt by 1919= 1.44 bill marks
-Kaiser had borrowed money through war bonds
industrial impact of ToV
-16% decline in coal production
-13% loss of agricultural land
-48% loss of iron ore
social welfare
-1919= max 8hr working day
-1919 aid for veterans incapable of work
-1920 National Youth Welfare act= all kids right to edu
Ruhr crisis
-Ger fell behind on rep payments 1922
-Fr/ Bel= sent 60k into Ruhr Jan 1923 force complaince with treaty
Ger response to Ruhr
-Chancellor Cuno called for ‘passive resistance’
-non-coop w/ French & blew up infrastructure
-as a result France expelled 150,000 Ger from the area & 132 Ger shot in 8 months
outcome/ impact of Ruhr
-Total output fell to 1/5 of pre-occupation production
-import coal, pay striking workers etc
-cost of crisis to Ger was 2x annual rep payments
-printed money to meet outgoings= hyperinflation
-passive resistance ended Sept 1923
Hyperinflation
-1923
-currency lost value
-food shortages, riots, looting
-prices outstripped wages
benefitted from hyperinflation
-blackmarketeers
-ppl w/ debts who could pay off w/ worthless money
-those on fixed rents
-Hugo Stinnes
-farmers
lost from hyperinflation
-pensioners
-those involved in war time bonds
unskilled
-by end of 1923 only 29.3% of pop was fully employed
-artisans/ small business (The Mittelstand)
-children= malnutrition etc
