Year 1- booklet 7,8,9

Question 1

coalitions govts 1924-28

Answer 1

-june 1924= Marx (Z) inc Z, DVP, DDP
-Jan 1926= luther inc DDP, Z, BVP, DVP, DNVP
-Jan 1927= Marx (Z), inc Z, DVP, DNVP, BVP
-June 1928= Muller (SPD), inc SPD, DDP, DVP, BVP (Grand Coalition)

Question 2

May & December 1924 elections

Answer 2

-support for republican parties= 61% to 67%
-fall in extremist parties= Nazi 6.5% to 3%, KPD 12% to 9%

Question 3

problem with coalitions

Answer 3

-caused by proportional representation
-meant difficult to maintain stability
-SPD and DNVP refused to work together
-moderate parties didn’t have enough seats

Question 4

Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold

Answer 4

-founded 1924 by SPD, DDP, Z
-defend democracy against extremism, respect republic, honour constitution
-paramilitary wing to challenge Nazi/ KPD violence (3 mill members 1932)

Question 5

Flag decree

Answer 5

-1926
-hindenburg ordered old flag fly next to new it led to dispute in Reichstag and lLuthers govt fell

Question 6

were the golden years golden?

Answer 6

-YES: no attempts at revolution, RW less hostile (DNVP coalition), less political violence
-NO: govt unstable, party loyalty over national good, govt lacked clear direction

Question 7

workings on the election for presidency

Answer 7

-winner needed 50% of ote in first round
-no winner then second round and candidate w/ most votes wins (new entrants can enter 2nd round)

Question 8

Rounds of Hindenburg’s election

Answer 8

-1st round= Jarres 38% (DVP), Braun 29% (SPD)
-2nd round= Hindenburg 48% (DVP, DNVP), Marx 45% (Z, SPD, DDP), Thalmann 6% (KPD)

Question 9

Hindenburg as a symbol of the past

Answer 9

-Saviour of the Eastern front ww1
-Army chief of staff 1916-18
-authoritarian, supported stab in back myth
-called a ‘substitute kaiser’

Question 10

How did Hindenburg go against democracy?

Answer 10

-used presidential powers to rule by decree
-didn’t believe in democracy & was unwilling to defend it against opponents on the right

Question 11

attitudes towards the republic

Answer 11

-elites= opposed/ hostile
-industrial workers= hadn’t delivered on its promises and saw crushing uprisings as failure of parliamentary democracy
-mc= large group so hard to generalise
-lmc= suffered from hyperinflation

Question 12

attitudes to Hindenburg’s election

Answer 12

-elites= thought he’d steer Ger to authoritarian govt
-industrial= would’ve wanted Marx instead (SPD maj)
-mc & lmc= welcomed return of political stability under him

Question 13

Policy of fulfillment

Answer 13

-All of Germany agreed that the ToV was unfair
-Stresemann’s approach was to meet terms through fulfilment, demonstrate terms were unworkable, seek revision through cooperation

Question 14

Locarno Pact

Answer 14

-1925
-Aim: restore international standing, address Fr concerns, prevent hostile alliance of Br & Fr
-agreement reached w/ Br, Fr, USA & Ita
-accept 1919 western borders, surrender claim to Alsace Lorraine, Br/ Ita defend Ger, Fr, Bel if attacked
-any dispute go to LoN.
-allow reparation reform
-(stresemann done)

Question 15

Successes of Locarno Pact

Answer 15

-Ger entered LoN
-no guarantee demanded for Eastern borders
-Fr had a guarantee of Br support
-Ger prevented repeat of Ruhr occupation, Fr troops leave (1925-30)
-eastern borders not fully recognised
-(stresemann done)

Question 16

League of Nations

Answer 16

-Ger joined 1926
-given veto power
-great power recognition
-couldn’t participate in military action against aggressors
-(stresemann done)

Question 17

relations with the USSR

Answer 17

-Germany imposed harsh terms on revolutionaries to end war (1917)
-both resented creation of poland and both were treated as outcasts by international community

Question 18

Treaty of Rapallo

Answer 18

-1922
-USSR & Ger resumed trade
-claims for compensation of war damage was dropped
-Russia allowed Ger to develop weapons and train pilots on Russian territory
>this concerned the French

Question 19

Treaty of Berlin

Answer 19

-1926
-renew Rapallo
-maintain econ & military cooperation, Ger neutrality if USSR was attacked

Question 20

successes of Stresemann (rapallo pact)

Answer 20

-Treaty put pressure on West to improve relations w/ Ger
-showed that Ger accepted any change to Eastern borders needed USSR approval
-strengthened hand against Br, Fr, USA

Question 21

Kellogg-Briand Pact

Answer 21

-1928
-international agreement between Fr, USA (ger also signed)
-agreed to renounce war as a way of resolving disputes
-symbolic

Question 22

etv of the young plan

Answer 22

• ‘stab in back myth’- Hitler campaigned against it
  -Harzburg Front was a rallying point for anti-weimar forces
  +allied troops finally left ger June 1930
  -only as far as depression
  +only 14% of ger in referendum rejected it

Question 23

inter-allied control commission

Answer 23

-created to ensure Ger was compliant w/ disarmament
-checked existing weapons were destroyed
>Ger got around this by building subs in spain, artillery in sweden
>scheeckt= short, intense military training

Question 24

Wall Street Crash

Answer 24

-24th Oct 1929 NY stock exchange had worst fall in share prices ‘Black Thursday’
-29th Oct 1929, lost $10 billion ‘Black Tuesday’

Question 25

impact of WSC on ger

Answer 25

-economy stagnating since 1928, recovery 1924-8 had been financed by US loans, USA starting to call in loans, also USA large market of good
-exports dropped 61%, industrial production dropped 58% from 1928

Question 26

Banking crisis

Answer 26

-customers withdrew money from banks and loans weren’t repaid
-Austrian banks collapsed May 1931
-Ger banks followed
-July 1931 Ger closed it’s banks and suspended stock exchange for 2 days
-By 1932, 1/3rd of Ger workers were unemployed (6mill), 1/4 affected (13mill)

Question 27

unemployment stats

Answer 27

-limited to those who registered
-some estimate it was 8 mill
-worst affected were those in industrial areas e.g. Ruhr

Question 28

impacts of WSC on rural

Answer 28

-prices collapsed
-exports declines
-farmers gave up land as unable to pay back loans
-lost jobs

Question 29

social impacts of WSC

Answer 29

-poverty: 1930 time limits applied to state benefits, less generous & means were tested
-single industry towns= Brand-Erbisderff (1931, 1/2 receiving benefits, rely on local authority)
-disease= suicide, tuberculosis

Question 30

impacts of WSC on youth

Answer 30

-Hamburg 1933= unemployment rate for men 14-25 was 39%
-formed gangs, attracted to extreme political groups, high rates of crime, Hitler youth/ SA provided shelter
-Brunings work force kept ppl out of trouble but these offered little prospects
-strikes 1930-32

Question 31

impact of WSC on women

Answer 31

-May 1932 law passed allowing married women civil servants to be dismissed
-women could only be dismissed if it could be proved that there economic circumstances were secure
-Reich postal service dismissed abt 1000 married women

Question 32

Political impact of the depression

Answer 32

-Grand Coalition of Muller collapsed 1930
-extreme parties gained support
-Sought to fatally undermine the democratic system
-increase in political violence

Question 33

Collapse of the grand coalition

Answer 33

-Was formed in 1928
-Tax receipts down and social welfare spending up
-SPD protect benefits by raising taxes
-DVP reduce benefits
-Deadlock: Muller resigned March 1930

Question 34

Brunings govt 1930-32

Answer 34

-Hindenburg appointed Bruning under von Schleicher
-both Groener and von Schleicher opposed democracy
-Bruning excluded the SPD from his coalition
-didn’t have maj in reichstag

Question 35

Schleicher

Answer 35

-aristocratic army officer
-1926 political head of army
-saw Nazis as best counter to KPD & SPD

Question 36

End of Bruning’s govt

Answer 36

-Policies to balance budget:
>cuts in govt spending, reduced unemployment benefit, raised taxes, army spending etc not cut
-no maj in Reichstag, SPD won a motion to withdraw the budget decree, Bruning dissolved reichstag
-ended 1932 may

Question 37

sept 1930 -election responses

Answer 37

-KPD 77 seats= over a mill votes from SPD
-NSDAP= 107 seats, gained by 6.5mill votes vs 810k in 1928
-2/5 voters voted anti-democratic parties
-disruption in Reichstag
-Reichstag didn’t didn’t meet between Feb- Oct 1931

Question 38

Political violence

Answer 38

-grew 1930-33
-Red front & SA committing them
- Brunning issued decree 1931 banning wearing of Brown shirts
-1932 Hindenburg banned SA