Eduqas History: Germany in Transition - The Impact of the First World War

What was the month and year of the Armistice that ended WW1?

November 1918

When did Kaiser William II abdicate?

9 November 1918

When was the Weimar Republic formed?

10 November 1918

Who was the first President of the Weimar Republic?

Friedrich Ebert

When was the Armistice Signed?

11 November 1918

What was the full name and title of the German leader who abdicated in November 1918?

Kaiser William II/Wilhelm II

Role of the President

Supreme commander of the army, had power to dismiss or call elections, could use Article 48 in emergencies

What did Article 48 allow the President to do?

Suspend the constitution in an emergency, make unchallenged laws, keep Chancellor in office without Reichstag approval

When was Article 48 considered 'over'?

When public safety and order is restored

What was the name of Weimar's first chancellor, who accepted the arimistice?

Ebert

Role of the Chancellor

Chosen by President but has to be approved by the Reichstag, equivalent to Prime Minister

Role of the Reichstag

Elected every 4 years, can make laws, they approve Chancellor, more important than Reichrat (German representatives), equivalent to House of Commons

Strengths of the Weimar Constitution

Men and women could vote equally from the age of 20, Article 48 allows necessary + quick decisions in times of trouble and disorder, there are checks and balances (e.g. chancellor had to be approved by Reichstag), president was voted not hereditary, proportional respresentation

What is proportional representation?

an electoral system in which parties gain seats in proportion to the number of votes cast for them. (e.g. 50% of votes = 50% of seats)

Weaknesses of Weimar Constitution

Proportional representation made it very difficult for a chancellor to get a majority which makes decision-making slow and indecisive as chancellors need coalitions to gain a majority, Article 48 could be taken advantage of that gives too much undebated power

What month and year was the Treaty of Versailles signed?

(28) June 1919

Describe one thing the Treaty of Versailles said about money

Germany had to pay back £6.6bn in reparations, cattle to be given to France and Belgium, Germany to build merchant ships to replace Allied ships sunk by U-boats

Describe one thing the Treaty of Versailles said about land

Germany lost 13% of its land (6 million people), no union (Anschluss) with Austria, Alsace-Lorraine to be given to France, Saar administered by the League of Nations

Describe one thing the Treaty of Versailles said about Germany's armed forces

Army reduced to 100000, Rhineland demilitarised, no tanks/armoured cars/heavy military permitted, naval vessel couldn't exceed 10000 tonnes

What was Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles called?

War Guilt Clause

Why was the Treaty of Versailles a problem for the new Weimar government?

Germany become poor and debt-ridden, Germany couldn't defend themselves from an aggressor, German people blamed the Weimar government for this

Explain what we can learn from the phrase 'Weimar Republic'

Weimar shows a change from Berlin, suggesting that Berlin is too dangerous for this disliked, weak government. Republic shows that the monarchy has been disbanded, showing this as a period of change and uncertainty for Germany.

Explain the term 'diktat'

It means dictated peace; the German people felt the peace was forced upon them as they weren't involved in the ToV negotiations

Explain the term 'dolchdoss'

It means stab in the back; German people felt betrayed when the Weimar politicians signed the ToV

Explain the term 'November Criminals'

The German people called the German politicians who signed the Armistice criminals

Anschluss

union of Germany and Austria; this didn't happen after WWI because of the ToV

Which article blamed Germany for WW1?

Article 231

What was the German name for the parliament?

Reichstag

Some people think that the Weimar government had a weak constitution. Give one example of this

Article 48, proportional representation

What event in 1917 caused many Europeans to fear the growth of left-wing politics?

Bolshevik Revolution in Russia (Russian Revolution)

Why did Weimar become dependent on the army?

The government agreed to give them support and resources in return of supporting the government and not revolting

What did the German public feel about the deal with the army?

It weakened the Weimar government's authority

Between 1919-1923, what can a map that shows where uprisings/putsches/strikes/protests tell us about the state of politics in Germany?

Threats from left and right wing, separatists movements near France and Belgium show that they don't like Germany, uprising are short, constant uprisings show people are very unhappy

Aside from the Spartacists' Uprising, name one example of political instability in Germany between 1918-1921

Kapp Putsch

Name 2 events between 1919-1923 that show the political instability in Germany

Spartacists Uprising, Kapp Putsch

When was the Spartacists Uprisng?

January 1919

Who were the leaders of the Spartacists Uprising?

Rosa Luxemburg and Carl Liebknecht

What were the political beliefs of the Spartacists?

Communists

What happened prior to the uprising (took place a month before)?

Demonstrations against the government in December 1918 led to clashes with the government, 16 Spartacists killed

What was the aim of the Spartacists?

To overthrow the government and establish a communist state

What did the government do to defend themselves?

They sent an army called the Berlin Freikorps and used the Reichwehr - the regular army

What were the Freikorps?

Ex-WWI soldiers whose job was to stop any revolutionary activity; they didn't like the Weimar government but they wanted to stop communism at all costs

What happened to the Spartacists?

They failed - 100 soldiers died and their leaders captured and killed

What did the Spartacists uprising cause?

The government to move to Weimar

What caused the Kapp Putsch?

Weimar government disbanded the Freikorps, which caused anger and outrage

When was the Kapp Putsch?

March 1920

Who was the leader of the Freikorps?

Ehrhadrt

What did the leader of the Freikorps do?

He teamed up with leading right-wing politician Wolfgang Kapp

What was the stance of the Reichwehr on the Kapp Putsch?

They supported it

What happened on 13 March 1920, and what did it cause?

Kapp seized Berlin, and the Weimar government fled to Dresden and then Stuttgart

What did the Weimar government ask the Reichwehr?

To stop supporting Kapp, and the commander-in-chief, von Seecht, said no

Who was Scheidemann?

a Weimar politician

Why did the Kapp Putsch fail?

The Weimar Government ordered a general strike to show opposition to what Kapp was doing, which brought the city to a total standstill and all public services halted; without the support of the German workers, the Putsch could not succeed.

Causes of Hyperinflation in Germany

Weimar government printing extra money to pay reparations, passive resistance and acts of individual sabotage in the Ruhr, strikes and mistreatment of strikers

Why did Weimar government print extra money to pay reparations?

They couldn't afford the £6.6bn reparations, so wanted to print extra money to pay it off

In July 1914, what was £1 equivalent to?

20 marks

In January 1922, what was £1 equivalent to?

764 marks

In November 1923, what was £1 equivalent to?

1,680,800,000,000,000 marks

What was the trigger to passive resistance and acts of individual sabotage in the Ruhr?

The French and Belgian army went into the Ruhr and went to take goods (e.g. coal, iron) that they needed

Why did the French + Belgian army go into the Ruhr?

As in 1921, Weimar hadn't paid the reparations required (for the month)

What is passive resistance?

Anger and resentment without violence

What did passive resistance in the Ruhr cause?

Less goods of value were produced, so reparations were harder to pay and turned inflation into hyperinflation

As part of resistance against the French and Belgians in the Ruhr, what did some do?

Go on strikes, and some sabotaged

How did some of the French/Belgian army troops react to strikers?

They shot some of them

What did strikes in the Ruhr cause?

Less goods of value were produced, so reparations were harder to pay and turned inflation into hyperinflation