Germany paper 1 edexcel igcse

Abdicate

When a monarch gives up the throne

Armistice

An agreement that stops the fighting in a war

Parliamentary Democracy

A system of government in which people elect representatives to a parliament to make laws and govern the country

Coalition

A government made up of different political parties

What problems did Germany face as a result of the war?

Food shortages

Threat of military occupation

Hyperinflation

Strikes and protests

Kiel Mutiny

• naval commanders ordered their ships to fight British naval forces - even though it was clear that they would lose

• Sailors led a mutiny

• strikes and protests over the next fortnight

• other soldiers mutinied against the army leaders

• calls from the German people for the kaiser to abdicate

• blamed for Germany’s defeat

SPEND FOR GERMANY FIRST WORLD WAR

11 million military personnel mobilised

1.8 million were killed

1 million taken as prisoners of war

4 million soldiers were injured

750000 civilians died from the effects of starvation and disease

When did the Kaiser abdicate?

9th November 1918 - fled to Holland to live in exile

New republic set up - 10th November 1918

President - Friedrich Ebert - Social Democrat

Armisice was signed by Matthias Erzberger

Stab in the back theory

Members of the German armed forces claimed that surrender was unnecessary

Many Germans chose to believe it

Politicians who signed the armistice were traitors

Helps to explain why the new republic was so unpopular from the beginning

Weimar republic

Council of People’s Representatives took control of Germany

Temporary measure

National elections for a new National Assembly - 19th January 1919

Weimar Constitution

Guaranteed German citizens freedom of speech and religion

Men and Women over 20 were given the vote

Parliamentary democracy

Democratic strengths

All people had the same rights in law, including the right to vote in democratic elections

Democratic Weaknesses

Faced serious opposition from people who did not want democracy to succeed

These people also had the right to vote, so they were able to vote for parties that wanted to destroy the democratic system

President’s role strengths

A strong president could protect the country in times of crisis

Chancellor’s role strengths

Needed a majority in the Reichstag, so their appointment was democratic

Chancellor’s role weaknesses

When a Coalition failed, their time as chancellor came to an abrupt end leading to a unstable government

Proportional representation strengths

Proportional representation was fair as parties gained the number of seats in proportion to the number of votes cast for them, ensuring that the peoples opinions were fairly represented

Proportional representations weaknesses

Led to many small political parties in parliament

no party could get a majority so parties had to form coalitions

Article 48 strengths

Could be used to make laws so that government could continue

Article 48 weaknesses

Gave the president the power to act without Government approval in an emergency

emergency is never defined - could be abused

weakening the peoples confidence in democracy

Eberts approach

Kept civil servants from the previous government and telling them to work with the new workers’ and soldiers’ councils

Reassured industry leaders that they would keep control over private industries

Promised trade unions that the new republic would to try to reduce working hours to an 8-hour day

Why did Germany hope that the conditions of the treaty would not be too harsh?

Most Germans thought that they had been forced into war - all countries involved should take responsiblity

Allies might want to give the new German government a chance to restore stability

President of the USA - Woodrow Wilson - keen to make the treaty fair

Kaiser had fled and Germany had a new democraticgovernment

Treaty of Versailles SPEND

Alsace and Lorraine were lost to France

13% of European territory was lost

50% of iron reserves and 15% of its coal reserves were lost

All 11 of its colonies in Africa and Far east were lost

Germany had to accept the blame for the war

Germany had to pay reparations of 136000 million marks to the Allies

German military cuts:

• Navy limited to 6 battleships, 6 cruisers, 12 destroyers and 12 torpedo boats

• no tanks

• no submarines

• no air force

• Army limited to 100000 men

German reaction to the treaty - all terms

“shameful diktat”

humiliating and unfair

“November criminals”

Spartacist uprising (January 1919) - left wing

Sparatcus league - communist party - Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht

5th January 1919 - revolt in Berlin

Occupied the government newspaper and telephone offices

Hard to put down because of the limited number of troops in the German army

Shows communism as a threat

Kapp Putsch (March 1920) - Right wing

Ex soldiers were unable to adjust to civilian life and volunteered to form the Freikorps

Revolt in 1920 - marching to Berlin and declaring DR Wolfgang Kapp as Germany’s new leader

German army refused to stop the Freikorps - felt sympathy for their aims

Essential supplies such as gas, water and electricity were disrupted by the strikes

Shows the government had little military power

Did seem to have the support of the majority of people in Berlin

Inflation

A fall in the value of money due to rapid price increases

Hyperinflation

Extreme inflations when prices rise very quickly

French occupation of the Ruhr - January 1923

Belgian and French troops marched into the Ruhr - centre of Germany’s production of iron, steel and coal

German Government could not take military action

Workers in the Ruhr carried out a campaign of passive resistance

Effects of the Invasion of the Ruhr

Temporary popularity for the Germany Government

United the German nation against invading French and Belgians

Made the economy worse

Germany entered a period of hyperinflation

Hyperinflation causes and SPEND

Overprinting of money notes

December 1918 - marks needed to buy a loaf of bread - 0.54

November 1923 - marks needed to buy a loaf of bread - 201,000,000,000

Hyperinflation effects

Led to rapid price increases

• sometimes customers who had enough to pay for dinner when they sat down did not have enough to pay by the time they finished eating

Forced million of Germans in poverty

Fixed incomes became wothless

Financially secure people found themselves struggling

Some people benefited

Who benefited from hyperinflation?

Peoples with loans and mortgages

People who owned possessions such as land or buildings

Most farmers benefited

Stresemann as chancellor

Led the “Great Coalition” government

improvement in the state of the economy

The Rentenmark - temporary

German mark was worthless

In November 1923 a new currency was introduced - amount of money printed was tightly controlled

Value based on Germany’s industrial and agricultural worth

German people had confidence in the new currency

The Reichsmark - permanent

faith restored in Germany’s financial system

Stresemann’s beliefs

Germany’s economy could not recover until the issue of reparations had been solved

Argued Germany should accept the terms of the Treaty of Versailles - to improve foreign relations with Britain and France

would be possible to negotiate better terms for Germany

Dawes Plan 1924

USA loaned Germany 800 million gold marks - massive boost to German industry

Reparation payments were lowered to 1000 million marks for the first 5 years - after this payments would be increased to 2500 million marks per annum

Allies agreed to review the payment rate over time

French agreed to withdraw troops from the Ruhr

Allies were given some control of the Reichsbank and the railways in Germany

Effect of the Dawes Plan

Stability in Germany’s currency led to more investment in Germany

Wages rose, cost of living went down, standard of living improving

By 1927 new laws could be introduced to allow people to claim unemployment benefit

“Labour exchanges” were set up to help people still unemployed to find work

Foreign investment left the German economy open to risks

Based largely on American loans

Young Plan 1929

Total reparations bills was reduced to $8 billion

Payments were to be made over 59 years, at a a rate of $473 million per year

Germany was only obliged to pay a third of the annual sum each year

French agreed to leave the Rhineland by June 1930

Reactions to the Young plan

German opposition:

Nationalist groups were angry that Germany still had to pay reparations

Timescale for the payments was far too long

Petition organised by Alfred Hugenberg

British opposition:

Feelings against the Germans were still strong

Locarno Pact 1925

Treaty involving Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, Britain, Czechoslovakia and Poland

Germany agreed to accept its new western borders - all countries involved in the Locarno Pact agreed to avoid military force except in self-defence

Germany agreed that Alsace-Lorraine would be French

All parties agreed that Germany’s eastern borders could be settled by “peaceful means”

Effects of Locarno Pact

Germany was now treated as an equal to the other European powers

Nationalist parties and groups were resentful

Led to a significant improvement in relations

Nobel Peace Prize - Stresemann - 1926

League of Nations 1926

International organisation formed at the end of the First World War

Germany was not invited to become a member

September 1926 - Stresemann persuaded the other great powers to allow Germany to join the League of Nations

Given a place on the League of Nations council

Effects of League of nations

Positive step for moderate political parties

Increased many Germans’ confidence in the Weimar regime

Some Germans saw the League of Nations as a symbol of the hated Treaty of Versailles

Kellog-Briand Pact 1928

62 countries including Germany, the USA, and France

aimed to prevent a future war

Clear improvement in Germany’s relationship with other countries:

• Germany was included among the main power

Why did the Spartacist uprising fail?