HISTORY- WEIMAR REPUBLIC

What are communists and socialists view system in Germany

View system where everyone is equal and workers have more control and power

Example of communist party

KPD: german communist party

Example of socialist party

SPD: socialist democrat party

What are conservatives

Right wing, view a system that is less government and less changes, catholic party

What is facism

View system them is completely controlled by dictator, nazi party, right wing

09 November 1918

Kaiser abdicates due to the army generals refusal to support kaiser

Economic impacts of ww1

Germany in debt and machinery overworked so couldn’t fight in war

Social impacts ww1

• many Germans had restrictions on wages

• Women worked in factories in which people thought would damage family values

Political impacts ww1

• strikes and protests and mutiny

• Germans lost trust in politicians as felt they had been betrayed by them for ending war

After kaiser abdication who became leader- 11 nov 1918

Ebert Who was leader of SPD and made Germany democratic republic

What happened on 11 nov 1918 regarding ww1

Armistice was signed as they knew they couldn’t win the war

When was Weimar Republic created And what was it

31 July 1919, Democratic Party to make Germany fair

Strengths of Weimar Republic

• everyone over 20 could vote

• Voting system was proportional representation ensured diverse views in parliament as small parties got fair share of seats

• Reichstag controlled taxes and passed laws

Weakness of Weimar Republic

• proportional representation led to instability as fragmented multi party system, so difficult for any single party to gain majority so took longer to make decisions in time of crisis

• Facists hated it which led to protests

• Article 48 could be abused as no definition what laws can or cant pass through so not efficient

What is article 48

In a time of crisis chancellor could ask president to pass laws without them being passed through reichstag

What was president

Who was chancellor

Head of Weimar Republic and chose chancellor

• head of government

What was the parliament

REICHSTAG: laws pass through and controlled taxes, moe powerful

REICHSRAT: represented regions

Four key terms of treaty of Versailles that affected Germany

Blame: “war guilt clause” had to accept blame for starting war

Reparations: had to pay 6.6 mil for war damages to winning countries which damaged economy

Army: limited to 100,000 men, Rhineland demilitarised (not allowed troops there)

Territory: lost 10% population, 13% land, 50% iron taken which damaged economy

How did Germans react to treaty of Versailles

Viewed it as “dolchstoss” - stab in the back from government and “diktat” as it was forced on them and hated it as it made Germany weak

Explain “dochlstoss” significance

Germans thought Germany wasn’t defeated but stabbed in the back by civilians at home as politicians signed armistice to end war and were called “November criminals”

What was the ebert greener pact/what did ebert do in response to challenges from left wing parties

A secret agreement made with leader of army that army would support government as long as he supplied army well as worried that communists may take over like Russian revolution

• made Weimar government look weak

What was spartacist uprising

• led by Karl Liebknecht and rosa Luxemburg who wanted to make Germany follow communist ideas

December 1918: formed KPD as began demonstrations against government

Jan 1919: tried to overthrow government and make communist state to do this they called for strike in Berlin where over 100,000 workers took to streets

What was the response to spartacist uprising

Ebert used freikorps to put down rebellion, rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht captured an murdered

What long term effect did spartacist uprising have

Created lasting bitterness between communists and social democrats, causing split in German left

Describe Kapp putsch

March 1920 Ebert struggled to control freikorps and didnt need them anymore, due to this Dr Wolfgang Kapp led rebellion for freikorps to turn weapons on government and marched to Berlin to take over city nd declare new government

How was Kapp putsch defeated

Berlin workers declared strike so gas, water, electricity stopped. After 4 days Kapp realised he couldn’t govern and fled and put in prison and government restored

What was the Ruhr

Industrial heart of Germany

Why did France occupy Ruhr in 1923- Ruhr crisis

Weimar government went bankrupt and Germany could No longer pay reparations by 1922 they couldn’t pay France coal so France sent troops to take over Ruhr and take coal

How did Germans respond to french troops taking over Ruhr to take coal

Government urged workers to resist and go on strike to refuse cooperation and othered damaged machinery which haltered Ruhr production but triggered collapse of German currency

What was result in Ruhr crisis

Ruhr had most resources so Germany debts increased and shortage of goods which led to government printing more money trying to pay for debts triggering hyperinflation

What caused hyperinflation in Germany 1923?

Government printed more money in 1923 to pay debts due to invasion of french and money lost value so caused prices to rapidly increase

How severe was hyperinflation and when was it at its peak

November 1923 it cost 200,000 marks for loaf of bread

Negative effects of hyperinflation

• made living difficult as shops stopped accepting money

• People with savings in bank was worthless

• Germany couldn’t import goods so supplies ran low

Positive effects of hyperinflation

• people with loans could pay off quick

• Foreign visitors could buy more goods with money

Who was Gustav stresseman

Chancellor in august 1923 and became foreign minister 1924-1929

What did Gustav Stress an do in response to hyper inflation

Stopped printing old money November 1923 and replaced it with rentonmark in 1924 and hyperinflation ended 1924

What was Dawes plan

1924 stresseman arranged USA to lend 800 million marks to Germany so they could pay for reparations , once they began to pay reparations french left Ruhr and reduced reperations to 50 mil per year

What was youngplan 1929

Stresseman got reparations reduced to 25 billion over a longer period of time 59 years

How did Germany recover economically from hyperinflation and Ruhr crisis

• Renton mark introduced and stopped printing money 1923

• Dawes plan 1924

• Young plan 1929

What was the Locarno pact 1925

Germany signs it with Britain, France, Belgium, Italy to promise never to go to war with each other again

How was foreign relations improved

Locarno pact 1925

Germany joined leage of nations

Kellogg BRI and

Leage of nations 1926

• tried to make war less likely to happen again

• Germany joined 1926

Kellog-Brian’s 1928:

• Germany and 60 other countries agreed not to go to war so made war less likely

• Gave Germany. Seat with major foreign power

Due to stressemens improvement of the economy what did this lead to

Led to less support for extremist parties and moe support for communists as he was chancellor of Weimar government that provided stability for germanys economy: 1924: 40% support, 1928: 28%

What were the 4 major threats to Weimar government 1919-1923?

• spartacist uprising 1919

• Kapp putsch 1920

• Ruhr crisis 1923

• Hyperinflation 1923

Describe key cause effect chain from treaty of Versailles leading to hyperinflation

1. Harsh treat terms Led to German resentment which led to reperations which led to invasion of Ruhr then passive resistance from workers to stop resources for french which led to higher debts and shortage of goods which led to government printing more money then hyperinflation as money lost value

What was the golden age

When living standards and working conditions improved in Germany during 1924-29

How was the golden age improve Germany 1924-29 wages and work

• workers hours reduced, wages rose, working conditions improved

• 1925 101,000 homes built

How did golden age benefit women

• more work opportunities like teaching and medicine offered to women

• 1918 earned voting

• Article 109 meant women had to be treated equally

• Greater earning power meant more independence for women

• Encouraged to go to university

Why may some people argue there wasn’t a golden age

• hyperinflation made employment worse

• Still housing shortage

• Some Gains in equality from war lost

• Most women gave up work after marriage: drop in 1918 from 75% to 26% in 1925

• Few women had high end jobs

What did the golden age make culturally changes In art

Weimar government gave grants to support art galleries, theatres

• artists wanted to make art that commented on problems in society called expressionism influenced by artists like Otto Dix

Cultural changes from golden age in cinema

• expressionism began to be included in film making

What was the opposition to cultural changes in Germany during golden age

Not everyone approved extreme changes and brought Weimar government under attack

• KPD thought money should be spent on basic people needing help

• right wing thought changes undermined German culture

How did cultu