Nazi / Weimar Germany - Context

This is all the context needed to understand Weimar Germany + Why Germans were so angry

When was WWI?

1914 - 1918

What was the impact of WWI on German Soldiers? (2)

2 million German troops died

Over 4 million were wounded

What was the impact of WWI on the German Goverment? (1)

Government debts increased from 50 billion marks to 150 billion marks (£2.2 billion to £6.6 billion)

What was the impact of WWI on the German population? (1)

More than 750,000 died because of food shortages

Who was the emperor of Germany during WWI? (1)

Kaiser Wilhelm II

Why did Wilhelm abdicate? (1)

Army officers refused to support him

When did he abdicate and where did he flee to? (2)

9th November 1918

He fled to Holland on the 10th

When was the German Republic declared? (3)

10th November 1918

Scheidmann of the SDP declared the new Republic to the crowds

He promoted a peaceful transition, as he feared some wanted to declare a communist goverment

Who became the first president of the republic?

Friedrich Ebert

When was the armistice signed and what was its significance? (2)

11th November 1918

It was the first major decision of Ebert’s new republic

What was the role of the President in the Weimar Constitution? (4)

The head of the WR

Chose the Chancellor

Could suspend constitution

Passed laws by decree (formal command)

What was the role of the Chancellor in the Weimar Constitution? (2)

The head of government

Chose all government ministers

What was the role of the Reichstag in the Weimar Constitution? (3)

More powerful house of parliment

Controlled taxation

Members were elected by the people at least once every four years

What was the role of the Reichsrat in the Weimar Constitution? (3)

Represented the regions of Germany

Each region sent a certain number of representatives, relative to their size

Representatives were elected by the people every four years

What was Proportional Representation? (2)

The idea that the number of seats a party got in the Reichstag would be proportional to the percentage of votes it got in an election

For example, a party with 20% of all votes would recieve 20% of the seats in the Reichstag

What was a strength of Proportional Representation? (1)

It assured that, no matter how small a party was, they had seats

What were weaknesses of Proportional Representation? (2)

Led to unstable coalition governments that found it difficult to make strong policies

Meant that smaller, extremist parties got seats eg. The Nazi Party

What were positives of the Weimar Constitution in terms of voting?(2)

Women were able to vote

Voting age reduced from 25 to 21

What were positives of the Weimar Constitution in terms of democracy? (2)

No one group or person had too much power

There was an election for president every seven years

What were positives of the Weimar Constitution in terms of government fairness? (2)

Local governments retained power in their regions (although the Central government was more powerful than before)

The Reichstrat could regulate the power of the Reichstag by denying new laws

What were weaknesses of the Weimar constitution? (2)

A lack of strong government led to weakness in crisis, meaning the president passed laws without consulting the Reichstag (enabled by Article 48)

It wasn’t the choice of the people so was unpopular

What were the leaders of the Weimar Republic nicknamed?

The November Criminals

Why were the leaders of the Weimar Republic nicknamed the November Criminals?

They signed the Treaty of Versailles agreement, which severly weakened the German economy due to the £6.6 billion of reparations

What did Article 231 (The War Guilt Clause) of the T.O.V force Germany to accept?

That they were guilty of starting the war

How did people feel about Article 231? (2)

They resented it

They felt they fought the war out of self-defence, and that other countries were to blame

How much money was Germany forced to pay the Allies in reparations?

£6.6 billion or 132 billion gold marks

How was Germany’s military weakened by the Treaty of Versailles? (3)

Germany’s army was limited to 100,000 troops

The Navy was limited to 6 battleships, 6 cruises, 12 destroyers and 12 torpedos

No airforce was allowed

What were some major pieces of land Germany lost due to the treaty? (2)

Alsace-Lorraine - Lost to France

Polish corridor was lost to Poland

What was the stab in the back theory? (2)

Many Germans theorised that - rather than being defeated - the army was betrayed by politicians

They felt that Germany could’ve kept fighting, and blamed their loss on leaders and Jewish individuals