Germany- fact test

What were four key terms of the Treaty of Versailles?

Article 231 (the 'war guilt clause') • Alsace-Lorraine went to France • German army limited to 100,000 • Reparations of £6.6 billion (confirmed in 1921)

How much were German reparations set at, and in what year was this confirmed?

£6.6 billion, confirmed in 1921

What were three key features of the Weimar constitution?

A proportional representation voting system • Votes for all aged 20 and over • Article 48

What did Article 48 of the Weimar constitution allow?

In an emergency, the President could make laws without consulting the Reichstag

How many different governments were there in the Weimar period?

18

Name three uprisings against the Weimar Republic (1919–23) and what happened to each.

Spartacist Revolt 1919 – suppressed by the army • Kapp Putsch 1920 – failed when Ebert called a general strike • Munich Putsch 1923 – led to Hitler's arrest

How many Reichstag seats did the Nazis win in 1928, 1930 and July 1932?

1928: 12 • 1930: 107 • July 1932: 230

How many assassinations were carried out by right-wingers up to 1922, and how harshly were they punished?

354 (including Foreign Minister Rathenau) – only one of those crimes led to a death sentence

What was electoral turnout in Weimar Germany in 1919 and 1932?

82% in 1919 and 84% in 1932 – high throughout

What roles did Stresemann hold, and what did he achieve?

Chancellor in autumn 1923; Foreign Minister 1924–29 • Helped make Germany respectable again, including getting Germany admitted to the League of Nations in 1926

Why did Hitler become Chancellor in 1933?

President Hindenburg, along with von Papen, underestimated him and thought they could control him

Name four events through which Hitler consolidated his power (January 1933 – August 1934).

Reichstag Fire • Day of Potsdam • Enabling Act • Night of the Long Knives

What personal habits of Hitler show that his style of government was confusing?

He got up late and watched Disney films

What does 'working towards the Führer' mean?

Members of the government took their own initiative to do what they thought Hitler would want

Give two key examples of 'working towards the Führer' from 1938.

Goebbels and Kristallnacht • Bouhler and the euthanasia issue

How did the Nazis treat existing institutions, and how has the structure of Nazi government been described?

They did not abolish existing institutions but created their own to work alongside them • Described as 'dualism' or even 'polycratic chaos'

What were Gauleiters and Block Wardens?

Gauleiters – ran regions ('Gau') • Block Wardens – kept an eye on their block of flats/streets

What is 'cumulative radicalisation'?

'Working towards the Führer' made Nazi policies more and more extreme as people tried to please Hitler, the most extreme of all

Give four examples showing the range of opposition to the Nazis.

Anti-Nazi jokes were punishable by death • Absenteeism from work doubled between 1933 and 1939 • Blomberg and Fritsch were sacked from their defence roles in 1938 • The White Rose and von Stauffenberg were famous opponents during WWII

How did Nazi government change during the Second World War, and what were the key turning points?

It became more extreme and chaotic; the SS and the Gauleiters became more powerful • Turning points: Operation Barbarossa (invasion of the USSR) 1941, and the siege of Stalingrad 1942–43

What were the key events in Germany 1945–49?

Yalta and Potsdam Conferences • Germany split between the 4 Allied powers • Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan helped the west fight Communism • FRG established in 1949

What voting system did the Basic Law set up, and which parties did it help?

Half proportional representation, half first past the post • Parties with less than 5% of the vote got no seats in the Bundestag • This aided the two central parties, the CDU/CSU and the SPD

Which extremist parties were banned under the Basic Law, and when?

Socialist Reich Party (1952) and the Communist Party (1956)

Until when was Adenauer Chancellor, and what key decisions were taken?

Until 1963 • Equalisation of Burdens Act (1952) • Joining NATO (1955) • Pensions Act (1957)

What two controversies damaged Adenauer's later years as Chancellor?

1959 – he considered becoming President as well (which was illegal) • 1962 – Der Spiegel journalists were arrested after criticising the government

What was the Bad Godesberg programme (1959)?

The SPD's programme accepting capitalism – the SPD became much less left-wing after it

Who were the FRG Chancellors after Adenauer, in order?

Erhard (struggled) • Kiesinger (short-lived Grand Coalition) • Brandt and Schmidt (first SPD Chancellors) • Kohl (CDU) from 1982, after Schmidt lost a vote of no confidence

What opposition did the FRG face in the 1960s?

The APO and the SDS • 1967 protests against the Shah of Iran's visit, when Benno Ohnesorg was killed – a flashpoint • 80,000 protested in Berlin in 1968 against the Emergency Laws

What opposition did the FRG face in the 1970s and 1980s?

The Baader-Meinhof Gang and the Greens

What strict measures did the FRG government pass against opposition?

The Emergency Laws • The 1977 Law Banning Contact (restricting contact between imprisoned terrorists and the outside world)