GCSE Weimar Nazi Germany (copy)

questions begin from the end of ww1

When was the Armistice signed?

11 November 1918

Who led Germany during World War 1?

Kaiser Wilhelm II

Who devised the 14 points?

Woodrow Wilson

What was the 14 points?

A basis of what the peace treaty should be like

What is a coalition government?

A government of 2 or more parties

What was the party who won the most votes in the first election of the Weimar Republic?

SPD - Social Democratic Republic

Who was the first president & Who was the first Chancellor of the Weimar Republic?

Freidrich Ebert & Phillip Scheidermann

What was the Reichstag?

The parliament where the members were elected every 4 years

Name two powers the president had

• Selection of the chancellor

• Use of article 48 to rule without the Reichstag in times of trouble

Who could vote in the elections in Germany after 1919?

Men and Women over the age of 20

What was the Proportional Representation?

When the numbers of votes won in an election, determines the number of seats

Why was Proportional Representation a problem?

Produced a large amount of different parties that led to it being difficult to gain a majority in the Reichstag

The big 3 who decided the Treaty of Versailles were…

• Woodrow Wilson

• David Lloyd George

• Georges Clemenceau

Who was determined to punish Germany severly and why?

France, as they experienced the worst of the fighting and destruction of WW 1

What is article 231?

The War Guilt Clause

What land did Germany lose as a result of the Treaty of Versailles?

• All colonies

• Alsace-Lorraine to the French

• Saar controlled by the League of Nations

• Polish corridor to the Poland

Give example of the military terms of the Treaty of Versailles

• Army limited to 100,000 men

• No tanks, armoured cars, aircrafts or submarines

• Rheinlands to be demilitarised

What are Reparations?

Payments made to the Allies for the cost of war £6.6 billion

What was the Dolchstoss theory?

The government were accused of stabbing the military in the back by signing the peace treaty

Who resigned as a result of the Diktat?

Chancellor Phillip Scheidermann

Why did unrest spread in Germany from 1919 - 1923?

• Forced democracy

• Food Shortages due to the British Navel blockade

• Beginning of inflation

• Impact of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia

Why did the new army agree to support the new government in late 1918?

Fear of a possible revolution

Who led the Spartacist uprising?

Karl Leibknecht & Rosa Luemburg

When was the Spartacist Uprising?

January 6th 1919

Who were the Freikorps?

Private armies of ex-soldiers set up at the end of ww1 by Senior German Army Officers

Why did the Freikorps join Wolfgang Kapp and revolt in the 1920s?

The Weimar goverment announced measures to reduce the army and disband the Freikorps

Where were the Government forced to move to as a result of the Kapp Putsch?

Dresden then Stuttgart

Why did the Kapp Putsch fail?

Trade unions and civil servants supported the government

What is the German name for an army?

Reichswehr

Who led the Munich Putsch in November 1923?

Adolf Hitler

Why did the French invade Ruhr in 1923?

The Germans failed to make the reparation payments of £100 million

What did the Weimar Government do to pay the workers in Ruhr?

They printed more money

What was passive resistance?

Opposing those in power by not co-operating e.g. working slowly

Why did the people of Germany unite against the French?

Protests turned violent and resulted in the French using violence against protesters and shooting strikers

What is Hyperinflation?

Extremely high inflation where the value of money plummets and becomes almost worthless

Who suffered most - people with savings or people with a fixed income?

both

Why did Hyperinflation benefit farmers?

Food shortages led to higher food prices which helped farmers

Why did Hyperinflation benifit businessmen?

If they borrowed money form the bank they could pay off their debts

Who became chancellor in 1923 for 102 days and then foreign minister & steadied the ship

Gustav Stresemann

What did Stresemann do to stop Hyperinflation?

• Introduced in the Rentenmark

• Gained loans form the USA

The main person responsible for the German recovery and the currency introduced to stop Hyperinflation?

Gustave Stresemann & Rentenmark

What was the Dawes Plan of 1924?

• Reorganisation of Germany’s reparation payments

• Gave USA a loan of 800 million gold marks

What was the Young Plan of 1929?

• Reduced reparation fees by 50%

• Gave Germany 59 years to pay

Why was the economic recovery unstable?

It depended on the USA & the loans used to rebuild the economy

What was the Locarno Pact of 1925?

Confirmed the borders between Germany & France/ Belgium

What was the name of the pact from 1928, where 65 countries agreed not to go to war with eachother?

The Kellogg-Briand Pact

What year did Germany join the Leauge of Nations?

1926

Who was the main political party in the Reichstag during this time?

Social Democrat Party (SPD)

Examples of how culture changed in Germany, due to economic prosperity

• Women became independant, wore make-up, smoked, working

• Film & Theatre included more liberal themes

  • Literature and (left & right-wing) Politics developed

How popular were the Nazi’s during this time?

There was very little support for extremist parties

e.g. the Nazi party only won 12 seats in the 1928 election

Events of the Reichstag fire

• 27th Feb 1933

• Reichstag building supposedly burned down by Dutch Communist - Van der Lubbe

How did Hitler use the Reichstag fire to his advantage?

• Hitler convinced Hindenburg to pass the ‘Law for the Protection of the State’

• Over 4000 communitsts were arrested by the police

What was the Enabling Act?

Passed on 24th March 1933, the power to pass laws without going through the Reichstag or President - overruling the Weimar Constitution

What did the Centre Party agree to support?

The Nazi’s agreed to respect the rights of the Catholic Church

What groups did the Nazi’s ban after the Enabling act was passed?

• Trade Unions

• Communists

• All other political parties

The Night of Long Knifes

• 29-30th June 1934

  • Hitler removed any rivals to his power throught the arrest and execution of 100+ SA leaders

Why was HItler worried about the SA?

Hitler had become increasingly concerned about the power of Ernest Rohm and the SA

How did the Night of Long Knives gain the support of the Army?

The army did not like the SA as;

• they wanted to become the main military force

• they were thought they were violent thugs

What happened on the 2nd August 1934?

President Hindenburg died, resulting in Hitler gaining total control & the German Army swore allegiance to him personally

What position did Hitler create for himself?

Fuhrer - leadership position, merging the roles of Chancellor and President

What is a police state?

People could not critisise the government by law;

People were terrified of being arrested and trials were unfair

What was the SS?

Led by Himmler, with loyalty to Hitler - they controlled the Concentration Camps

What was the Gestapo?

Secret Police force - that had the power to tap into phones and read mail, worked with a netwrok of informers who would report on their neighbours, family and friends

What was the Concordat?

An agreement between Hitler and the Pope, agreeing to leave the Catholic Church alone

The name of the Organisation set up by protestant supports of the Nazi Party?

Reich Church

Who were teenagers that were influenced by American Jazz music?

Swing Youth - accused by Nazis of being un-patriotic

Who were the teenagers who hated Nazi control over their lives?

Edelweiss Pirates

What was the White Rose movement?

University Students that handed out leaflets spreading Anti-Nazi messages. Their leaders ended up being arrested and executed

What was the name of the failed bomb plot to kill Hitler?

Stauffenberg Bomb Plot (July Bomb Plot)

How did the Nazis control newspapers?

Newspapers were only allowed to print stories in support of Nazis, with outlets that refused being forced to close down

How did the Nazi’s use radio to maintain control?

Nazis took over all radio broadcasting so they could reach a mass audience and produced cheap radios that couldn’t pick up foreign broadcasts