CIE IGCSE History - Weimar Republic

original condition for armistice at the end of WW1 (offered by allies)

abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II

when was the german revolution?

1918-19

how did the Kaiser react to this condition?

he refused

Kiel October 1918

sailors mutinied in response to the Kaiser’s refusal to abdicate

what did the Kiel mutiny lead to?

Socialist uprisings all over the country - Bavaria was taken over as the socialist republic

when did the Kaiser abdicate?

he abdicated and fled to the Netherlands on the 9th November 1918

which party take over Germany on 10th November 1918?

Social Democrats

original leader of the social democrats and assumed position

Frederich Ebert - Chancellor of Germany

when was the WW1 armistice signed?

11 November 1918

what nickname did the social democrats receive as a result of signing the armistice?

November Criminals

what was the new republic called and why?

Weimar Republic - set up in small town of Weimar instead of Berlin as it was too unstable

when was the first set of elections in Weimar?

January 1919

Who was elected president?

Ebert

when was the Weimar constitution signed into law?

August 1919

what roles did the president have?

head of state, supreme commander of the army, chose chancellor

when was the president elected?

every 7 years

article 48

meant that the president could suspend the constitution in an emergency, and pass laws and keep chancellor in office without consulting the Reichstag

what was the chancellor?

equivalent of UK prime minister - member of the Reichstag and was chosen by the president, needed support of the Reichstag, had a 4-year term

what roles did the chancellor have?

responsible for policy and everyday government

what was the Reichstag?

lower house of parliament made up of elected representatives

when was the Reichstag elected?

every 4 years

what voting system did Weimar use?

proportional representation

who could vote in Weimar?

everyone over the age of 20 - universal suffrage

what did the Reichstag do?

made laws

what regional government system did Germany use?

federal - each state had its own devolved government

What was the Reichsrat?

the upper house of parliament made up of representatives of each state

economic consequences of war - post war food production

only 50% of milk and 60% of butter and meat were produced in 1918 compared to before the war

economic consequences of war - death

nearly 300,000 people died of starvation and hypothermia in 1918

economic consequences of war - national income

national income was 1/3 of 1913 level

economic consequences of war - industrial production

industrial production was 2/3 of 1913 levels

economic consequences of war - war pensions

there were 600,000 widows and 2 million fatherless children left by the war - in 1925 1/3 of the state budget had to go on war pensions

social consequences of war - living standards

there were huge gaps in the living standards of the rich and the poor

social consequences of the war - factory workers

German factory worker’s wages had been capped but factory owner’s hadn’t - public anger

social consequences of the war - ex-soldiers

1.5 million disillusioned soldiers had to be reintegrated into society

what was the ‘stab in the back’ myth

the theory that the German army had been stabbed in the back by politicians and could have gone on fighting for longer - especially refers to the ‘heroic’ field marshal Hindenburg

general public opinion of the Weimar republic

• angry about the loss of national pride

• angry about the poor living conditions

• glad everyone allowed to vote

left wing opinion of the Weimar republic

• wanted revolution to go further than the Weimar republic - wanted a full communist revolution

• liked proportional representation and universal suffrage

right wing opinion of the Weimar republic

• angry about the loss of the Kaiser and the war - believed in the stab in the back myth and the concept of the November criminals

• glad as they still had lots of influence - held many positions of power in army, judiciary, civil service

• disliked democracy of Germany

who were the spartacists?

they were left wing revolutionaries, part of the main group called the Spartacus league

they had originally been part of moderate German socialists but split when they began to support the war (1914)

what did the Spartacists want in Weimar?

a full communist revolution, like the Russian revolution, that would go further than just removing the Kaiser

who were the leaders of the Spartacists?

Rosa Luxembourg (and Karl Liebnecht)

what the Spartacists disagree about?

how to achieve a communist revolution - RL wanted to wait until the workers stopped supporting Weimar, but others wanted to try right away while Berlin was unstable

whose support did the SD’s enlist to deal with communists?

Army and the Freikorps (ex-soldier paramilitaries) - right wing

what happened on 5th January 1919?

the spartacists captured the headquarters of the Government’s newspaper and telegraph bureau

how was the uprising crushed?

on the 10 January the Freikorps took over the Spartacists head quarters and had fully crushed the uprising by the 15th January

death tolls during the Spartacist uprising

100 Spartacists, 13 Freikorps

who was murdered during the Spartacist uprising?

Rosa Luxembourg and Karl Liebnecht

punishment for RL and KL murderers

one was acquitted, the other served a few months for attempted manslaughter

result of RL and KL murders

spartacist movement could not recover

why did the Spartacist uprising fail?

it was badly prepared and did not have enough support

aftermath of the Spartacist uprising

Freikorps crushed many more left-wing uprisings and killed thousands of supporters -undermined role of Social Democratic government - also meant they had to trust the volatile Freikorps

why did the right wing dislike Ebert’s government?

they credited them with damaging Germany’s pride and economy through the treaty of versailles

where did the German government move back to before the Kapp Putsch?

Berlin

why did the German government try to disband the Freikorps?

the allies were worried about their power and instructed the Government to

what was the trigger of the Kapp putsch?

the attempted disbandment of the Freikorps

what were the aims of the Kapp Putsch?

• to reinstate the power of the Army to repair Germany’s image

• to remove politicians credited with (in their eyes) stabbing Germany in the back

• restore the world power of Germany and fight back against the treaty

What was the Kapp Putsch?

an attempt, in March 1920, by Freikorps units led by Wolfgang Kapp to take over Berlin- they marched in and declared a new Government - there was no army resistance

how did the Government respond to the Kapp Putsch?

appealed to the workers for help and called a major general strike which shut down public services - this meant that the putsch collapsed

why did the Kapp putsch fail?

it failed due to a lack of public support and because they could not set up a new government

outcome of the Kapp Putsch

meant that the Government could no longer rely on the army/Freikorps for support

showed political instability in Germany - government had to flee to Dresden as a result of the Putsch

what was the Ruhr occupation?

it was when French and Belgian troops occupied the Ruhr industrial region of Germany as a result of Germany being unable to pay reparations payments

what raw material did the French and the Belgians want from the Ruhr?

They wanted coal due to shortages

how did Germans respond to the Ruhr occupation?

they refused to have anything to do with French/Belgian troops and refused to work - known as passive resistance

why did this policy make the German government very poor?

They kept paying the wages of the workers - estimated that they paid about 60-100% of wages

what did the Germany government do as a result of not being able to pay for passive resistance?

they printed lots and lots of paper money - more than they had gold

what did this excessive money printing result in?

the value of money decreasing rapidly and prices increasing rapidly - hyperinflation

effects of hyperinflation

many people - even those from upper/middle classes were thrust into poverty, and pensions and savings became worthless

what roles did Gustav Stresemann have?

Chancellor of Germany - August to November 1923, Foreign Minister November 1923-1929

what did Stresemann do immediately to try and combat hyperinflation?

called off the policy of passive resistance

how did right-wing extremists receive this decision?

they were very angry as they thought of this as a betrayal

how did Stresemann stabilise the German economy?

he brought in a temporary currency on 15th November 1923 (after Munich Putsch) - the Rentenmark, and then after the value of money stabilised a new, permanent currency (the Reichsmark) was brought in

what was the Dawes plan?

A loan of 800 million marks given to Germany by the USA which helped to stabilise the economy

When did all troops withdraw from the Ruhr by?

August 1925

what were the aims of the Munich putsch?

• to overthrow the Weimar republic and take over Germany

• to regains Germany’s pride and stop the pattern of succumbing to France

what did Hitler want to do in the Munich Putsch?

replicate Mussolini’s march from Naples to Rome by overtaking Bavaria, then Berlin

what was the Munich Putsch?

on the 8/9th November 1923, Hitler’s Nazi Party launched an attempted revolution in Munich - Hitler forced the political leaders of Bavaria to agree to his putsch plan - they tried to take over Government buildings in Munich

how was the Munich putsch crushed?

it was easily crushed by the army and the police (who felt compelled to act as the Government had deposed left-wing state Governments to please them) - 16 Nazis were killed

why did the Munich putsch fail?

• did not have public support - public anger had subsided due to Stresemann’s work as Chancellor

• did not actually have the support of the Bavarian government

• did not have the support of the police

outcome of the Munich putsch

although it failed, it meant Hitler and his party gained lots of recognition and support - partly through Hitler’s trial

successes of the Weimar economy 1924-29

• in 1924 Germany was lent 800 million marks through the Dawes plan which helped the economy to stabilise and recover

• in 1928 industrial production passed WW1 levels

• agreements were made over reparations and all troops withdrew from the Ruhr by 1923

limitations of the Weimar economy 1924-29

• Dawes plan was unstable - the loans could be withdrawn whenever

• Unemployement was still rising overall - the growing economy could not create enough jobs

• Great depression in 1929 - Dawes plan loan withdrawn and 25% unemployed

successes of Weimar politics 1924-29

• the Social Democrats always won the most votes in elections which suggests support for the Weimar republic

• in 1928 the moderate MPs won 136 more seats than all other parties

• in 1928 the Nazis only had 2.6% of the votes

limitations of Weimar politics 1924-29

• due to proportional representation no party ever won a majority so unstable coalitions formed and some only lasted for very short periods of time

• in 1925 Hindenburg was elected president - he was right wing and opposed Weimar - shows German public support for Weimar is weak

successes of Weimar foreign policy 1924-29

• in 1925 the treaties of Locarno were signed with Belgium, France and Italy which guaranteed placement of German frontiers with France and Belgium - international stability

• in 1926 Germany joined the league of nations and was given a permanent council seat

• in 1929 the Young plan was signed which finalised agreements on reparations - all troops were withdrawn from the Rhineland

limitations of Weimar foreign policy 1924-29

• no guarantees were given over Germany’s Eastern frontiers - cause of concern as many Germans were angry about land loss in this area from the treaty

• Germans made citizens of other countries as a result of the treaty were not given self-determination

successes of Weimar culture 1924-29

• cabaret - lots of nightlife in Berlin, taboos over sexuality and homosexuality dissipated - much more freedom of expression and fashion, there were famous transvestite balls were genders swapped clothes and danced together

• theatre - moved from earlier, classical styles to more modern, realist styles which confronted social issues - e.g. ‘The Salesman of Berlin’ which discussed hyperinflation and WW1

limitations of Weimar culture 1924-29

• modern developments away from conservative ideals were not well received by right wing critics - thought traditional German values were being undermined

• culture mainly developed in Berlin - these developments were not shared by the rest of Germany and Berlin was viewed as corrupt