AQA A-Level History - Democracy and Nazism: Germany, 1918-1945

When did the Kaiser abdicate?

9th November 1918

What were the three October Reforms?

Kaiser appointed Prince Max of Baden as Chancellor, Chancellor was to be responsible for the Reichstag and he established a new government based on majority parties in the Reichstag including the SPD, armed forces put under the control of the civil government

When did Prince Max write to President Wilson, requesting an armistice?

October 3rd 1918

Why did it take Wilson 3 weeks to reply?

Suspicious that the German High Command was using the request to buy time to regroup and prepare a new offensive

What were Wilson's three demands?

Demanded Germany must evacuate all occupied territory, call an end to submarine warfare and fully democratise its political system

How did the German people respond to the armistice?

Strikes in Friedrichshafen on 22nd October, naval mutiny in Wilhelmshaven on 28th October, mutinies in Kiel on 3rd November, spread to city and workers' and soldiers' councils had begun to spring up across Germany by 6th November

What happened on 8th November 1918?

A republic was proclaimed in Bavaria and the Bavarian monarchy was deposed

What did the SPD call on 9th November?

A general strike in Berlin

What else did the SPD warn about on 9th November?

Threatened to withdraw support from Prince Max's government if the Kaiser did not abdicate within 24 hours

How did Prince Max respond to the SPD's warnings?

Released a press statement on 9th November announcing that the Kaiser had abdicated

Who did Prince Max hand the title of Chancellor to?

Ebert

Who else announced the Kaiser's abdication?

Scheidemann (stood on the Reichstag balcony and declared that a Republic was now in existence)

What forced the Kaiser to abdicate?

General Groener told him the army would no longer fight for him

When was the armistice agreed?

11th November 1918

What was Ebert's priority after the armistice?

To organise elections for a Constituent Assembly

How did Ebert try to maintain left-wing control?

Made an agreement with Berlin workers' and soldiers' councils on 22nd November stating that the government only exercised power in the name of these councils

When was the Ebert-Groener Pact?

10th November 1918

What did the Ebert-Groener Pact state?

Army leadership would support the government so long as Ebert resisted the demands of the soldiers' councils to democratise the army and defend Germany against communist revolution

How did the struggle for power continue whilst Ebert's government prepared for elections for the Constituent Assembly?

6th December = Spartacist demonstration in Berlin fired on by soldiers, killing 16. 23-24th December = sailors' revolt against the government in Berlin put down by the army, three USPD ministers in the government resigned in protest. 6th January = Spartacist Rising

When were the elections for the Constituent Assembly held?

19th January 1919

Why did the assembly meet in Weimar instead of Berlin?

The political situation in the capital was still unstable in the aftermath of the January Revolution

Who was the first President of the Republic?

Ebert

Who led the new government?

Scheidemann

What parties were involved in the first coalition?

SPD, Centre, German Democratic parties

What did the workers' and soldiers' councils do?

Handed over their powers to the Constituent Assembly

What did the new Constitution represent?

A break from the autocratic constitution drawn up by Otto von Bismarck in 1871

What were the strengths of the Weimar Constitution?

Wider right to vote, system of proportional representation allowed small parties to win seats, full democracy in local and central government, set out the rights of the individual eg all Germans equal before the law and censorship forbidden, referendums could be called by the president

What were the weaknesses of the Weimar constituion?

Proliferation of smaller parties, coalition governments

What were the roles of the President?

Elected every 7 years, appointed and dismissed ministers and could dissolve the Reichstag and call elections, supreme commander of the armed forces, Article 48

What were the roles of the Chancellor?

Had to have support of at least half of Reichstag, proposed new laws

What was the Reichsrat?

Second chamber of parliament, made up of 67 representatives from 17 states, could provide advice on laws but could be overridden by Reichstag

What was the Reichstag?

Elected every four years, Chancellor and ministers responsible to the Reichstag, voted on the budget - new laws had to originate in the Reichstag and required the approval of a majority of deputies

What was Article 48?

Gave the President power to rule by decree in exceptional circumstances

How did the army remain undemocratic?

Officer corps allowed to continue intact into the new republic so the army was far from politically neutral, full force of military power often used against left-wing but conspirators from the right often supported by elements within the army, Hans von Seeckt believed the army owed loyalty to a timeless Reich that was the true expression of German nationhood

How did the civil service remain undemocratic?

Civil servants guaranteed their 'well-earned rights' and freedom of political opinion and expression so long as it did not conflict with their duty of loyalty to the state, government administration left in the hands of those who were anti-democratic. Senior civil servants still recruited overwhelmingly from the aristocracy

How did the judiciary remain undemocratic?

Article 102 guaranteed the independence of the judges, who were staunchly monarchist and anti-democratic, penal code of the Republic stipulated that anyone attempting to overthrow the constitution by force should be sentenced to life imprisonment, left-wing treated much more harshly than right

When did the Allies initially meet at Versailles?

January 1919

When were Germany allowed to see the terms of the treaty?

7th May 1919

When was the German government given 7 days to accept Versailles?

16th June 1919

How did many Germans regard Versailles?

As a Diktat

How much territory did Germany lose?

70,000km^2 (13%)

What territory was returned to France?

Alsace-Lorraine

What territory was returned to Belgium?

Eupen and Malmedy

How much of its iron ore did Germany lose?

75%

How much of its zinc ore did Germany lose?

68%

How much of its coal did Germany lose?

26%

How much of its arable land did Germany lose?

15%

How many men were allowed in the German army?

100,000

How many men were allowed in the German navy?

15,000

What was Germany forbidden from having/using?

Tanks, gas, submarines and an air force

What did Article 231 state?

Germany had to accept responsibility for starting the war

What was the final reparations total?

£6.6 billion

What else did Germany hand over to the Allies?

Its merchant shipping fleet, railway locomotives and rolling stock, patents and overseas investments

What happened to the Rhineland?

Demilitarised

What happened to the Saarland?

Placed under the League of Nation's control for 15 years, Germany would supply France, Belgium and Italy with free coal as part of the reparations agreement. France was free to exploit coal mines

What other terms of the Treaty of Versailles were there?

Anschluss was forbidden, Germany not allowed to join LoN, Kaiser and other Germans put on trial for war crimes

What were the common German objections to Versailles?

Germany had been denied national self-determination, 'war guilt' clause was unjust and humiliating, reparations would cripple the economy, German nationalists outraged by outlawing of nationalist groups and banning of German patriotic songs and festivals in French-occupied areas, disarming of Germany and exclusion from LoN seen as unjust discrimination

Why could it be argued that Germany should have expected Versailles to be harsh?

Wilson's Fourteen Points made territorial losses clear, would have been much harsher if Clemenceau had his way (would have extended the French border to the Rhine or annexed the Saar coalfields and created an independent Rhineland, and wanted a higher reparations total), did not punish Germans as severely as they had punished Russia in Brest-Litovsk, peace settlement on the Allies would have been just as harsh

How did pro-republican parties react to the Treaty of Versailles?

The SPD and its allies in government asked their main opponents in the DNVP, DVP and DDP to state that those who had voted for the treaty were not being unpatriotic. They also took the view that the most sensible course of action was to outwardly comply to the terms whilst negotiating modifications (policy of fulfilment). Ultimately, the treaty turned some (even former supporters) against the Weimar Republic

How did the right wing react to the Treaty of Versailles?

German nationalists could not accept the fact of Germany's military defeat, nor the establishment of a new republic. They labelled the politicians who had betrayed the Fatherland 'November Criminals' and their acts of betrayal formed the 'stab-in-the-back' myth, which was promoted by Ludendorff and Hindenburg. This myth was particularly appealing to ex-soldiers who suffered fighting for what they regarded as a noble cause and who had experienced insults and humiliation upon returning to Germany

What did some soldiers choose to do?

Some working class soldiers, who had been members of trade unions and supported the SPD, supported the new democratic system. Others gravitate towards the communists. However, those who could not adjust to civilian life and struggled to find employment gravitated towards the Freikorps and right-wing nationalist groups

How did Britain react to the Treaty of Versailles?

Lloyd George was given a rapturous reception from a large crowd upon returning to London, and British public opinion was satisfied that Germany had lost its overseas empire, along with its large fleet, and would be unable to threaten European peace for a generation. However, Lloyd George believed that Germany should not be so weak that it could not resist the expansion of the USSR. Many in Britain saw the French as vindictive and greedy and thought Germany had been treated unfairly, for example John Maynard Keynes, who stated that the level of reparations 'was one of the most serious acts of political unwisdom for which our statesmen have ever been responsible'

How did France react to the Treaty of Versailles?

The recovery of Alsace-Lorraine, demilitarisation of the Rhineland and payment of reparations were key French demands that had been met, however many in France regarded the treaty as too lenient and Clemenceau, who was blamed for making too many concessions, was defeated at the 1920 election. Marshal Foch expressed the widely-held view that 'this is not peace. It is an armistice for twenty years'

How did the USA react to the Treaty of Versailles?

Widespread opinion that the treaty was unfair and that Britain and France had used it to enrich themselves. Republicans in the American Congress opposed the treaty, leaving the USA to make a separate peace with Germany in 1921. The USA refused to join the LoN and, in the 1920s, retreated from involvement in European affairs

How did Germany fund the war effort?

Increased borrowing and printing more money

What was Germany's final war debt?

1.44 billion marks

What two options did the German government have to reduce national debt?

Raise taxes, which would risk alienating support for the new republic as the right would claim it was being used to pay reparations, or reduce spending, which was difficult as civil servants needed to be paid

How much had prices increased between 1918 and 1919?

Doubled

How much had prices increased between 1919 and 1920?

Quadrupled

How much higher were prices in 1920 compared to 1913?

14x

Why did the government allow inflation to go unchecked?

The 1920 coalition, led by Fehrenbach, was dominated by the Centre Party which was supported by many powerful industrialists. They were benefiting from inflation by taking short term loans from the central bank to expand their businesses, paying them back when the real value had been significantly reduced. Inflation also lessened the government's burden of debt

What was unemployment at by 1921?

1.8%, compared with nearly 17% in Britain

Why did Fehrenbach's cabinet resign?

In protest to what it considered to be excessively harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles

When was Germany granted its first postponement of reparations?

January 1922

What did Germany ask for in July 1922?

A further suspension of reparation payments due that year

What did Germany ask for in November 1922?

A loan of 500 million marks and to be released from its obligations for three to four years to stabilise currency

How did this lead to the occupation of the Ruhr?

The French were deeply suspicious that this was simply an excuse

What were the economic impacts of reparations?

Made the repayment of government debt more difficult, Germany's gold reserves were inadequate for the scale of the payments that had to be made in gold, Germany had lost a large part of its coal reserves, workers and manufacturers did not agree to payments in manufactured goods as regarded it as a threat to their jobs, allies hampered export trade by confiscating merchant fleet and imposing high tariffs on imports of German goods

When did France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr?

January 1923

How many men were sent to the Ruhr?

60,000, later increased to 100,000

What did the French and Belgians do in the Ruhr?

Took mines, factories, steelworks, railways, food from shops, set up machine-gun posts

What did Wilhelm Cuno call for?

Policy of passive resistance

How else did Germany attempt to disrupt the French occupation?

Paramilitary groups crossed the customs border and blew up railways, sank barges and destroyed bridges

How many Germans were expelled from the Ruhr?

150,000

How many Germans were shot during the occupation of the Ruhr?

132

What was productivity in the Ruhr like in May 1923?

Deliveries were only a third of the monthly average in 1922, output had fallen to around a fifth of pre-occupation

What impacts did the occupation of the Ruhr have?

Paying striking workers drained government finances, tax revenue lost from closed business and unemployed workers, had to import coal and pay for it using limited foreign currency reserves, shortage of goods pushed up prices

What impact did the hyperinflation crisis have?

Workers collected wages in baskets and wheelbarrows and tried to spend money immediately before prices rose, food shortages led to hoarding, breakdown of law and order, food riots and looting, gangs attempted to steal from farms, increase in theft convictions, people bartered possessions

How much did a kilo of bread cost in January, October and November 1923?

163 marks, 9 million marks, 233 billion

What social welfare reforms were introduced in 1919?

Working day limited to 8 hours, state health insurance system extended to include wives, daughters and the disabled, aid for immobilised war veterans became responsibility of national government and aid for war widows and orphans was increased

What social welfare reform was introduced in 1922?

National Youth Welfare Act required all local authorities to set up youth offices with responsibility for child protection and decreed that all children had the right to an education

Who were the winners of hyperinflation?

Black-markeeters, those with debts, mortgages or loans, enterprising businesses, those leasing property on long-term fixed rents, owners of foreign exchange/foreigners living in Germany, most farmers

Who were the losers of hyperinflation?

Pensioners, those who had patriotically lent money to the government in wartime b purchasing fixed interest rate 'war bonds', landlords reliant on fixed rents, unskilled workers, workers who did not belong to trade unions, artisans and small business owners (the Mittelstand), the sick, children

Why was it difficult to form stable coalitions?

Fragmentation of political parties became even more pronounced as German society became more divided and in times of social, political and economic crisis, society became more polarised and support for moderate parties ebbed away, with the more extreme parties on the left and right gaining support

How many coalitions were there between February 1919 and November 1923?

10

When was the Spartacist Uprising?

5th January 1919

Who led the Spartacist Uprising?

Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg

What happened in the Spartacist Uprising?

Newspaper offices and some public buildings were occupied

Why did the Spartacist Uprising fail?

Poorly prepared and poorly supported, as the Spartacists had not secured the support of the majority of the working class in Berlin, in whose name they claimed to be acting

When had the Spartacist Uprising been crushed by, and by who?

13th January by the Freikorps