GCSE Weimar Germany flash cards edexcel

give 2 reasons why there was a high lack of support for democracy 1918-29

army openely disliked republic, army had lots of respect from german republic
dolchtoss

how did the republic creation mark change, what was the republic unfamiliar with and why

marked change of organisation and structure of power
unfamiliar with democracy- previously had limited power to pass or reject laws

when did kaiser Ebert announce the creation of Weimar republic

november 9th 1918

why was the creation of Weimar republic difficult

external pressure, unrest in country (due to defeat and treaty of versailles and abduction of kaiser)

what happened to germanys military under ToV

only allowed 100,000 men, conscription band, six battleships, no submarines no Air Force, no soldiers

What was Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles?

War Guilt Clause which forced the German nation to accept complete responsibility for initiating World War I.

what happened to germanys land under ToV

lost 10% of land, lost empire, coalfields

How many assassinations were there from 1919 to 21

376

When was the Spartacist uprising?

January 1919

What causes Spartacist uprising?

1919 karl leibnech and rosa luxembourg wanted to take over the weimar government and form a communist left wing

What happens in the Spartacist uprising and what was the goal?

Took over government newspaper aim to take over Germany as a communist country

How did the Spartacist uprising end?

kaiser Ebert ordered the Friekorps to go and stop the uprising and on 13th of January it stopped

16th of January Rosa luxembourg and karl leibnech were executed

the friekorps then joined the kapp putsch

who are the Friekorp?

Group of right wing nationalist ex- soldiers. They hate the treaty of versailles and feel that they never lost World War I.

When was the Kapp Putsch?

March 1920

how did the Kapp putsch happen?

march 20th

Freikorps, led by Wolfgang Kapp, wanted to form his own government dictatorship just like sparcisit but ‘better’ due to being disbanded and Fear of unemployment. 5000 of them marched in Berlin and put forward Kapp as politician and declared new government.

Ebert didnt like this but the army (friekorps) refused to fight against the kapp putsch so he told all of the public to not trust them and to go on strike.

why did the Kapp putsch happen?

Freikorps hated Weimar republic

how did the kapp putsch end?

old government fled. Within four days, a general strike by labour unions happened and the refusal by civil servants to follow Kapp's orders led to the collapse of the kapp putsch.

When was the Ruhr Crisis?

January 1923

how did the ruhr crisis start and why

Germany couldn't pay reparations in 1922 December. They failed to send ruhr coal to France

what happened first in the ruhr crisis

french and belgiuns sent troops to ruhr, to take payment in raw materials. the ruhr was a region in germany filled with resources such as factories. on the 11th jan 1923, 60,000 french takeover. the french and belgiums intended to use these resources to make up for unpaid reparations.

What were the events of the Munich Putch?

9th nov 1923 hitler, ludendorff and 1000 SA members march to munich, police are prepared because politician von kahr calls authorites on hitler. authorities kill 14 and hitler is arrested.

in the long run this is significant because the subsequent trial gave hitler alot of publicity.

hitler went to prison, where he wrote his book called mein kampf. millions of germans read it and hitlers ideas became very well known, which improved how the nazis looked.

how did Germany react to ruhr crisis and what did France do?

workers went on strike, ruhr production stops.
so French bring in their own workers (causes violence) and arrests them

How many soldiers did the French army have?

750,000

what did the ruhr crisis cause for Germany other than hyperinflation?

increase debts (more reparations to pay), unemployment, worsened shortages which caused people and children to starve.

how does the ruhr crisis and hyperinflation link?

Weimar Republic printed more money to pay strikers and make up for the loss of coal/iron however hypereinflation caused money to have no worth and a load of bread costed 2million marks

3 reasons munich putch failed

hitler failed to get army support,

lack of support from Kahr/lossow (prepared munich by calling the authorites)

no support of people

short term consequences of munich putch?

nazis banned,

hitler was prevented from doing any public speaking until 1927

hitler in jail and looks like a coward.

32 seats in 1924

why was hitlers trail positive for nazis?

national press (used to attack republic)

short prison time
hitler wrote the mein kampf which spread his ideas across the country

whats included in 25 point plan

1. all germans had to be born in germany to form a greater country

2. scrapping of the treaty of versailles (going against it)

   6. german citizens could vote

      8. all non germans who entered the country after 1914 were asked to leave

when did nazi party relaunch

1925

How did the price of bread change during hyperinflation?

One mark in 1919 to 200,000 billion marks in 1923 (hyperinflation)

What are the positives in the negatives of hyperinflation?

positives: owed money value decreases, workers do well ,wages increase
negatives: normal living impossible, mass poverty, starvation, bankrupt

when did Stresseman become chancellor?

August 1923

what were four things Stresemann did to fix economic problems and how?

1) Dawes plan 1924- reduced reparations to 50 million a year but would go on for longer to be easierly maintained. the annual pay would increase again when economy had improved. industry grows by 40%
2) introduces new currency- Rentenmark to end hyperinflation, once reset prices, replaced by Reichsmark, trusted currency
3) ends ruhr crisis
4) Young plan 1929, agreed more loans from the US and lowered reparations by 25%. the young plan was set to reduce the total amount of reparations demanded of germany to 121 billion gold makrs, almost 29billion dollara payable over 58 years

What is the Locarno Treaty?

1925 UK, France, italy and Belgium accepted new border and France promised peace. the treaties were initiated by lacarno, switz on october 16th and signed in london on decemeber 1st

what was signed in 1928 by Stresemann

Kellog Briand pact- peace talks.

germany was part of the 62 countries to sign it

was an agreement between countries to not use war as a method of ending international disputes.

what are the results to Stresemann actions?

germans happier with government,

restored national pride

europe see germany as respectable

how did work of stresseman bring stability to german politics

coalitions work together

decisions came to be made

Hindenburg as president 1925

people are happier

How many cinemas were there in the golden age?

3800 in 1932

how much did the nazis get of the vote in 1928 during the golden age

2% 12 seats

what were the negatives of the golden age

germany very reliant on the US loans/money "we are dancing on a volcano"

political parties did not co-operate well

divisions lead to weak governments and poor policy making.

Hindenburg was a right wing president supported the DNVP and insisted that they be include in coalitions.

What change was made for women during the golden age

Equal rights, fashion, smoking, drinking

how did wages and housing change during the golden age?

wages increased by 10% and hours drop
new houses built (750,000)
60% less homeless

When and how did the Wall Street crash happen?

ocotber 1929,

USA, asks for dawes loans back
causes serious economic problems

- great depression

germany suffered more than any other nation as a result of the recall of us loans, which caused its economy to collapse

unemployment rocketed

poverty soared and germany became desperate, they relied on US loands too much.

young people were the first to loose their jobs, middle and working class were the most affected, farmers fell more in debt

by 1932 unemployment reached 6 million individuals

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How much did the depression affect industrial production?

Fell by 40% by 1932

What else changed or was affected by the Great depression?

businesses collapse, trade stopped, unemployment rose, banks collapsed

How much did unemployment rise during the Great depression?

From 1,300,000 to 6,000,000

Why did people turn into the Nazis during Great depression?

unemployment benefits cut and tax increased so people lost faith in the Republic

what did the Nazis do to 'fix the economy'?

Offer bread and work and set up soup kitchens

How did the Great depression change Nazi votes?

people turned to politics which increased nazi popularity. seats went from 20 in 1928 to 230 seats in 1932

What happened to Germany's communist party during the Great depression

Gained votes from the working class

How did the rise of communism help the Nazis during the Great depression?

Hitler promised to destroy communism and use the SA to beat them up and disrupt meetings

gained support from the rich, who feared lands and profits being taken away

How many newspapers did the Nazis owned by 1930?

130

How did the SA help the Nazis?

They were intimidating, bigger army than the communists, bigger army than the German army, people liked the uniforms, SA intimidated people at polling stations

What was Germany situation like in 1932

Germany in chaos,
6 million unemployed
chaos on Streets
Germany on verge of collapse
coalitions always arguing
article 48 to use a lot

When was the Reichstag fire?

27th February 1933

why was the Reichstag fire a gift for Hitler?

He'd always promised, communist wanted to take over

What does Hindenburg give Hitler after the Reichstag fire?

The emergency decree
Germany becomes a police state
Hitler arrests, 4000 communists, shut down their newspapers and kill 51 opponents

When were the Nazis the second biggest party?

1932

How many times did Chancellor Bruning and Hindenburg use article 48 in 1932

66 times out of

Why did Nazi votes drop to 28% in November 1932

SA violence, worrying voters

What happened happened between May and November 1932

Bruning replaced by Von Papen as chancellor, (but has little support due to using article 48)
Nazi votes increased to 32% in July, but Hindenburg still doesn't want to make Hitler Chancellor

when is Von Scheichler made chancellor and is he any good?

December 1932 he has no support and uses article 48

what does Von Papen convince Hindenburg to do?

make Papen vice Chancellor and make Hitler Chancellor
give cabinet places to 2 Nazis

why does Papen think Hitler can be controlled?

Hitler is "sandwiched" between them and a "mouse"

When does Hitler become Chancellor?

30th January 1933

what were two things Hitler promised

To destroy the treaty of Versailles and fix the economy

How did German propaganda make Hitler appealing?

"our last hope" "one leader"

What did Hitler come in the 1932 president election?

2nd

What did Hitler offer to Germans?

unity

What happened in March 1933 elections and how did Hitler deal with it?

44% votes for Nazis, Hitler bans communists
forced reichstag to pass emergency degree

What was the national labour service?

All young men between the ages 18-25 years had to join for 6 months
Given jobs in public works like building schools,hospitals, and repairing roads

What was invisible unemployment?

official government figures showed unemployment was falling but did not include jews being forced out of jobs, women being dismissed, unmarried men under 25 doing labour service and opponents of the regime who were sent to concentration camps

When was the enabling act?

March, 1933

What did Hitler use the enabling act to do?

ban trade unions
July 1933 ban all political parties, except Nazis
set up his own peoples court
replace local councils with his own government

Who controlled Nazi propaganda?

Josef Goebbels

What groups did propaganda target?

Women workers, rich and right wing

Explain the role of the gestapo

Gustavo set up in 1933, with a Nazi secret police and very feared
they use torture, phone tapping, informers ect on enemies
they had no uniforms
could imprison you without trial over 160,000 arrested for political crimes

Explain the SS

personal of Hitle
r become intelligence, security and police of 240,000 Aryans under Himmler
nicknamed 'blackshirts', ultimate power to get rid of threats

What was the night of the long knives?

Hitler starts to fear the SA in 1934, orders the arrest of the SA on the niight of the 30th of June 1934
,SS arrests 400 SA leaders, some imprisoned , and others executed.
Hitler agreed to murder keep his powers.

When did Hindenburg die?

2nd August 1934, within hours Hitler combines role of president and chancellor to create "Fuhrer of the third Reich" and army swears an oath of loyalty

What was the German labour front?

Hitler banned all trade unions and replaced with DAF - strikes became illegal. Couldn't ask for higher wages working hours increased.

What was 'Strength through Joy'?

Provided workers with leisure activities such as theatre tickets and sports events, 10 million went on these holidays

What was the beauty of labour?

Campaigned to improve the facilities for workers e.g.better toilets and showers

Did the German workers benefit under the Nazis?

Yes- more people working, wages increase by 20%, workers got their 'bread and work' as promised
No- price of good rose by 20%, working hours increased

Explain the six ways that the Nazis used propaganda

1) rallies, 1934- 200,000 attended to see thousands of banners, 20,000 Nazi flags and 100 foot Nazi gold eagle
2) film, all films included 45 minute Nazi news
3)culture, the Reich chamber of culture ensured all followed to the Nazi message
4) newspapers, journalists were told what to write and anti-nazi papers were shut down
5) radio, 70% of homes had a Nazi radio
6) events, 1936 Olympics showed Aryan superiority, 33 gold medals and power (stadium biggest in the world)

What role did the Gestapo play within the Nazi police state?

Secret police spied on Germans tapped phones opened mail jail. Anyone arrested over 160,000 political crimes.

What was the peoples court?

court with Nazi judges who had swore a loyalty oath to Hitler

what was the concordat?

1933 Hitler made a truce with the Pope to not interfere with catholisism

Did Hitler break the Concord that? If so how?

Yes, 1937, 400 Catholics sent to concentration camps, Catholic schools closed and groups banned

Describe censorship

all anti-Nazi ideas were banned in 1933,
20,000 Jewish and communist books were burnt in the centre of Berlin.
Writers, films, artists could only produce pro Nazi arts
jazz music was banned
anti-nazi jokes were a crime

What was the Fuhrer Cult?

Showed Hitler as both a superman and man of the people

What was the conscription and rearement?

Breaking the treaty of versailles
army grew to 1.4 million by 1939
spending on arms went from 3.5 billion to 26 billion

What was public works?

Nazis plan to build 7000 miles of motorways to improve transport
spent 738 billion marks on schools and hospitals to create jobs

What were the results of the nazis work for unemployment

nazis announced unemployment had went from 4,800,000 to 300,000 by 1939

what were autobhans?

1933- motorways, 125000 men employed by 1935

What were the changes to German women's lives in Nazi Germany?

1) the mothers cross, rewarded an amount of children, for example 4: bronze medals
2) marriage loan, parents got to keep 250 marks for every child they had
3) Lebensborn, Aryan women 'donate' a child to the Furher by getting pregnant from an Aryan SS member
4) abortion and contraception was banned
5) sterilisation law, 1933 non-Aryan women couldn't have children

What were the results of the Nazi policies against women?

marriages increased by 21% between 1933 and 39
in 1936 there was over 30% more births than 1933

What did the Nazi set up in 1934

The German faith movement

What changed protestant churches?

The Reich church - all protestant churches were under Nazi control.
Bible replaced with mein kampf, swat sticker replaced cross , all old Testament Jewish teachings were removed.