A - Challenges to Weimar Germany

When was the Sparticist uprising

• January 1919

Causes of spartacist uprising

• Sparticists wanted to replace the capitalist government with local soviets and workers and now control Berlin.

• establish soviets in German towns and cities to replace central government 

Who led the Spartacus uprising

• Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht

what happened in the Spartacus uprising

• 50,000 workers went on strike and protested in the centre of Berlin.

• This demonstration was taken over by the Spartacist leadership. Newspaper and communication buildings were seized and the demonstrators armed themselves.

• The government, which had moved to Weimar to avoid the violence, employed the Freikorps to put down the rising.

How was the Spartacus uprising handled

• Defence minister: Gustav Noske ordered the army which was accompanied by the friekorpse to supress the uprising and leaders Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht where shot and 100 workers where killed

Consequences of spartacist uprising

• over 100 workers killed
• Karl liebknecht and rosa Luxembourg executed
• Communists and many WC developed a hatred of social democrats

When was the Kapp Putsch

March 1920

Causes of Kapp Putsch

• gov wanted to reduce army size and disband Freikorps

• Wolfgang Kapp believed in stab in the back myth. Lüttwitz (RW general) met with Ebert and demanded an end to demilitarisation, E refused

Events of Kapp Putsch

• freikorps marched on Berlin and occupied central government buildings.

• The german Army refused to fight the freikorps as they felt sympathy for their cause (von Seeckt remarked that “Reichswehr do not fire on Reichswehr”)

• Ebert and gov ministers fled Berlin

Reasons why the Republic survived the Kapp Putsch

• Kapp Putsch lacked popular support

• Ebert called general strike and Kapp couldn't effectively govern

• collapsed after 4 days

Consequences of the Kapp Putsch

•  most Putsch leaders fled to Sweden and those captured were treated leniently as judiciary conservative

How many right wing groups assassinated politicians in the years 1919 to 1922.

• 354

How many left wing groups assassinated politicians in the years 1919 to 1922.

• 22

Of the 354 right-wing assassins how many were found guilty and punished

• 28

• none executed 

In total, how many years were right-wing assassins given in prison

• 90 years

of the 22 left-wing assassins, how many were sentenced to death?

• 10

How many left-wing assassins went unpunished

• 4

How many left-wing assassins received life sentences

• 3

In total, how many years were left-wing assassins given in prison

• 250 years

Threat of extreme right: What % of the vote did the DNVP have in 1920? What did this lead to?

• 15.1%. largest right-wing party in the Reichstag 1920.

• They joined the Weimar coalitions between 1923-28.

Threat of extreme right: How many small anti - Semitic racist parties were there in the 1920's.

• 70

When was the Munich Putsch?

• November 1923

Causes of the Munich putsch

• hitler believed that late 1923 was the right time to seize power due to economic and military crisis in Germany, there have been the invasion of the Ruhr and hyperinflation.

• hitler planned a national revolution and the army in Munich and Bavaria would back it he planned to gain support of the freikorps on the way to Berlin.

• Would make Ludendorff president and himself chancellor