The development of Dictatorship: Germany 1918-45; - Unit 1: The establishment of the Weimar Republic and its early problems 1918-23. Key terms + dates?

Republic

A country in which power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected president rather than a monarch.

Constitution

A set of rules which sets out how a country is to be run.

Democracy

Rule by the people.

Establishment

When something is set up or created.

Abdication

When a monarch resigns, or steps down.

Treaty of Versailles

Am International agreement which brought WW1 to an end.

Right and Left

Terms which describe the ideas of political parties.

Kaiser

The German King or Emperor.

Revolution

This happened towards the end of World War One and saw the removal of the Kaiser and the creation of Germany as Republic.

Weimar Republic

The period in German history from 1919 to 1933 is commonly referred to as this. Berlin as the capital was considered too dangerous for the new government to meet because of its street rioting after the 1918 German Revolution.

Putsch/ uprising

An attempt to overthrow a government.

Political

This is to do with government, laws and who has power.

Ruhr

An important industrial area of Germany.

Hyperinflation

When prices rise to very high levels very quickly.

Causes

The reasons for something; the factors that explain why it happens.

Effects

The consequences or results of something.

Reichstag

The German parliament.

Proportional Representation

A voting system in which the number of seats each party gets in parliament is in proportion to their votes in the election.

President

The head of state. Elected by the people every 7 years. Has no say in the day to day running of the country.

Chancellor

Appointed by President. The leader of the largest party in the Reichstag Chooses ministers. In charge of the day to day running of the country.

Coalition

This is when two or more political parties compromise and form an agreement to make a government.

Kiel

The base of the Germany navy.

Insubordination

When sailors and soldiers refuse to follow orders and refuse to fight.

An armistice

An agreement that stops the fighting in a War.

Stab in the back

The theory that politicians who had ended the War were traitors who had betrayed Germany.

Article 48

Part of the Weimar Constitution which allowed the President to pass laws without Reichstag approval, in an emergency.