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Description
Flashcards by Natalia Cliff, updated more than 1 year ago
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Created by Natalia Cliff
over 7 years ago
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| Question | Answer |
| The Treaty of Versailles: Creation | -11th November 1918 two days after the Kaiser's abdication, the armistice was signed -David LLoyd George, Georges Clemenceau and Woodrow Wilson wrote the TofV -Germans were given 15 days to respond to the treaty -Germans hated the Treaty, it was a Diktat, they had no say -Asked for several changed but all were refused -28th June 1919 treaty was signed |
| The Treaty of Versailles: Terms | -Lost all 11 foreign colonies -Alsace and Lorraine went to France -Eupen and Malmedy went to Belgium -Posen and West Prussia went to Poland, Germany cut in two -Output of Saar coalfields to go to France for 15 years -Overall lost 13% of European territory, 50% of iron and 15% of coal reserves -Reparations was a blank check, eventually set in 1921 at £6.6 bn -Army limited to 100 000 men -No air force or submarines -Rhineland demilitarised -Navy limited to 6 cruisers, 6 battleships, 12 destroyers, 12 torpedo boats -Article 231, the war guilt clause, meant Germany had to accept the blame for starting the war -Weren't allowed to join the League of Nations until they had proved themselves a peace loving country |
| The Treaty of Versailles: Reaction | -Very unpopular, partially because Germans believed their army had never been defeated -Propaganda to the very end, and even Ebert greeted the returning troops telling them that no enemy defeated you -Started the Dolchstosslegende that politicians had stabbed the army in the back -Politicians who signed it were known as the November Criminals -Weakened the popularity of the Weimar government -Caused lasting political protest -Harmed the German economy |
| Weimar Constitution: Formation | -Ebert formed a group of 6 Moderate Social Democrats (SPD) who organised the elections for the National Assembly -National Assembly met in February 1919 to create a new constitution -So much unrest in Berlin had to meet in Weimar, hence called the Weimar government -August 1919 had the constitution |
| Weimar Constitution | -All Men and Women over 20 could vote -Proportional representation meant that there were lot's of small parties in the government, leading to large coalitions that found it hard to decide on anything -Article 48 president could temporarily suspend the constitution and rule by decree |
| Ebert as President | Carefully gained support of powerful groups in society: -Promised General Groener (head of army) no reforms of the army -Promised Hugo Stinnes (industrialists leader) that private businesses wouldn't be nationalised -Promised Karl Legien (Trade Union leader) a maximum 8-hour working day |
| German Politics: Nationalist Parties | -Resented the Weimar Republic's Social democrats who had 'abandoned' the army -Hated the communists who had undermined the Kaiser withs strikes -Feared communists would damage their property and German traditions -Wanted to reverse the TofV, reinstate the Kaiser, boost the army and return Germany to it's former strength -Gained support from military, judiciary, and civil service who opposed giving ordinary people the power in the WR |
| German politics: KPD | -German Communist party -Wanted a revolution in Germany like the one in Russia in 1917 -Thought the WR gave too little power to workers -Wanted a government run by a counsel of workers of soldiers -Wanted to abolish the power of land-owning classes and the military |
| German politics: Support for Extreme Parties | German people were unhappy about: -The decision to stop fighting in 1918 -1919 TofV -Hardships caused by unemployment and inflation This caused more people to support extreme left-wing or right-wing parties from 1918 to 1923 |
| German politics: Violence | A lot of parties had their own private armies due to the large amounts of resentful, unemployed soldiers |
| Freikorps | -Demobalised soldiers who had refused to give back their arms after the war -March 1919 were 250 000 -Sometimes took the law into their own hands -Matthias Erzberger who had signed the armistice was murdered -From 1919 to 1922 376 political murders, predominantly left wing or moderate -However, not a single right-wing murderer was convicted and executed, but 10 left wing were -Because the Judiciary was extremely right wing |
| Spartakus Uprising | -Winter 1918-1919 -Set up a central Council of Commissars which claimed to be the real new government as supposed to Ebert's -Main communist leaders were Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht -6th January 1919 100 000 communists demonstrated in Berlin and took over key buildings like newspaper offices |
| Spartakus Uprising: Government's Response | -Reichswehr was in no shape to deal with it alone -Turned to the Freikorps for help -Several thousand communist supporters were arrested or killed -Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht were arrested and then murdered -Made the WR seem weak |
| Kapp Putsch | -1920, 5000 right wing supporters of Dr. Wolfgang Kapp marched on Berlin to overthrow the WR and reinstate the Kaiser -The Reichswehr refused to move against them -Government was forced to move to Dresden -Asked the workers to go on strike -Many obliged, they were more socialist and had no desire to see the Kaiser return -Without essential services the Putsch ground to a halt -Only made the WR seem weak again |
| Invasion of the Ruhr: Causes | -German Government was Bankrupt -Gold reserves had been spent on the war -Treaty of Versailles gave away much of Germany's wealth-earning areas -On top of this had to pay reparations -Asked for reductions, but victors needed money to repay their war debts -1923 couldn't pay anymore |
| Invasion of the Ruhr | -France sent troops into the German industrial Ruhr to take the money for themselves -Confiscated raw materials, machinery and manufactured goods -German government urged passive resistance, workers went on strike -French arrested those who obstructed them and brought in their own workers -Germany's reduced 100 000 man army was no match for Frances 750 000 troops -Didn't do France much good -80% of German coal, iron and steel was based there -Germany now had less income and had to pay striking workers |
| Invasion of the Ruhr: Consequences | -Shortages led to inflation -1919-1923 German income was 1/4 of what was needed, so they printed the rest -1923 had 300 paper mills and 2000 printing shops just to print money -Made it easier to pay reparations at first, but was a vicious cycle |
| Hyperinflation: Shortages | -Everyone suffered from shortages because German Mark became worthless compared to foreign currency -Foreign suppliers refused to accept marks so import dried up -1918 £1 was 20 Mark -1923 £1 was 20 billion Mark |
| Hyperinflation: Buying Goods | -1919 a loaf of bread was 1 mark -1920 a loaf of bread was 100 mark -1923 a loaf of bread was 200 000 bn mark -Even if wages went up, had to carry bundles of money in baskets, even wheelbarrows -Many workers were paid twice a day, so they could rush out and buy bread before prices rose even further -Some suppliers refused to accept money and wanted to swap goods |
| Hyperinflation: Savings | -People with money in bank accounts, insurance policies of pensions were hit the hardest as it all became worthless over night -Those affected were mainly the middle class -Middle class should have been the strongest supporters of the WR |
| Hyperinflation: Benefits | -Benefited the upper class whose wealth was stored in assets -Those who had borrowed heavily benefited -Foreign visitors benefited as the value of their own currency rose |
| Hyperinflation: Solution | -August 1923 Gustav Stresemann became chancellor -November 1923 cancelled the old mark and introduced the Rentenmark -Stopped passive resistance -Highly unpopular, but was what needed to be done -Voted out of being Chancellor soon, but became foreign Minister -However, many Germans had suffered and blamed the WR -Middle Class suffered most and they should have been the Bedrock support for the WR |
| Munich Putsch: The Nazi Party | -55 000 party members, mostly from around Munich -Impressive figureheads like Hermann Goering, a wealth hero of the German Air Force -Private army of the SA (Sturmabteilung) |
| Munich Putsch: Causes | -1923 Hitler launched the Putsch as he thought he would gains support from all over Germany because: -Many people were angered by the French occupation of the Ruhr and wanted a strong government that would stand up for itself -Hyperinflation caused economic suffering causing people to resent the WR that seemed powerless to stop it |
| Munich Putsch: Events | -8th November 1923 meeting of 3000 officials of the Bavarian Government in a beer hall -3 main speakers were right wing sympathisers -von Kahr, head of Government -von Seisser, head of Police -von Lossow, head of Army -Hitler burst in with 600 SA, fired a shot in the ceiling and announced he was taking over -Threatened with pistols, von Kahr, von Seisser and von Lossow agreed to support the uprising |
| Munich Putsch: Defeat | -Next morning heard that they had changed their mind -SA only had 2000 rifles, far fewer than local police and army -sent 3000 supporters to key locations supported by SA -Marched into town center to declare Hitler President but met by police who opened fire -14 Hitler supporters and 4 police died -Hitler arrested |
| Munich Putsch: Trial | -Hitler was found guilty of treason and sent to prison for 5 years -NSDAP and it's newspaper banned -Punishment was lenient because he wasn't a real threat -Failed to take control of police, army and communications in Berlin -Failed to gain support of key politicians -Failed to get support of police and army -Only served 9 months and refounded the NSDAP in 1924 -Wrote Mein Kampf in Prison |
| Stresemann: Dawes Plan | 1924 -Suggested by an American Banker named Dawes -Annual reparations reduced to a affordable amount -US banks would give loans to German industry -Industrial output doubled from 1923-28 -Imports and exports increased -Employment went up -Government income from taxation improved -Fragile German economy now depended on US loans -Some political parties resented it due to reparations |
| Stresemann: Locarno Pact | 1925 -Treaty between Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Belgium -Germany agreed to keep it's 1919 borders -Allied troops left Rhineland -France promised peace with Germany -Open talks about Germany joining the League of Nations agreed on -Germany was being treated as an equal, not dictated to -Some political parties resented it due to borders of the TofV |
| Stresemann: League of Nations | September 1926 -Germany joins the League of Nations -Another step towards German's equality with other countries -Some political parties saw the League as a symbol of the hated TofV though |
| Stresemann: Yound Plan | 1928 -Reduced total reparations from £6.6 bn to £2 bn -Germany was given a further 59 years to pay -Reduced the annual amount Germany had to pay -Made it possible to lower taxes which released spending power to boost the German economy -Annual payments were still £50 million though, and reparations now went on until 1988 |
| Stresemann: Kellogg-Briand Pact | August 1928 -Germany and 61 other countries signed it -promised not to use war to achieve foreign policy aims -Sign of better relations with France and the US -Showed that Germany was a respected member of the International community |
| Stresemann: Stabilising the Republic | -1925 Ebert replaced by Hindenburg who was a popular former field marshall, giving the WR a strong figurehead -Stresemann had done a lot to stabalise the WR -Reduced reparations, improved currency and restored economic stability -Improved relations with France, US and international community -Regained support of moderate political parties and public opinion |
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