The Weimar Republic 1918-29

• when did world war 1 start and end?

  1914-1918 (11th november)
• who ruled germany during world war 1?

  Kaiser Wilhelm ll
• what did most germans want at the end of the war?

  democracy
• which political party called for the kaiser’s resignation during a protest in berlin Nov 1918

  Social Democratic Party ( SDP)
• What was the kaisers reaction to the SPD call for his resignation?

  He resigned (abdicated) on 9th november 1918
• which two parties declared a republic after the kaiser resigned and when?

  Social Democratic Party and Independent Social Democratic Party. 9th November 1918.
• what is the definition of a republic

  A country ruled without a monarch and where the power is held by people via representatives
• What happened on the 10th of November 1918?

  All state leaders appointed by the monarchy left their posts and new revolutionary state governments took over.
• What is a state government?

  A government that ruled one of the 18 states Germany had. Dealt with local problems
• Who were the allies in World War I

  France, Britain and USA
• Which group of Germans didn’t support the armistice and why?

  Some rightwing Germans that sad it as a betrayal. They believed germany could still win
• Which Party’s did the temporary national government consist of?

  The SPD ( social Democratic Party) and USPD ( independent social Democratic Party)
• What was the ‘temporary national government‘ called

  The Council of People‘s Representatives
• Till when did the ‘Council of People’s Representatives‘ lead germany?

  January 1919
• What is the german word for parliament?

  reichstag
• Who was Germany’s first president?

  Friedrich Ebert
• Who was Germany’s Chancellor after the elections in January 1919?

  Philip scheidemann
• Which party did Ebert lead?

  The socialist democratic party (SPD)
• What could the President of the reorganised German government do?

  • choose the chancellor
  • Head of the army
  • Dissolve the reichstag and call new elections
  • Suspend the constitution
• How often is a new president elected?

  Every 7 years
• What is the reichstag?

  the new German parliament
• How are members of the Reichstag elected, how often?

  Using proportional representation every 4 years
• What is proportional representation?

  Where the proportion of seats a party wins in parliament is roughly the same as the proportion of the total votes they win
• What was the Reichsrat?

  Second house of parliament
• When did woman first get the right to vote in Germany?

  November 12th 1918
• When was the first election where women could vote in germany?

  19th January 1919
• What was the problem with proportional representation?

  it guaranteed parties that even got a very small amount of votes to get into the reichstag. This meant it was difficult to make decisions as there were so many parties
• What was the presidents ability to force through his own decisions knows as?

  Article 48
• When was the treaty of Versailles signed?

  June 1919
• Who signed the treaty of Versailles?

  Ebert
• Why was Ebert forced into signing the Versailles Treaty?

  Germany was too weak to risk restarting conflict
• What did article 231 of the treaty say?

  Germany had to take the blame for the war
• What did the treaty of Versailles do to Germanys army?

  -armed forces were reduced to 100,000 men

  -weren’t allowed any armoured vehicles aircraft’s or submarines

  -could only have 6 warships
• How much was Germany forced to pay in reparations?

  £6600 million
• what happened in January 1919 (communists)

  communists led by karl liebknecht and rosa luxembourg tried to take over berlin
• who took part in the march 1920 kapp putsch?

  the freikorps
• when could germany no longer meet the reparations payments

  1923
• what part of germany did france occupy

  Ruhr
• who introduced new currency to germany and what was it called

  stressemann- rentenmark
• what did stressemann become in november 1923

  the foreign minister