A Level History: Germany: Weimar Germany

• What were the 3 key events of 1918?


  -Ludendorff admitted war was lost (October)-Kaiser abdicated and Republic declared (9 November)-Armistice declared, ending WW1 (11 November)
• What were the 2 key events of 1919?


  -Spartacist (Communist) uprising in Berlin crushed (January)-Treaty of Versailles signed (June)
• What were the 2 key events of 1920?


  -Kapp Putsch (March)-Swing to right in Reichstag election (June)
• What were the 3 key events of 1923?


  -French & Belgian troops occupied Ruhr (January), provoking hyper-inflation-Hitler's Munich Putsch failed (November)-Introduction of new currency ended inflationary crisis (November)
• What were the 3 key events of 1924?


  -Dawes Plan delayed reparations and provided US loans (April)-Extremist gains in Reichstag election (May)-Moderate gains in Reichstag election (December)
• What were the 3 key events of 1925?


  -President Ebert, a social democrat, died (February)-Hindenburg elected to replace him (April)-Treaty of Locarno (October)
• What was the key event that occurred in 1926?


  Germany joined League of Nations (September)
• What was the key event that occurred in 1927?


  Agricultural depression started
• What was the key event that occurred in 1928?

  Democratic parties gained votes in Reichstag election (May), while the DNVP and NSDAP lost them. Nazis only had 2.6% of the vote. The liberal DDP had been the only middle class party committed to democracy, but now that it was in decline, the future of the Republic was dependent upon the SPD (which though popular was a socialist working class party with almost no middle class appeal) and the Centre (a Catholic party which though willing to operate within a democratic framework was not fully committed to democracy)
• What were the 3 key events of 1929?


  -Young Plan (June) reduced reparations and provided US loans-Stresemann died (3 October)-Wall Street Crash (29 October)
• What were the 2 key events of 1930?


  -Fall of Germany's last democratic left wing government (March) prior to 1969; Brüning made Chancellor-Nazis and Communists made major gains in Reichstag election (September)
• What was the key event that occurred in 1931?


  Banking crisis (July): 5 major banks closed
• What were the 9 key events of 1932?

  -Unemployment peaked at 6 million (February)-Hindenburg defeated Hitler in presidential election (April)-Hindenburg sacked Brüning and replaced him with Papen (May)-Lausanne Conference ended reparations (June)-Papen dissolved left-wing Prussian government (20 July)-Nazis won 37% of vote in Reichstag election (31 July), becoming most popular party in Germany; most Germans voted either Nazi or Communist-Nazis lost votes while Communists gained in Reichstag election (6 November) but Nazis still largest party-Papen resigned (17 November) and Schleicher replaced him (2 December)
• What were the 3 key events of 1933?


  -Hitler and Papen made deal to form government (4 January)-Schleicher resigned (28 January)-Hitler made Chancellor (30 January)
• Which were the main countries in the Triple Entente in WW1?

  Great Britain, France and Russia
• Which were the main countries forming the Central Powers in WW1?

  Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire
• What was the Central Powers' solution to being greatly landlocked in WW1?

  use of the airforce
• How had Europe changed by the end of WW1?

  Central Powers split up
• How successful was fighting on the Western and Eastern Front in WW1 for Germany?

  Lots of advancement on Eastern Front, but not so much on Western Front
• What were the main events of WW1 that impacted Germany on the Eastern Front?

  -1914, beginning of war-Russia invaded Germany in August 1914 but suffered a decisive defeat at Tannenberg (the greatest German victory in the war and only major battle fought on German soil)-Germany invaded Russian-controlled Poland in September 1914. Fighting on Russian territory from then on-Germany won a series of victories, leading to 2 Russian revolutions in 1917-March 1918, new Bolshevik gov signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, withdrawing Russia from the war. Germany gained much territory from the Russian empire: Finland, the Baltic States, Poland and the Ukraine. Russia paid reparations to Germany
• In WW1 who were the leaders of the German army?

  Hindenburg and Ludendorff, both of whom later took command of the German army in the West
• What were the main events of WW1 that impacted Germany on the Western Front (stalemate)?

  -German advance into France halted at the Battle of the Marne in September 1914 and 4 years of almost static trench warfare followed-Germany's policy of sinking US ships carrying supplies to GB and France resulted in the USA declaring war on Germany in 1917 (with the power to overwhelm German troops)-Final German offensive began in March 1918. Went very well at first and Paris may have fallen. But faltered in July. The final allied counter-offensive began in August and by October, Ludendorff admitted privately that only a ceasefire could save the German army-In October, the liberal Prince Max of Baden was appointed Chancellor in the hope he could negotiate a reasonable peace settlement
• What happened October-November 1918 in terms of the new democratic revolution?

  -After admitting defeat on the Western Front, Ludendorff sent the Navy to attack the British. Sailors saw this as suicidal and mutinied. The start of the democratic revolution-Sailors joined forces with workers and soldiers in demanding bread and peace. Kaiser forced to abdicate on 9 November 1918, 2 days before the ceasefire-Max resigned and handed over Chancellorship to SPD leader Friedrich Ebert. Scheidemann publicly proclaimed Germany was a democratic republic to prevent the rise of a Communist regime-the Allies refused a ceasefire unless Germany surrendered, involving allied occupation of the Rhineland, a continued naval blockade until a peace treaty was signed, surrendering of its fleet and the payment of reparations
• Give 5 statistics on the cost of WW1 to Germany?


  1. 2 million soldiers were killed, 15% of German manpower compared with 10% of French and 5% British2. The war cost over £8 billion, only 16% of which was financed through higher taxes; the rest had to be made up by borrowing and printing money, which led to inflation, with prices rising by 250%, resulting in the mark falling to a quarter of its pre-war value3. Real earnings fell 20-30%4. The British naval blockade caused serious food and fuel shortages. This led to a vastly increased number of deaths from starvation, malnutrition and hypothermia: 293,000 died from these in 19185. Defeat led to the Treaty of Versailles, subjecting Germany to military restrictions, reparations, and territorial losses which cost Germany a large amount of her land, population and 48% of her iron ore
• What was the 'stab in the back' myth?

  A myth invented by guilty politicians that stated Germany was betrayed by revolutionaries (Jews, Marxists and SPDs) at the very moment peace was within reach
• Why did people believe in the stab in the back myth?

  the Armistice was declared at a time when the Germans were still fighting in France and Belgium and Germany itself had not yet been invaded
• Who were the November Criminals?

  The democratic politicians who signed the armistice
• Who were the Allied leaders that came up with the Treaty of Versailles?

  Woodrow Wilson (US), David Lloyd George (GB), and Georges Clemenceau (France)
• What was the Anschluss and what did the Treaty of Versailles to do it?

  Union of Austria and Germany, and the Treaty of Versailles banned it
• What were the disarmament terms in the Treaty of Versailles?

  army reduced to 100,000 men, navy reduced to 15,000 men, forbidden to have tanks, aircraft, submarines and poison gas, number of ships limited, Rhineland in Western Germany was to be permanently demilitarised while the Allied troops would occupy it for 15 years
• What was Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles and what did it mean?

  To justify punishments, Germany had to accept the War Guilt Clause in the peace treaty (this caused resentment among Germans as they believed it had been a war to protect national security). Reparations were set later in 1921 at £6.6 billion to be paid in installments
• Why did the new Weimar Government not really have a choice about the signing of the Treaty of Versailles?

  The naval blockade was still in force during the 14 days they were given to decide, so the Allies were poised to invade
• What does diktat mean?


  Dictated peace (the Treaty of Versailles)
• Why is it no longer acceptable to blame the ultimate failure of the Weimar Republic solely on the Treaty of Versailles?

  Germany recovered economically in the mid-twenties. Reparations were reduced or rescheduled by the Dawes and Young plans of 1924 and 1929 and from 1925 onwards never cost more than 3% of Germany's national income
• How often was a new president elected?

  Every 7 years
• What were the powers of the president?

  Power to appoint/ dismiss chancellor, could dissolve Reichstag and arrange for new elections, commanded the army, in an emergency could issue laws by decree (Article 48) and override constitutional rights of the German people
• How did the Reichstag work?


  elected by all Germans over 20, deputies elected on the basis of proportional representation, elections scheduled for every 4 years
• What was the Reichsrat?

  Assembly of 67 representatives of the 17 states, could give advice and reject new laws, but could be overriden by the Reichstag
• Most of the governments in Weimar Germany were minority governments. How did they survive?

  Through coalitions
• What was the Ebert-Groener Pact?

  Ebert asked General Groener for the Freikorp's assistance against the communists