Post WW1 / Weimar Germany

• When was the Treaty of Versailles signed (Month and year)

  June 1919
• Under the TofV, how many men could Germany have in the army

  100,000
• Who won the Jan 1919 elections

  Social Democrats - nicknamed The Weimar Republic
• What was the system of Proportional Representation

  • Each political party gets a fair share of seats in the Reichstag
  • So if a part got 10% of votes they had 10% of seats
• What was the problem with the Proportional Representation system

  • there were too many parties so none could get majority (50%) of seats
  • this meant parties had to make deals with each other which slowed down the process
• What were the strengths of the Weimar Republic

  • Very fair - especially the voting
  • Allowed people to have their say
  • State governments ensured local issues were addressed
  • Wouldn't allow one person to take over - Chancellor and President balanced each other
  • A poor Chancellor or President would only be around for a limited amount of time
• What were the weaknesses of the Weimar Republic

  • Proportional representation - too many parties meant too many disagreements and nothing would ever get done
  • Article 48 - could be abused so that President stopped listening to Reichstag
  • State governments could pass laws that went against what Reichstag wanted
  • Enemies of Weimar had equal power to them
• What nickname did Germans give to Democratic Politicians that signed TofV

  November Criminals
• What was the War guilt clause and what did it cause

  • Blame for the War fully goes to Germany
  • Loss in country pride + morale
• How much was Germany expected to pay in Reparations and what did it cause

  • 6.6 Billion dollars
  • Huge dent in economy - taxes rise
• What territory did Germany lose from TofV and what did it lead to

  • e.g Alsace-Lorraine
  • went to England, France, Poland, Denmark etc
  • people lost homes, economic impacts, political tensions
• Who was Germany forbidden from uniting with again and what did this cause

  • Austria
  • Loss of an ally
  • Army loses manpower
  • triggers people to defy
• Where were German troops not allowed to enter

  • Rhineland (German-French border)
• What impact did the loss of coalfields in the Saar region have

  • loss of economically prosperous area - couldnt afford to pay reparations
  • People lost jobs
  • tensions with France rise
• What was Dolchstoss and who believed this

  • The idea that the armistice shouldn't have been signed and they would have won the war
  • People believed that Ebert + the government had betrayed Germany by surrendering
  • Mostly right-wing people believed this
• What was Article 48

  President could make laws without Reichstag's permission in an emergency
• Why did Germans hate the TofV

  • felt it was too harsh
  • was forced on them without their permission - they called it a diktat (dictated peace)
  • felt betrayed by government
• Who were the 2 leaders of the Spartacist rebellion

  Karl Liebnecht and Rosa Luxemburg
• When was the Spartacist rebellion

  Jan 1919
• What did the spartacists try to do

  start a rebellion to take over Germany from Ebert when he was first elected
• What did Ebert do to defeat Spartacists

  • Used his Freikorps (ex-soldiers that hated communism) to stop rebellion
  • killed 100 spartacists and both leaders
• What problems did the Freikorps bring for Ebert

  
  

  • made him look weak since he relied on them to keep peace
  • they were risky since they could turn on him at any point
• What happened after the spartacist rebellion

  sparked more communist uprisings around Germany that had to be squashed by Freikorps
• When was the Kapp Putsch (Month and year)

  March 1920
• What happened in the Kapp Putsch

  • 5000 Freikorps protested against weak Weimar Republic - they wanted a strong autocratic government
• Who led the Kapp Putsch

  Wolfgang Kapp
• How did the Nazi Party begin

  1. Hitler joined the German Workers party in 1920 since they were opposed to TofV
  2. He became its leader and renamed it the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP)
  3. Gave it a new flag and a new army (SA/Brownshirts) to protect it
  4. gained attraction from Hitler's powerful speeches
• What caused the Invasion of the Ruhr

  • Germany couldn't afford a reparation payment
  • France and Belgium invaded Germany to take payment by force
  • Ruhr was Germany's main industrial area + had goods like coal
• When was the invasion of the Ruhr (Month and year)

  Jan 1923
• What was the reaction to the Invasion of the Ruhr and what did it cause

  • passive resistance - went on strike + refused to make goods that invaders wanted
  • sabotaged factories + flooded mines
  • Invaders shot + expelled Germans
• When was Hyperinflation at its peak

  1923
• What caused Hyperinflation

  1. Weimar government supported strikers (against Ruhr occupation) by printing more money to pay them so they could afford to keep striking
  2. Too many notes in the economy meant prices went out of control
• What were the effects of Hyperinflation

  • Middle class + elderly suffered badly as their savings/pensions were depleted
  • bread cost 200 billion marks
  • people blamed Weimar government as they printed the money in the first place - made them even more unpopular
• What were the main problems for the Weimar Republic

  1. Occupation of Ruhr - made Germany even poorer
  2. Hyperinflation - made them unpopular
  3. Munich Putsch - another example of political extremism in Germany
  4. (political unrest vs economic crises)
• When was the Munich Putsch (Month and year)

  Nov 1923
• What caused the Munich Putsch

  1. Sep 1923 - Chancellor Stresemann stopped passive resistance with France
  2. Right-wing extremists + Republic haters saw this a betrayal and rebelled
• What consequences did the Munich Putsch have for Hitler

  • Was arrested - wrote Mein Kampf there
  • Got publicity - was known all over Germany
  • changed his strategy - decided it would be better to take power by gaining popularity, not by force
• When and What was the Paris Peace conference

  • Jan 1919
  • Meeting that initiated settlements after WW1