WJEC GCSE Germany In Transition

Created by

martha cox

Cards (100)

Describe the events leading to the formation of the Weimar Government.
Autumn 1918-German defeat in WW1 seemed imminent.
9th November-Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated and fled to Holland.
New German Republic declared.
Chancellor Ebert signed armistice.
Seen as "Dolchstoss"-Stab in the back-by army
January 19th 1919-1st elections held.
Berlin too dangerous to run a government.
Coalition formed as no party had a majority.
Describe the Weimar Constitution
President-Elected every 7 years, controlled the army,could trigger Article 48 and chose the chancellor.
Article 48-Article to let the President pass laws and keep chancellor in power without the support of the Reichstag.
Chancellor-Chosen by President and needed the support of the Reichstag.
Reichstag-Elected every 4 years,made laws and chose chancellor.
Reichsrat-55 representatives from 18 states that could approve laws made by Reichstag.
Describe the strengths of the Weimar Constitution
Very Democratic-Both men and women could vote at the age of 20.
Chancellor had to have the majority of the Reichstag.
A strong President was necessary in order to protect the country in a crisis.
Proportional representation meant that each party was fairly represented.
Describe the weaknesses of the Weimar Constitution
Article 48 gave the President the power to overrule the Reichstag.
The army wanted the Kaiser to return as he was more militaristic.
Proportional representation meant that coalitions were inevitable .
Many judges and civil servants did not agree with how liberal the Weimar government was.
Describe the territorial terms of the Treaty of Versailles of the 28th June 1919.
All colonies to be given to Allied Powers.
Alsace-Lorraine to be returned to France.
Eupen-Malmedy given to Belgium after a plebiscite.
Saar to be administered by the League of Nations.
Posen and Western Prussia to be given to Poland.
Eastern Upper Silesia to be given to Poland after a plebiscite.
Danzig created a Free City.
Memel to be administered by the League of Nations.
No union(Anschluss) with Austria
Northern Schleswig given to Denmark after a plebiscite.
Describe the military terms of the Treaty of Versailles of the 28th June 1919.
Army not to exceed 100,000 men.
No tanks,armoured cars and heavy military permitted.
No military aircraft permitted.
No naval vessels to be greater than 10,000 tons.
No submarines permitted.
Rhineland demilitarised.
Describe the finacial terms of the Treaty of Versailles of the 28th June 1919. 
Coal to be mined in the Saar i France.
Reparations fixed at £6.6 billion.
Cattle and sheep to be given to France and Belgium as reparations .
Germany to build merchant ships to replace Allied ships sunk by U-Boats
Describe the reactions to the Treaty of Versailles .
Stoked a fire of shame and humiliation for most Germans.
Dictated peace.
Chancellor Schiedmann resigned due to terms.
Politicians who signed the armistice were knbown as the November Criminals.
Describe the Political Instability in Weimar Germany.
Weimar was hated by communists ,socialists ,nationalists ,army leaders and senior politicians.
Faced constant uprisings from left and right wing parties.
The Bolshevik revolution of 1917 in Russia made people hope that socialism would be set up in Germany.
New army leader appointed so soldiers wouldn't rebel.
Government would supply the army in return for protection.
Describe the Spartacist Uprising
December 1918-Rosa Luxembourg and Karl Leibknecht decided to hold protests against the government.
Formed the KPD , communist arty by the end of the month.
6th January 1919-Spartacists began their attempt to overthrow Ebert and create a communist state.
Ebert used the regualr army and the Feikorp to put down the uprising.
Both Rosa and Karl were captured and killed.
Inspired a communist uprising in berlin where 1000 people were killed.
Describe the Kapp Putsch
Freikorp disliked the decision to reduce the army in March 1920.
Ehrhardt refused to comply and along with Wolfgang Kapp they made a plan to seize Berlin.
13th March 1920-Successfully seized Berlin with the help of the army.
Ebert asked people to go on strike as he moved the Government to Dresden.
Trade unionists and civil servants supported Ebert.
Putsch collapsed.
Describe further uprisings in Weimar Germany.
1 week after the Kapp Putsch a communist uprising occurred in the Ruhr.
Army got involved and hundreds were killed.
Estimated that there were 376 murders(354 by the right) between 1919-22.
No right wingers sentenced but 10 left wingers were sentenced to death.
Describe the French occupation of the Ruhr in 1923. 
January 1923.
France and Belgium decided to take over the Ruhr to make workers work as reparations weren't being payed.
France needed money to pay off war debts to the US.
Describe the German Resistance to French occupation in the Ruhr.
French were met with passive resistance.
Germans started to sabotage work.
Workers went on strike.
Some factories burnt down.
Some strikers shot by French.
Describe the results of the occupation in the Ruhr.
United the German people for their hatred for the French.
Workers became the heroes of the people .
German government backed the strikers and printed more money to pay their wages.
Few goods were being produced.
Meant that inflation lead to hyper inflation.
By how much did hyperinflation weaken the German economy?
July 1914-£1=20 marks
Jan 1919-£1=35 marks
Jan 1920-£1=256 marks
Jan 1921-£1=256 marks
Jan 1922-£1=764 marks
Jan 1923-£1=71,888 marks
July 1923-£1=1,413,648 marks
Sept 1923-£1=3,954,408,000 marks
Oct 1923-£1=1,010,408,000,000 marks
Nov 1923-£1=1,680,800,000,000,000 marks
Describe the affects of hyperinflation.
People with savings or a fixed income found themselves penniless.
Businessmen who borrowed from banks could pay back their debts.
Serious food shortages made food prices sky rocket which helped farmers.
Foreigners could afford anything in Germany.
Gustav Stresemann became Chancellor in order to help Germany financially in the summer of 1923.
Describe the Dawes Plan.
Agreed in August 1924.
Named after US-Vice President Charles Dawes.
Reparations would begin at 1 billion marks and increase to 2.5 billion marks a year over 4 years.
Ruhr area was to be evacuated by the Allies.
Reichsbank would be recognised under allied supervision.
Describe the US loans under Stresemann.
The Dawes Plan began with a loan of 800 million marks.
Over the next 6 years companies gave almost $3 billion to Germany.
This helped Germany recover economically and helped them pay the reparations.
Describe the Rentenmark
November 1923
Stresemann introduced a new temporary currency to restore faith in the German economy.
Issued in limited amounts.
Based on property value.
Converted to the Rentenmark the following year which was backed by gold reserves.
Describe the Young Plan 
German government regularly complained about the size of the reparations.
1929-Allied reparations Company asked Owen Young to come up with a new reparation plan.
Reduced reparations to £1.85 billion.
Extended payment time to 59 years.
Meant that Germany payed 2.05 billion marks a year.
Criticised by the right, i.e Adolf Hitler, for did not want Germany paying at all.
Describe the extent of Germany's economic recovery under Stresemann.
Economy did recover.
Economy seemed to prosper off of American loans.
Workers and companies benefited during this era.
Some questioned Weimar's over-dependence on US loans.
Money was being payed in a circle between the US , Germany and GB and France.
Farmers were unable to modernise due to lack of profit which meant that in 1929 agriculture was on 74% of pre-war levels of productions.
Wages increased however not much above the cost of living.
Lower middle class still felt the affect of hyperinflation as the policies seemed to benefit bigger companies.
Describe the Locarno Pact
Stresemann wanted to improve relations with France and Britain so that the reparations would be reduced.
1925-Germany signs the Locarno pact with Britain,France,Belgium and Italy.
Agreed to keep existing borders.
Marked Germany's return to the international stage of politics.
Nicknamed the "Locarno Honeymoon"
Describe the League of Nations
Germany needed to become a member of the LoN in order for the Locarno Pact to have an impact.
It was an international organisation established in 1920 to try and maintain peace.
September 1926-Germany was given a permanent seat.
Marked Germany's return to the international stage.
Some people in Germany saw this as the protector of the hated Treaty of Versailles
Describe the Kellogg-Briand Pact
1928-Germany signs the Kellogg-Briand Pact with 64 other nations.
Agreed to keep armies for self defence.
Agreed to solve any international disputes by peaceful means.
Showed further improved relations between Germany and the US.
Confirmed Germany as a leading nation.
Describe Stresemann's impact.
In 1925 France withdrew from the Ruhr.
Allies agreed to the Dawes and Young Plan.
In 1927 Allied troops withdrew from the West bank of the Rhine, 5 years ahead of schedule
Describe political developments during the Weimar Government
No party ever won a majority in the Reichstag.
Until 1930 the Social Democrats won the most votes.
Less support for extreme parties i.e. KPD and NSDAP.
Due to Stresemann and Hindenburg.
Stresemann's success abroad made him Weimars greatest leader.
Hindenburg had been a war leader so when he was elected President in 1925 it showed that conservatives accepted Weimar.
Describe the changes in wages during the Weimar Government.
Increase in the value of the real wage.
By 1928, the real wage increase was over 10% making it one of the best wages in Europe.
Many middle class citizens did not prosper.
Middle class became bancrupt in hyperinflation and couldn't claim benefits.
April 1928-184,000 middle class workers seeking employment
Describe the changes in housing under the Weimar government.
Weimar attempted too deal with a housing shortage.
Employed architects and planners to reduce the shortage.
Between 1924-31 , 2 million new homes were built and 200,000 were renovated.
Homelessness reduced by 60%.
Describe the changes in unemployment insurance under the Weimar Government.
Chancellor von Bismark introduced the welfare state in 1880s
Weimar extended this with the Unemployment Insurance Law in 1927.
required workers to make contributions to a national unemployment welfare scheme.
Benefits were also given to war veterans, war widows,single ,mothers and the disabled.
Describe the changes in the role of women during the Weimar Government
1919-Women over 20 given the vote.
Equality in education.
Equal opportunities in civil service and equal pay.
Proportion of women who took up work outside the home remained the same.
More women employed by the government.
Describe the changes in culture during the Weimar Government.
Pre-war censorship scrapped.
Art began to comment on society at the time.
Architecture began to flourish as the "school of building" developed.
Know as the golden age for German cinema.Had the most technically advanced film of the decade.
Literature from both the left and the right commented on the atrocities of WW1.
Describe the Early Nazi Party of 1919 to 1923.
German Worker's Party(DAP) founded in the 1st 5 years after WW! by Anton Drexler in Munich.
Right wing nationalist party which promoted the notion of pure German people.
Also had some socialist ideas such as wanting no classes and restricting company profits.
Only had 50 members by 1919.
September 1919-Drexler asks Hitler to join after seeing him deliver a speech.
Hitler became a better speaker after joining the party.
Describe the 25 Point Programme
February 1920_Hitler and Drexler wrote the 25 P.P
Political manifesto and included many ideas that Hitler kept throughout his life.
Announced at a party meeting in Munich.
Shortly after, the words Nationalist and Socialist were added to the party name.
Party grew rapidly as a result of the manifesto and Hitler's public speaking skills.
Party bought a newspaper.
Hitler became party leader in June of 1921.
Title of the Fuhrer.
Mean that he had supreme power.
This way of thinking became known as Fuhrerprinzip
What were some of the points of the 25 Point Programme.
Point 1-Union of Germany to form a Greater Germany.
Point 2-Scraping the Treaty of Versailles
Point 4-Citizenship only to be granted to German blood, no Jews.
Point 6-Only German citizens can vote.
Point 7-Foreign nationals to be deported if food shortages hit.
Point 8-All non Germans who have entered after 1914 are to leave.
Point 13-Businesses are to be nationalised.
Point 14-Government to profit share in major industries.
Point 17-Any land needed for communal purposes will be seized.
Point 23-All newspapers need the aproval of the German government.
Point 24-Religious freedom for all.
Point 25- creation of a strong central government for the Reich.
Describe the Sturmabteilung(SA) 
Known as storm troopers
Developed in 1921.
Led by Ernst Rohm.
Paramilitary of the Nazi party.
Wore brownshirts.
Describe the Early growth of the Nazi Party.
Hitler used the SA to disrupt communist and social democrat meetings.
Membership grew from 1,100 in June 1920 to 55,000 in November 1923.
Speeches criticised Weimar.
Mentioned the Aryan race.
Mainly only had support in Bavaria.
Describe the reasons for the Munich Putsch. 
Hitler wanted to destroy the Treaty of Versailles.
The Nazi Party had increased supported by 1923,especially in Barvaria.
Hitler won the support of General Ludendorff, former Commander in Chief.
The SA would be used as armed support.
Hitler was confident that von Kahr and the army would support him.
Hitler believed people would support him more than Weimar.
Many German's blamed Weimar for hyperinflation.
Many German's were furious at Weimar for calling off passive resistance in the Ruhr.
Hitler hated the Weimar Republic.
Describe the events of the Munich Putsch. 
8th November 1923-Hitler and 600 Nazis seized the Burgerbraukeller where von Kahr,von Seisser and von Lossow were having a meeting.
Hitler won over their support at gunpoint.
Generals were allowed to leave the building.
The next day von Lossow and von Seisser organised resistance against Hitler.
Hitler continued his march.
Hitler's army was no match for the armed police.
16 Nazis and 4 policemen killed.
Hitler arrested 2 days later.
Describe Hitler's trial and imprisonment.
Hitler was tried for treason.
Trial began in February 1924 and lasted almost 1 month.
Hitler used it as a publicity stunt as he gained nation wide support.
He poured scorn over the November Criminals and the Jewish Bolsheviks who had betrayed Germany.
Sympathetic judges allowed him to make long speeches.
1st April 1924-Found guilty of treason, sentenced to 5 years.
Only served 9 months in Landsberg Prison.
Wrote Mein Kampf, his autobiography.
Allowed as many visitors as he wanted and received a lot of mail.