topic 1 germany

Subdecks (3)

Cards (288)

  • TOFV
    signed 28 june 1919
  • germany lost TOFV
    rhineland
    army -100,000
    no navy or airforce
    forced to accept blame
    132 million marks in repayment
    upper silesia lost
    algace and lorraine lost
    eupen and melody lost
  • stats TOFV
    lost 10% industry
    15% in agriculture
    6 million people lost
    demilitarised zones
    66 million in reperations
  • creation of republic
    king abdicates
    prince max resigns from govt (1 month)
    spartacists wanted communist style revelution
    prince max extends vote to all men
    made ministers and army responsible to the govt not kaiser
  • council of peoples representation
    led by socialist groups
    10 november 1918 - new govt formed
  • SPD
    freidrich Ebert led
  • USPD
    Hugo Hasse led it
  • new govt
    ebert becomes chancellor
    unrest continues because of disruption from previous months
    forced to sign ebert groener pact with the army
  • political assasinations
    1919-22 - 376 killed, 356 killed by RW extremists
    Hugo Haase shot outside the Reichstag
    Erzberger and Rathenau killed due to their involvement with the TofV
  • ebert groener pact
    the army would support the govt if they supressed the LW elements of the reichstag
  • new govt p2
    SDP and USDP cant agree
    ebert wants election
    hasse wants reforms - social econ and army
    11 nov - armistice is signed
    new parties form and gani votes to have a voice in reichstag
  • reforms
    8 hour working week
    independent trade unions
    help ex soldiers find work
    unemployement benefits
    1919 jan elections
    usdp and sdp drift further apart
    many join KPD
  • spartacist revolt
    KPD set up dec 1918 - com party
    freikorps wanted to destroy the red plague
    attacks against communists so voilent ebert moves govt from berlin to weimar
    lieberknecht and luxemburg captured beaten and murdered (2 leaders of the spartacist movement)
  • Creation of the Weimar Constitution
    govt still in weimar for elections
    election was a success - 82.7% of electors voted
    SDP didnt get majorty as they had hoped
    had to form a coalition govt
    sdp coalitioned with centre party and the ddp
  • main parties and what they wanted
    ddp dnvp sdp kpd centre party german democrats usdp
  • DNVP
    created from old conservative party
    most RW
    monarchists and nationalist
    reluctantly accpeted the republic and didnt like social reforms
    supported by army
    members were wealthy landowners
  • SDP
    headed by ebert
    didnt win majority
    largest party in reichstag
    believed in moderate social reforms
    working and middle class folliwing
  • centre party
    traditional party - mainly catholic
    conservative veiws
    does believe in social reforms
    made up of many different social backgrouds
    heates communism - doesnt like LW policies
  • germans people party DDP
    moderatly conservative - made up of old liberals
    supports the army
    made yp of welathy middle class and wanted conomy to rise
    dont belive in social reforms
    headed by stresseman
  • KPD

    communist party
    set up 1919 - wanted workers revelution
    wanted t o abolish private ownership
    appealed to young poor and unemployed
  • german democrats
    liberal
    educated
    middle class
    supporters of democracy
  • USDP
    split from SDP - wanted radical system
    luxemburg and lieberknecht members before spartacist revolt
  • structure of weimar
    president, chancellor cabinet reichsrat lander reichstag
  • president
    elected every 7 years
    chosen as a person not a party
    article 48 - can suspend the constitution in state of emergency
    can dismiss reichstag and call new elections
  • chancellor
    chooses minister that runs the country
    with ministers can put laws into reichstag
    needs majority in reichstag
  • cabinet
    chosen by chancellor
    formulates laws to reichstag
  • reichsrat
    members sent by 18 lander, one for every 70,000
    could veto a law passed by the reichstag unless has 2/3 majority
  • lander (local govt)

    18 local regions each had local parliment to decide issues in the region
    federal laws always over ride the laws of the land if conflicted
    prussia no longer has speical status among the states
  • reichstag
    elected by secret ballot of all electors every 4 years
    1 seat for every 60,000 votes
    proportional representation assings seats
    passes laws of country
  • structure of consitution
    evert elected first president - 277 votes to 51
    govt still met in weimar
    form coalition govt
    can join with centre party and german democratic party
    7 feb - Ebert gave victrorious speech celebrating election
    constitution passed on 31 july 1919
  • challenges
    60,000 votes for a seat meant it was too easy for small parties to gain seats
    29 different political parties
    impossible for one party to gain a majoirty in reichstag
    1919-23 there were 9 coalitions
    parties didnt work together in coalitions
    when coalitions broke down chancellor had to ask president to use article 48
    made govt look as if it was always in a emergency
  • stab in the back myth
    Popularised by Hindenburg
    Up until the end of WW1 - Propaganda promised German victory
    Belief in Army that they would never surrender
    Myth relied in
    - Army was trustworthy
    - Nationalistic
    - Decisive and effective
    Politicans were devious and unpatriotic
  • hindenburg
    popularised stab in the back myth
    president in 1925
    ex military leader
    anti democracy + RW/ conservative monarchists at heart
    wants germany to become great again - over turn TOFV
    ask kaiser for permission to take office
    reluctantly accpects weimar republic
    his presence added stability to the weimar
  • stresseman and charles dawes

    added stability to weimar
  • 1923
    weimar was on verge of collapse
    crisis was the start of a period of stability and success
    23-29 economy boomed and culutural life flourished
    dramtic turn about happened because of stresseman and dawes
  • stresseman during boom
    reoganised the great coalition of moderate, pro democracy parties in the reichstag
    stresseman introduced reforms to help people such as job centres, unemployement pay and better housing
    under his advice the german reichsbank was reformed and the old money was called in and burned
    ended hyper inflation
  • key dates of achievements
    1924 - dawes plan
    1924-25 french withdraw from the ruhr
    1926 - locarno treaty
    1926 - LOFN
    1926 - treaty of berlin
    1928 - kellog - briand pact
    1929 - young plan
  • overcoming challenges
    stresseman held together colations - DVP, centre party , SPD and DDP
    they followed moderate policies
    economic recovery important
    co operation with foreign countries
    he formed good working relations with the leaders of the other parties such as Wilhelm Marx of the centre party
    social conditions improved
    voilence declined
    many people accepted the weimar republic
  • 1929
    stresseman died
    economy decreased heavily
    USA recalled loans because of great depression
  • other effects from 1929
    coalition failures - hindenburg dismissed chancellors who didnt get along
    SDP refused any more coaltions
    use of article 48 increased - 109 laws passed between 1930-32 only 29 passed by the reichstag
    3 chancellors - bruning - von papen- con schleicher