KEY STUFF

• Kaiser Wilhelm


  Leader of Germany before 1918

  
• Friedrich Ebert


  First chancellor of the Weimar Republic (1919-1925)

  
• Armistice


  An agreement, by opposing sides, to stop fighting during WWI
• The Weimar Republic


  New German government's name from 1919 to 1933

  
• Reichstag


  German Parilament
• The Treaty of Versailles


  Signed in June 1919

  
• Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebnecht


  The leader of the Spartacists

  
• Freikorps


  Ex-army men used to stop the Spartacist revolt
• Wolfgang Kapp


  Leader of the Kapp Putsch.
• The Kapp Putsch


  Took place in March 1920, and managed to capture Berlin for three days.

  
• Passive resistance


  The act of the German workers refusing to work due to the French oppressors.

  
• Hyperinflation


  The plummeting of the German mark due to printing of money to pay off debt.

  
• Article 48


  Gave the President the chance to suspend the constitution in an emergency.
• Reparations


  Forced to pay these for war damages
• Stab in the back


  Expression used by Germans against the German government
• Ruhr


  Industrial area that was invaded by the French.
• Spartacists revolution


  Left wing protest that took place in 1919
• Proportional Representation


  Way of voting that led to many small parties getting seats and no one party was large enough to secure to a majority. This made the government weak.
• Stresemann


  Appointed chancellor and foreign secretary in 1923.
• Rentenmark


  New German currency brought in by Stresemann to solve the problem of hyperinflation.
• The Locarno Pact 1925


  By this agreement, Germany agreed to keep its existing borders.
• 1926


  Germany was invited to join the League of Nations. This recognised its return to a Great Power.
• The Kellogg-Briand Pact


  In 1928, Germany signed this along with 64 other nations. It was agreed that these nations would keep their armies for self-defence but would solve all future disputes by 'peaceful means.
• The Dawes Plan 1924


  Payments were staged to match Germany's capacity to pay.

  Payments began at 1 billion marks for the first year and increased over a period of 4 years to 2.5 billion marks a year.

  In return, the French withdrew their troops from the Ruhr.
• The Unemployment Insurance Law 1927


  This required workers and employees to make contributions to a national scheme for unemployment welfare.
• Position of Women


  Women could vote, work in the civil service or professions and go ou and drink, wear make up and smoke.
• Art


  New Objectivity: This portrayed society in an objective way. They painted ordinary people & everyday life.
• Cinema


  'Golden Age' Fritz Lang was the best known director. He produced Metropolis (1927)- The silent film is regarded as a pioneering work of the science-fiction genre in movies.
• Architecture


  Bauhaus used bold designs, unusual materials, basic shapes & colours.
• Literature


  Right-wing: critical of German democracy & glorified experiences of WW1. e.g Arthur Moeller.

  -Left-wing: anti-war. Erich Remarque wrote All Quiet on the Western Front describes the horrors of the Western Front.
• Theatre


  New operas & plays

  -more realism

  -The Salesman of Berlin - street sweepers sweep away the worst features after 1918 e.g helmets which represent German's defeat.