history weimar germany

• what were the problems facing germany in the autumn of 1918/near end of WW1? (these are also reasons for why the Kaiser abdicated) 6 points

  - defeat on the western front -> due to the British counterattack to Germany's

  offensive in France which led to a severe defeat on the Germans -> General

  Ludendorff: "The blackest day of the German army")

  - impact of the allied/British Naval Blockade (to German ports) -> caused a

  shortage of food in Germany and German citizens starving from the effects of

  poor diet -> winter of 1918, 293,000 Germans died from starvation and

  hypothermia.

  - German soldiers were dying rapidly on the front lines -> 2 million young

  Germans dead by 1918. And to replace them, inadequate quality soldiers who

  did not want to fight, causing them to struggle further at war

  - Germany's Allies surrendering -> Germany beginning to be more alone at

  war

  - Germany was in increasingly more debt -> countries demanding money back

  and the German economy suffering from inflation -> Germany could produce

  no resources to supply their soldiers and citizens (who had to survive scraping

  by)

  - the Spanish flu killed off soldiers -> weakened the German population and in

  total, approximately 1 million soldiers dying from the flu during the war -> half a

  million between April-July of 1918 -> causing damage to the German military
• describe the mutiny and revolution against the Kaiser William II of Germany launched in late 1918. 5 points

  - 28th October 1918 -> soldiers against the german high command who decided to push a final naval battle in the north sea

  - 4th November 1918 -> red flags of revolution flew over many german naval ships

  - 6th November 1918 -> sailors' and workers' councils succeeded in controlling ships at german ports

  - 8th November 1918 -> other cities in germany began to be controlled by revolutionaries

  - 9th November 1918 -> the kaiser abdicated and fled to neutral holland
• why did the mutiny happen and how did it expand? 4 points

  - no point in dying aimlessly -> sailors saw no point in fighting and dying when the war was over

  - 28th October 1918 -> soldiers felt pressure to stand up for themselves against the german high command who decided to push a final naval battle in the north sea

  - taking over major cities -> the revolution spread quickly as revolutionary took over major cities

  - kaiser lost his power -> as well as authority and was seen as an obstacle to the peace and liberty that the germans wanted
• describe the formation and characteristics of the weimar republic. 7 points

  deemed positive-voting for everyone ->all men and women aged over 20 could vote for a President of Germany and members of the Reichstag (Parliament)-freedom of speech ->German citizens guaranteed freedom of speech and religion-equality -> all German citizens were to be equal in respect and treated equally-the Reichstag made the laws and appointed the Government and Chancellor -> helping the Weimar Republic to be democratic and orderlydeemed negative-it was being run by coalition governments ->which led to disagreements between parties and a lack of decisive action to be taken-article 48 -> of the new constitution stated that in an emergency, the President could take control of Germany -> issue laws and decrees which could potentially allow for a dictatorship to develop-the system of proportional representation -> resulted in the appearance of small extremist parties who are not thinking straight but would have a say in actions posed by a ruling government and so, legislation
• explain the reasons why the treaty of versailles was hated by the Germans. 6 points

  -Germany had to accept responsibility for starting the war->leading to humiliation and anger from the public eye->damage to the German people’s pride-reparations of £6.6 billion sterling enclosed in the Treaty-> would ensure that the German economy could not recover from its fatal problems -> damage to Germany’s economy-armed forces were cut down drastically-> maximum of 100, 000 soldiers in her force->damaging the German military and Germany’s power-reduced navy ->only 6 battleships and no submarines->damaging the German military and Germany’s power-70,000 so km of land was taken away from Germany ->with no overseas colonies left->damaging to German pride of having power internationally-not allowed to have an air force at all-> damage to the German military and the German people’s pride in having power
• describe the spartacists. 5 points

  -revolutionary communists ->they were a communist revolutionary party in the German parliamentary system-they were led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg ->leaders who were assassinated in the 1919 Spartacist Revolt-they wanted to overthrow the central government-> the SDP in Berlin)-establishing soviets (workers’ and soldiers’ councils)-> in place of the central government in German towns and cities-they used violent methods to try to get their way->arming themselves with guns, they would damage buildings and clashing with political opponents
• describe the spartacist revolt of 1919, including how communists were defeated and tactics used by the spartacists. 6 points

  -january 1919, 100,000 workers went on strike ->demonstrated in the centre of Berlin (led by the Spartacist leaders)-newspaper and communication buildings were seized ->by them, and some armed themselves-protesters returned home ->after a while because they were annoyed by the poor planning of thesparacists-the government which was now in Weimar to avoid the violence used the Freikorps to put down the risings ->ex-army soldiers who hated communists-over 100 workers were killed ->even the ones who surrendered- leaders of the spartacists -> Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg -> arrested and brutally assassinated
• describe the beer hall putsch of 1923 - including how the facists were defeated and the tactics used by the facist members of the Nazis. 4 points

  -overthrowing ->Nazis aimed to overthrow the Bavarian Government based in Munich-establishing power in Bavaria ->once they established power in Bavaria they could look to overthrow the Weimar Government-General Ludendorff ->they were supported by General Ludendorff who they intended to make leader of Germany-seize power in Berlin->in doing so, they could seize absolute power-implement fascist ideas ->and under a dictatorship, put through their extreme fascist ideas onto German society with intimidation
• describe the events of the munich beer hall putsch. 5 points

  -kidnapping the state commissioner ->Hitler and his associate party members had launched a plan to get control of the Bavarian government by kidnapping the state commissioner of Bavaria and two other politicians-controlling the huge Beer Hall in Munich->on November 8th, 1923, Hitler and about a few hundred of his team got control of the Biggest Beer Hall in Munich-declaring a national revolution ->Hitler shot a bullet to the ceiling and declared that a National Revolution was to start, before leading the state commissioner to a back room-getting Ludendorff over ->they telephoned Ludendorff, who they planned to make chancellor of Germany-Hitler leaving at night->after Hitler left the Beer Hall at night, to deal with other crises in the city, his followers were stopped by state military troops-Ludendorff’s counterproposal->after a counterproposal by Ludendorff of marching on the streets, Hitler and his followers then got surrounded by state police officers
• reasons why the munich beer hall putsch failed.

  -location ->the location to launch the attack in Munich instead of Berlin was a mistake because only one politician would be in hostage and the centre of theWeimar government in Berlin’s Reichstag could still hold strong-poor planning ->caused by Hitler’s rush and mistakes made and Ludendorff arriving late to the Hall-lack of support from the police and military units ->ensured that the Nazis could not retain a dominant position and were attacked easily-Hitler left the Hall at night ->which caused his followers to be disorganised and eventually taken by Bavaria’s military troops- Ludendorff released the captive state commissioner ->and the other two conservative politicians, so the Nazi Party had no hostages to use to stop the government from attacking them-the counterattack was located on the streets ->where the state police were already being deployed to prepare defence
• explain the reasons for the economic problems of the weimar republic from 1919 - 1933. 6 points

  -post war economy ->it needed major recovery from dramatic damages to Germany after the war-conditions of the the Treaty of Versailles ->unsustainable by the Weimar government with its economic problem from going out of war, ensuring that the German economy could never recover-a strike in the industrial Ruhr region ->causing industrialisation to come to a halt and the economy to fail-the French control of key industries and natural resources ->aiming to extract the unpaid reparations out of Germany and suck the residual valuable resources used to make a stronger economy out of Germany-hyperinflation ->due to printing out money to pay the workers in Ruhr, causing money to lose its value and people with savings to lose the value of money inthose savings and people with fixed incomes to earn next to nothing in value, people began to starve and resort to crime to get food and resources-reliance on the American economy ->a new currency which relied on the American economy, which crashed in 1929 made the German economy fallonce again and social unrest to follow as people starved once again
• describe the french invasion of the Ruhr region. 8 points

  cause-the signing of the treaty of versailles ->the weimar government needed to pay reparations to victors of WW1-the weimar government statement ->that it could not pay the next three years of instalments because of economic hardships-the french had not accepted the proposition ->no sympathy and believed the government could pay the reparations and was testing international patience

  invasion-invading by the army January 1923 ->French and Belgian armies sent 60,000 soldiers into the Ruhr region of Germany-extract resources ->the French aimed to extract unpaid reparations and took control of key industries and natural resources-strike ->the weimar government instructed that the workers of the Ruhr region shall go on strike instead of cooperating with the French

  consequences-the industrial area on strike ->one of Germany’s most industrialised areas, Ruhr was on strike-printing currency out ->the government started to print out more money to pay the striking German workers of Ruhr
• describe the hyperinflation issue of the weimar government. 11 points

  cause-sudden floods of paper money into an economy weakened by post-war debt and declines ->unsustainable as the value of the currency, mark, declines-strike in the Ruhr Region ->ordered by the government against the French-high inflation rate increasing ->so drastically that German currency lost its value

  results-rise in crime ->as Germans began to be desperate for food and resources-food shortages ->as businesses did not have enough money to purchase produce from farmers-elderly and middle-class Germans suffered ->from the hyperinflation as their income was fixed-all Germans, with savings, lost their savings value ->with hyperinflation as their money lost value

  end-creation of a new currency relying on the economy of America-failure after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ->the Great Depression when the American economy went under and Germany, relying on America to sustainits economy, again experienced a damaged economy-social unrest ->as people starved
• describe the problems facing the Weimar Republic post-war in order. 7 points

  -unable to pay back money ->by the Treaty of Versailles-strike in the Ruhr region against the French ->who wanted their money back led to the industrial crash and unpaid workers in Ruhr-the government printed more money out to pay the workers of Ruhr ->leading to hyperinflation-as money had less and less value ->and people with savings suffered with no value in their savings and people on fixed incomes, middle class and elderly people were in poverty with even less money than others-people resorted to crime ->to get money and resources to live-a new currency had to be formed ->to keep the German economy under control-new currency backed in value by the American economy ->but suffering once again with the Wall Street Crash and the collapse of the American economy, resulting in the Great Depression of 1929 and the loans from America to Germany had to be paid back