Germany

• Kaiser Wilhelm II became kaiser in 1888 and ruled Germany until 1918
• Germany became unified in 1871
• 1913 - Germany produces as much coal as Britain , and more iron and steel
• In 1913 Germany dominated Europe in electrical and chemical goods
• Weltpolitik - Kaiser Wilhelm II world policy to be a world power
• Weltpolitik policy was in the late 1800’s
• government over kaiser

  • weltpolitik
  • dictatorship
  • wanted an overseas empire like britain
  • reichstag used to advise
• Navy laws:

  • 1898 - 1912
  • Germany wanted a large navy to protect and expand their empire and rival britains navy
  • rapid expansion
  • taxes raised and money borrowed used to pay
• SPD - Social Democratic Party of Germany, a socialist party that was founded in 1863
• SPD:

  • gained workers votes
  • trade unions
  • 1/3 Germans voted in 1912
  • wanted wealth to be equal
• Impact of WW1 on Germany:

  • naval blockade - shortages in food and goods ( 763,000 dead )
  • Spanish flu - 26,000 dead
  • low morale
  • kaiser made country democratic to avoid punishment
  • blamed government
• 28 October 1918 - mutiny in the German army
• November 1918 - Hamburg and Munich ruled in 6 days by German workers
• When did the kaiser abdicate?

  9 November 1918
• When was the armistice signed?

  11 November 1918
• After the kaiser abdicated, Ebert took his place
• Germany after WW1:

  • Germany bankrupt
  • 600,000 war windows
  • 2 million children with no fathers
  • divided society
  • politically unstable
• January 1919 - Ebert held and won the election to turn Germany democratic
• When was the weimar government formed?

  11 February 1919
• How was weimar germany run?

  • equal rights
  • women over 20 could vote
  • proportional representation
• proportional representation in Weimar germany meant that no one could get majority between 1919 and 1933
• When was the Spartacus uprising?

  5 - 12 January 1919
• what happened in the spartacist uprising?

  • attempted to takeover germany
  • 2000 armed freekorps sent by Ebert
  • Freekorps recaptured buildings and killed leaders
• who were the spartacist leaders?

  Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht
• When was the treaty of versailles signed?

  28 june 1919
• how did german people feel about the treaty of versailles?

  • too harsh (money and land lost mean that people could make money on farms or mines)
  • diktat (forced, dictated peace causing humiliation)
  • betrayed (didn’t want war to end and blamed november criminals)
• When was the Nazi party formed?


  September 1919
• When was the Kapp putsch?

  March 1920
• who was the kapp putsch led by?

  Wolfgang Kapp
• kapp putsch:

  • march 1920
  • led by wolfgang kapp
  • 5000 freekorps tried to takeover Berlin
  • aimed to make germany strong
  • lacked support of workers
  • fled after 100 hours of leading
• how long was wolfgang kapp and the freekorps in power for in 1920?

  100 hours
• how many freekorps took over Berlin in the Kapp putsch?

  5000
• When was the red rising in the Ruhr?

  March 1920
• Red rising in the Ruhr:

  • march 1920
  • strike of left wing workers
  • Freekorps and soldiers killed
  • 1000 + workers killed
• When was the invasion of the Ruhr?

  11 January 1923 - August 1925
• Invasion of the ruhr:

  • 1922- Germans fail to pay reparations
  • 11 January 1923- invasion
  • 60,000 french and Belgium soldiers took control of all mines, railways and factories in the Ruhr
  • soldiers took what was owed
  • 100 strikers killed, 15,000 kicked out their houses
  • soldiers left ruhr in August 1925- Germany payed back reparations
• cost of bread during hyperinflation:

  1921 - 4 marks

  1923 - 201 billion marks
• how much did bread cost during 1923 hyperinflation?

  201 billion marks ( 4 marks in 1921 )
• How was hyperinflation caused?

  • passive resistance
  • government pay striking workers through printing more money
  • spent money quickly
  • prices in shops increased
  • increase in prices meant people were spending their wages quicker
• impact of hyperinflation:

  • debts gone
  • fixed pensions worthless
  • savings worthless
  • blamed government
  • small business collapsed