Topic 1 - The Weimar Republic

• What were the 4 stakes of the Treaty of Versailles?

  Land - Land was taken from Germany such as Alsace-Lorraine and the Rhineland

  Army - Limited to 100,000 troops

  Money - Reparations cost £ 6.6 billion

  Blame - Germany took all the blame for starting the war
• What was Dolchtoss?


  -Otherwise known as the stab in the back theory

  -People blamed President Ebert and the government for stabbing them in the back by signing the treaty

  -Ebert and the government were called the november criminals
• How did the Weimar Constitution work?

  President -> Chancellor who is chosen from Reichstag -> Reichstag elected by the people using proportional representation (only accepted men and women over 20)
• How does proportional representation work?

  -10 votes = 1 seat

  -The party with the most seats form the government
• Who was president for Germany during the war?

  Kaiser Willhelm
• When does Willhelm abdicate and Ebert takes over?


  1918
• What is the left wing opposition to the Weimar Republic?

  -Communists/Spartacists

  -Led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg

  -Planned to overthrow Ebert
• What is the right wing opposition to the Weimar Republic?

  -Fascists/Freikorp

  -Led by Wolfgang Kapp and Ehrhardt

  -Siezed Berlin during the Kapp Putsch
• What does France do in 1923?

  They invade the Ruhr because they don't believe that Germany can't pay the reparations
• How does Germany's reaction to France invading the Ruhr begin hyperinflation?

  Goverment tells workers to strike --> They need to print more money --> Prices and wages rapidly rise --> Money loses value --> More money is printed --> Money becomes worthless
• How does Gustav Stresemann save the economy?

  -He introduced the Rentenmark as a temporary currency in 1923

  -He makes the Dawes plan

  -He signs the Locarno pact
• What was the Dawes plan?

  -Made in 1924

  -A deal with the US where they provided loans for Germany

  -Germany started paying the reparation at £1 billion per year which was more realistic and manageable
• What was the Locarno pact?

  -Signed in 1925

  -Agreed to keep the existing borders between Germany France and Belgium
• Who were the SA?

  -Brownshirts

  -Protected Nazi party meetings and break up opponents' meetings

  -Led by Ernst Rohm
• When did Hitler take over the Nazi party?

  1921
• What was article 48?


  It gives the president incredible power over Parliament
• What was the Munich Putsch?

  -The Nazis attempted to take over Munich

  -16 Nazis and 4 police died

  -Hitler was sentenced to 5 years in prison

  -While in prison he wrote 'Mein Kampf'

  -He ended up only serving 9 months in prison