Weimar republic 1

• What was the impact of WWI on Germany ?

  2 million troops were killed and 4 million were wounded . Government debts increased from 50 billion marks to 150 billion marks . More than 750000 Germans died due to food shortages .
• When was the German republic declared ?

  On the 9th November 1918 . Friedrich Ebert suspended the old reichstag and formed the council of people's representatives as a temporary measure . The revolutinary period continued until August 1919 when the Weimar republic was established .
• The armistice

  It was signed on the 11th November 1918 and was the first major decision of Ebert's republic .
• The head of state

  The president was head of the Weimar republic and was elected by the people every 7 years . They had some political powers e.g choosing the chancellor and could suspend the constitution and pass laws by decree .
• The government

  The chancellor was the head of the government and chose all government ministers . The cabinet were the main decision making body of the government .
• The Parliament

  It was made up of two houses : the Reichstag and Reichstrat . Normally , all laws had to pass through both houses . They used proportional representation .
• Reichstag

  The more powerful of the two houses . It controlled taxation and was directly elected by the people at least onece every 4 years .
• Reichstrat

  It was elected every 4 years and represented the regions of Germany . Each region sent a certain number of representatives depending on its size .
• Electorate

  Consisted of all men and women aged 21 or older .
• When was the Weimar constitution drawn up ?

  On the 31st July 1919 in the town of Weimar as there was too much unrest in Berlin .
• Strengths of the Weimar constitution .

  Proportional representation ensured small parties had a fair share of seats . Women could vote and the voting age was reduced from 25 to 21 . The central government was more powerful than before but local governemnts still retained power in the regions . The Reichstrat could regulate the power of the Reichstag by delaying laws .
• Weaknesses of the Weimar constitution .

  Proportional representation led to coalition governments that were unstable or found it difficult to have strong policies and often fell apart . Lack of strong government led to weakness in a crisis that that ended up with the president passing laws without prior consent of the Reichstag . Article 48 of the constitution enabled the president to do this . It was not the choice of the people so wasn't popular .
• what were the leaders of the republic labelled as ?

  November criminals
• when was the treaty of versailles signed ?

  28th June 1919
• which part of the TOV did the German people hate the most ?

  Article 231 , known as the war guilt clause made Germany accept the blame for the war .
• How much reparations did Germany have to pay ?

  £6600 million to be paid in yearly instalements to the Allies to repair the damage of their countries .
• How did th TOV limit military forces ?

  The army was limited to 100000 , the navy was limited to 6 battleships , 6 cruisers , 12 destroyers , 12 torpedo boats and no submarines . The air force was banned . The Rhineland was demilitarised .
• Land losses due to the TOV

  Alsace Lorraine was lost to France . Overall , Germany lost 13% of its European territory . They also lost 11 colonies .
• The stab in the back theory

  Many Germans never believed the army had been defeated so felt betrayed by politicians as they were forced to surrender .
• The Spartacists

  They were left wing and came from the independant socialist party . They had backing from the Soviet Union and were led by Rosa Luxemberg and Karl Liebknecht . They were based in Berlin .
• The Freikorps

  They were right wing and made up of ex soldiers who kept thier weapons . They had 250000 men in march 1919 and were organised by the regular army .
• The Spartacists revolt

  In January 1919 the Spartacists took over the government's newspaper and telegraph bureau and tried to organise a general strike in Berlin . The Weimar government sent the Freikorps to put down the revolt . There were several days of street fighting in Berlin before the revolt ended and the leaders were shot .
• The Kapp Putsch was a right wing coup in March 1920 . Freikorps troops fearing unemployment marched on Berlin . Ebert asked the head of the army to resist but he refused . A nationalist politician Wolfgang Kapp was put in charge and the Weimar government fled Berlin and organised the trade unions to go on strike . The chaos caused meant Kapp was forced to flee and the Weimar ministers could return .
• Political assasinations

  From 1919 - 1923 politicians were worried about assasinations . 376 political assasinations took place in the early years of the republic . Some right wing extremists used the murders to weaken the new republic . Conservative judges were sympathetic to the conservative cause and gave them light punishments .
• In January 1923 , French troops invaded the Ruhr to take reparations payments in goods and raw materials . Germans workers went on strike . 80% of German coal , iron and steel reserves were in the Ruhr . The Weimar government printed more money to pay striking workers and make up for loss of coal , steel and iron production . By November 1923 the German mark was worthless .
• Negative effects of hyperinflation

  Some people could not afford essentials as wages did not rise as quickly as prices . Some businesses went bankrupt . People with fixed monthly incomes e.g pensioners suffered the most . Savings became worthless , affecting the middle class the most . People blamed the Weimar government .
• Positive effects of hyperinflation

  Farmers were paid more for food . People could pay off loans and mortgages . Fixed rent became very cheap . Foreign visitors could buy more for their money .
• In November 1923 , Stresseman set up the Rententenbank and issued the new currency called the Rentenmark . The value of these notes were tied to the price of gold and were backed by German industrial plants and agricultural land . In August 1924 the Reichsbank was given control of the new currency and it was renamed the Reichsmark .
• The Dawes plan

  It was designed by Charles Dawes , an American banker in 1924 so Germany could pay its reparations . Insatalments were temporarily reduced to £50 million per year and US banks agreed to make loans to German industry .
• The young plan

  It was set up in August 1929 . The total reparations debt was reduced from £ 6.6 billion to £ 2 billion . Payments could be made over a longer time , up til 1988 , meaning lower taxes for Germans .
• Locarno pact

  It was signed in 1925 and was an agreemant between Britain , France , Germany , Italy and Belgium . Germany agreed to its new border with France , the Rhineland would be permanently demilitarised and German membership in the league of nations was discussed .
• League of Nations

  An international body that hoped to discuss world problems to avoid war . It was set up in 1920 and Germany joined in 1926 .
• Kellog Briand pact

  Signed in 1928 , it was an agreement between 62 nations and was committed to countries avoiding the use of war to acheive foreign policy objectives .