weimar government

• What were the dates of the First World War?

  1914-1918
• Who was the German leader throughout the war?

  Kaiser Wilhelm
• What did Kaiser Wilhelm do on 9th November 1918?

  He abdicated
• What was the dominant house in the German parliament called?

  The Reichstag
• What was the dominant house in the German parliament called?

  The Reichstag
• Who was the first German Chancellor after the Kaiser's abdication?

  Ebert
• to which political party did this Chancellor belong?

  SPD
• what did Matthias Erzberger do on 11th November 1918?

  he signed the armistice on behalf of Ebert, ending the First World War
• how did Ebert increase people's confidence in the new Republic?

  kept civil servants from the days of the Kaiser Did not reform the army Assured industry that no land would be seized nor would private industries be nationalised Won the support of the Trade Unions
• when was the temporary Council of People's Representatives formed?

  10th November 1918
• what replaced the Council of People's Representatives?

  the National Assembly
• when did the new National Assembly meet for the first time?

  February 1919
• why was the new government known as the "Weimar" government?


  First meeting of National Assembly was in town of Weimar because of unrest in Berlin
• When was the new Weimar Constitution agreed?

  July 1919
• Which position was at the top of the Weimar Constitution?

  the president
• What were the two parliamentary houses of the new Weimar Constitution called?

  reichstag and Reichsrat
• how old did you have to be to be able to vote in the Weimar Constitution?

  21
• What is the name given to the method by which members were elected to the Reichstag?

  proportional representation
• what was a key weakness of Proportional Representation?

  t usually led to a coalition government as no single party had enough seats to hold a majority
• what was Article 48?

  In times of crisis, Chancellor could ask President to pass laws without the consent of Reichstag
• how did the Armistice affect people's opinion of the Weimar Government?

  weimar politicians signed the Armistice and so were associated with surrender and Treaty of Versailles
• what was the ‘diktat’?

  germans felt the harsh terms of Treaty of Versailles had been imposed on them
• what was Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles?

  the war guilt cause
• what four letter word is often used to remember the four key terms of the Treaty of Versailles?

  lAMB L(and), A(rmy), M(oney), B(lame)
• how big were the reparation payments Germany had to pay to the victorious allies?

  £6.6 billion
• what was the size of the German army reduced to by the Treaty of Versailles?

  100,000 men (0 planes, 0 submarines, 6 battleships)
• what percentage of its European territory did Germany lose?

  13% (and 10% of its population)
• What was the ‘Dolchstoss’?

  Idea that Germany had been "stabbed in the back" by its own politicians
• What impact did the Treaty of Versailles have on Germany's economy?

  Damaged economy even further
• Why were Weimar politicians referred to as "November Criminals"?

  they had surrendered in November 1918
• what was the name of the political group at the far left of German politics?

  KPD (German Communist Party)
• what far-Left group led an uprising in Berlin in January 1919?

  spartacists
• Who led the Spartacists?

  Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg
• What is the name for the units of demobilised soldiers formed to put down the Spartacist uprising?

  The Freikorps
• What was the name of the uprising by the Freikorps in Berlin in 1920?

  Kapp Putsch
• What was one of the causes of the failure of the Kapp Putsch?

  Workers went on strike, so essential services stopped
• What did Germany fail to do in December 1922?

  Send coal to France from the Ruhr (breaking the reparations agreement in the Treaty of Versailles)
• What did France do in January 1923?

  Invaded and occupied the Ruhr
• What did the French occupation of the Ruhr lead to?

  inflation
• How did the Weimar government try to deal with inflation?

  print more money