1 Political and Governmental change

Question 1

What was the Council of People’s Representatives (Nov 1918)?

Answer 1

Temporary post-WWI gov led by SPD & USPD; made Ebert-Groener Pact with army to suppress communism.

Question 2

What was the Ebert-Groener Pact?

Answer 2

Agreement between Ebert and the army: support for gov in exchange for crushing communist revolts.

Question 3

What reforms did the Council introduce after WWI?

Answer 3

8-hour workday, union rights, aid for ex-soldiers/unemployed, and elections for a National Assembly.

Question 4

What was the Spartacist Uprising (Jan 1919)?

Answer 4

Communist revolt led by Rosa Luxemburg & Karl Liebknecht; crushed by Freikorps.

Question 5

What were the consequences of the Spartacist Uprising?

Answer 5

Deepened the split between SPD (moderate left) and KPD (far left).

Question 6

What did the Weimar Constitution (July 1919) establish?

Answer 6

A democratic republic with PR voting, a president, chancellor needing Reichstag support, and Article 48.

Question 7

Why was Article 48 dangerous?

Answer 7

Allowed the president to rule by emergency decree — a future tool for dictatorship.

Question 8

What was the Treaty of Versailles (1919) impact on Weimar?

Answer 8

Massive resentment: war guilt, reparations, loss of land; republic seen as “November Criminals.”

Question 9

What political instability existed after WWI?

Answer 9

Freikorps violence, uprisings, and weak coalition governments due to proportional representation.

Question 10

How did PR weaken the Weimar government?

Answer 10

Too many small parties led to unstable coalitions — 9 in just 4 years (1919–1923).

Question 11

How did Stresemann stabilise Weimar politics (1923–1929)?

Answer 11

How did Stresemann stabilise Weimar politics (1923–1929)?

Question 12

What was the Rentenmark (1923)?

Answer 12

New currency that ended hyperinflation.

Question 13

What did the Dawes Plan (1924) do?

Answer 13

Brought US loans to rebuild the German economy.

Question 14

What was the Young Plan (1929)?

Answer 14

Reduced reparation payments and extended the timeline.

Question 15

How did Weimar foreign policy improve (1925–1926)?

Answer 15

Locarno Pact and entry into the League of Nations boosted Germany’s international status.

Question 16

What were limitations of Weimar’s success?

Answer 16

No reform of Article 48, dependence on US loans, and Stresemann died in 1929.

Question 17

What was the Great Depression’s effect on Weimar?

Answer 17

US loans ended, unemployment soared, businesses collapsed — public lost faith in democracy.

Question 18

How did coalition governments fail after 1930?

Answer 18

SPD refused coalitions; chancellors relied on Article 48; Reichstag was ineffective.

Question 19

Who ruled mainly by decree from 1930–32?

Answer 19

Chancellor Brüning: 109 emergency decrees, only 29 laws via Reichstag.

Question 20

How did presidential rule replace democracy?

Answer 20

Hindenburg frequently replaced chancellors; Reichstag sidelined.

Question 21

Why did extremist parties gain support after 1929?

Answer 21

Economic despair and political failure drove people to the Nazis (right) and KPD (left).

Question 22

What was the Nazi SA?

Answer 22

Paramilitary wing used to intimidate opponents and spread Nazi influence.

Question 23

When did the Nazis become the largest Reichstag party?

Answer 23

July 1932 elections — 230 seats.

Question 24

Why didn’t Hindenburg appoint Hitler in 1932?

Answer 24

Distrusted him, preferred conservative elites like von Papen and von Schleicher.

Question 25

What happened in the 1932 Presidential Election?

Answer 25

Hindenburg re-elected with 19.4M votes; Hitler got 13.4M.

Question 26

What was the Emergency Decree (Feb 1933)?

Answer 26

Issued after Reichstag Fire; suspended civil rights and allowed arrests of political opponents

Question 27

How did the March 1933 election help Hitler?

Answer 27

Nazis won 288 seats; with DNVP support and KPD banned, secured majority.

Question 28

What was the Enabling Act (March 1933)?

Answer 28

Allowed Hitler to pass laws without Reichstag — legal foundation of dictatorship.

Question 29

When did Germany become a one-party state?

Answer 29

July 1933 — all other parties banned.

Question 30

What was the Night of the Long Knives (June 1934)?

Answer 30

Hitler ordered SS to kill SA leaders (including Röhm) and rivals — around 400 killed.

Question 31

Why did Hitler eliminate the SA leadership?

Answer 31

To secure army support and remove a radical threat. Night of Long Knives caused army to swore loyalty to hitler

Question 32

What happened after Hindenburg’s death (Aug 1934)?

Answer 32

Hitler became Führer, merging Chancellor and President roles.

Question 33

What happened to cabinet meetings under Hitler?

Answer 33

They stopped — avoided collective decision-making.

Question 34

How did the Nazis centralise government?

Answer 34

Abolished Länder powers (1934); created one-party, unitary state.

Question 35

What was the role of the Gestapo?

Answer 35

Secret police with unchecked power to arrest anyone for dissent.

Question 36

How did the SS influence law and order?

Answer 36

Ran its own court system and controlled concentration camps.

Question 37

How did Nazi ideology override law?

Answer 37

Nazi "thinking" often replaced legal procedure — terror over justice.

Question 38

What happened to SS membership between 1939 and 1944?

Answer 38

It grew from 240,000 to over 1 million as the SS expanded its role in government and racial policy enforcement.

Question 39

What role did Gauleiters play during the war?

Answer 39

They became Reich Defence Commissioners, controlling civil defence, rationing, and the Volkssturm militia.

Question 40

Why did central government control weaken during the war?

Answer 40

Germany's territorial expansion and the 1944 Total War Decree gave more power to local Gauleiters.

Question 41

What was the August 1944 Total War Decree?

Answer 41

It gave Gauleiters control over local bureaucracy and industry to mobilize all resources for war.

Question 41

What was the General Government in Poland?

Answer 41

A Nazi-run colony governed by Hans Frank where Poles and other groups were deported and enslaved.

Question 42

How was Nazi racial policy enforced in occupied territories?

Answer 42

Through SS-led expulsion, forced labour, segregation, and mass murder of non-Germans.

Question 43

What happened to Polish leadership under Nazi occupation?

Answer 43

Many were executed to suppress resistance and weaken national identity

Question 44

Why was the invasion of the USSR in June 1941 a mistake?

Answer 44

It led to a prolonged two-front war that drained German resources.

Question 45

How did the USA's entry into the war in December 1941 affect Germany?

Answer 45

It intensified the global conflict and further stretched German military forces.

Question 46

What did 'total war' mean for German civilians?

Answer 46

Increased rationing, banned leisure activities, evacuations, and youth conscription.

Question 47

How did the Nazis respond to internal hardship and resistance?

Answer 47

They expanded SS/Gestapo powers, increased propaganda, and conscripted boys as young as 12.

Question 48

What marked the collapse of Nazi Germany in 1945?

Answer 48

D-Day invasion, Hitler’s suicide on 30 April, Goebbels’ suicide on 1 May, and total governmental collapse.