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History-Germany > Politcal And Governmental Change 1918-33 > Flashcards

Politcal And Governmental Change 1918-33 Flashcards

1
Q

What was the First Reich?

A

Holy Roman Empire, 1800 and 400 states each with own ruler and proud of its independence.

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2
Q

German confederation in 1815

A

After the Holy Roman empires collapsed, number of German states reduced to 39 and the grouping of the states gave it this name. Germany and Austria competed for leadership

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3
Q

Second Reich

A

the name given to the unified German state that was established following Prussia’s victory in the Franco-Prussian War 1870- 1871

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4
Q

What is a constitution?

A

Structure of what to do-sets put a list of rules where everything is in one place, legal text

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5
Q

What were the 3 reasons why a constitution was necessary?

A
  1. Germany’s main political parties demanded a new constitution which gave them greater say in he management of the country.
  2. ‘Revolution from Above’ : German Kaiser resigned = government led by Prince Max of Baden (new chancellor) It was hoped tha the New Democratic government would encourage sympathy from allies so germany would be treated fairly in peace negotiations.
  3. Military wanted a new constitution as they thought the new government would be blamed for losing the war instead of them
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6
Q

SPD

A

Social Democratic Party
Leader=Ebert
-represents working class
-supports democracy and opposes extreme left wing ideas
-supports social reform

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7
Q

USPD

A

Independent Socialists
Luxembourg and Liebknecht
-rejected democracy
-opposed ToV, influenced by USSR

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8
Q

KPD

A

German Communist Party
Thalman
-working class with ex members of USPD
-Opposed ToV, influenced by USSR
-hostile to the Republic

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9
Q

Z

A

Centre party
Heinrich
Bruning
Frank Von Papen
-German Catholics
-supports the Republic
-supports social reform but is socially conservative (against abortion, contraception)
-supports policy of fulfilment of ToV

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10
Q

DDP

A

German Democratic Party
Pruess
-represents business interests, middle class, intellectuals
-supports republic, social reform, policy of fulfilment with ToV

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11
Q

DVP

A

German People’s Party
Stresemann
-initially suspicious of Republic but strongly supports after 1924
-represents businesses, industrialists, white collar workers
-hostile to ToV but committed to policy of fulfilment

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12
Q

DNVP

A

German National People’s Party
Hugenburg
-hostile to republic, wanted monarchy to return
-conservative, anti-socialist, anti-Semitic
-rejected ToV

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13
Q

NSDAP

A

National Socialist German Workers party
Hitler
-extreme right wing, anti republican, anti-Semitic, strongly nationalist

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14
Q

Old constitution- Head of State

A

-Kaiser = inherited position
-appointed and dismissed chancellor and other ministers
- could declare martial law and rule without Reichstag if ‘public security’ was threatened

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15
Q

Weimar Constitution- Head of State

A

-president had to be 35 or over
-elected by men and women over 20 every 7 years, could be re-elected
-could appoint and dismiss chancellor and other ministers
-could rule without Reichstag in emergency (Article 48)

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16
Q

Old Constitution-Reichstag

A

-Elected by all men 25 or over
-no power over ministers
-laws needed approval of majority of reichstag deputies

17
Q

Weimar constitution- Reichstag

A

-elected by men and women 20 and over
-chancellor and other ministers were responsible to the Reichstag
-laws required approval of majority of Reichstag deputies

18
Q

Old Constitution-States

A

-constitution starts ‘his majesty…’
-Laws had to be passed by Bundestag which represented states
-right to vote in many states (Prussia) was based on wealth

19
Q

Weimar constitution-states

A

-constitution begins ‘the German People’
-Reichsrat replaced Budesrat, still represented states but ad less power
-everyone aged 20 or over could vote in state elections

20
Q

Old constitution-civil liberties

A

-basic rights: common citizenship, nominal equality
-no mention of social rights

21
Q

Weimar constitution-civil liberties

A

-‘All Germans are equal before the law’
-social rights e.g travel, free speech, religious freedom

22
Q

What voting system did the Weimar Republic use?

A

Proportional representation (party gains seats in proportion to number of votes)

23
Q

Emergency Powers (Article 48)

A

In an emergency, president could make laws without the Reichstag’s consent. After 1930 this is being used

24
Q

Federal System

A

Political power divided between the national and state governments. The 17 states were responsible for police, education and law and order in their areas. Had their own state assemblies or landtag. Laws passed by Reichstag overruled those passed by Landers

25
Q

Key ways the constitution strengthened the republic

A

-democratic freedom
-protection of women and children
-provide for unemployed

26
Q

Key ways constitution weakened the republic

A

-Distance between voting public and politicians
-split between political parties which could undermine democracy (Nazis happy about)

27
Q

How far was the failure of Weimar due to polices parties? Political divisions

A

-KPD would not cooperate with other parties
-USPD split from SPD over funding the war
This resulted in left wing parties having to form coalitions with centrist and right wing parties or refuse to take part. The coalitions were unstable and frequently collapsed. Caused the use of emergency powers (e.g KPD anted general strike to oppose hitler but SPD opposed this.)
Ebert used emergency powers over 100 times in the economic crisis of 1923-1924

28
Q

How far was the failure of Weimar due to political parties? Moderate parties were weak

A

-DVP managed only 10% of the vote in 1924, less than 5% from 1930 onwards
-DDP could not attract support, 18% share of vote dropped to less than 5% in 1928 and 1.0% in November 1932

29
Q

Failure of the republic was not due to political parties:

A

-able to put coalitions together that supported republic: one included DVP, centre party, SPD and DDP= based on trust of leaders.
1928 Muller formed coalition with the moderate parties
-also survived due to support of 3 main political parties=SPD, German Democrats and the ZP

30
Q

How did President Ebert strengthen or weaken the Republic?

A

+effective democratic politician
+made compromises with the army and was prepared to work largely with right wing civil service, judiciary and politicians
-acceptance of Versailles and reparations was unpopular
-used emergency powers too much (1923-1924)

31
Q

How did Stresemann strengthen/ weaken the Weimar Republic?

A

+oversaw major economic reform 1923-1924=saved Germany’s economy
+co-operated with France and Britain, prepared to use economic influence
-foreign polices were unpopular with right wing.

32
Q

How did president Hindenburg strengthen/weaken the Weimar Republic?

A

+presidency gave Germans a reason to support the regime
+1928=appointed SPD leader Muller as German chancellor = nationalist + socialist issues could be overcome
-strategy on western front was disastrous but this was kept from German people who viewed him as a hero

33
Q

How did Muller strengthen/weaken the Weimar Republic?

A

+leader of moderate coalition=success such as unemployment insurance, reduction in reparations, introduction of the young plan
-coalition only lasted 2 years as he failed tog et agreement over unemployment payments in 1930=another election where extremists did well.
-reputation weaken from signing ToV

34
Q

How did Bruning strengthen/weaken the Weimar Republic? (Leader of ZP)

A

+highly educated and sophisticated understanding of economic theory
-implemented deflationary policies, cut unemployment benefits, introduced spending cuts = worsened economic crisis in 1930
-lost support from Hindenburg and General Schleicher in 1930

35
Q

What is an institution?

A

Part of state which carries out policies and purposes of government = army, judiciary, civil service

36
Q

What was the Freikorps?

A

Ex-army soldiers who hated the communists

37
Q

How did the army and the Freikorps undermine the republic?

A

-army took government jobs which had been dominated by former soldiers
-Freikorps fought alongside the army, destabilising the republic in the long term
-used violence

38
Q

How did the judiciary weaken the Weimar Republic?

A

-accusation of the wrong people: Helffereich accused Erzberger of fraud and corruption and Erzberger accused Helffereich of libel and took the case to court
-didn’t use their powers: finance minster Rathenau was murdered in 1922, law strengthened to deal with conspiracy and operation of extremist parties. No use of powers = law was by-passed completely by a new Bavarian special court, gangs responsible but one man brought to justice

History-Germany (10 decks)

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