collapse of democracy, 1930-33 Flashcards
LO: failure of Weimar democracy, economic problems (Wall Street Crash), failure of coalition govts, rise of Nazi party and Hitler, the appeal of Nazi party, role of Hindenburg and the elite (70 cards)
1925 presidential election
President Ebert died unexpectedly in February 1925
2 rounds of voting → Paul von Hindenburg won
what was Hindenburg’s role in WW2?
field marshal and military dictator 1916-18 → won victory of Battle of Tannenberg on Eastern Front. Coined the term ‘stab in the back’ after war
how did Hindenburg accept the post of president?
reluctantly → not a democrat and supported monarchy
what was Hindenburg called during his presidency
‘Ersatzkaiser’ = ‘Substitute Emperor’.
how did Hindenburg perform his presidential functions?
he performed his duties and was loyal to the Weimar constitution
what was the reaction of nationalists and respectable conservatives at the fact that Hindenburg did not turn to the right after becoming president?
nationalists who hoped for a return of the monarchy or a military-backed system were left disappointed, BUT respectable conservatives were content that Hindenburg’s presidency lent some credibility to the Weimar Constitution
what were Hindenburg’s political views?
he was a right wing sympathiser, and had no great sympathy for the Republic or what it stood for. many in his inner circle were anti-republican in outlook and from military backgrounds
what is ‘stab in the back’ in German (term)
Dolchstoss
who was the first major figure to articulate the stab in the back theory
Hindenburg
what did supporters of this theory argue and who were they?
conservative-nationalists, argued that the German army was not militarily defeated in WW1 but instead the war was lost due to the betrayal by unpatriotic forces within Germany
who were the november criminals?
those who signed the Armistice and were blamed for overthrowing the monarchy and replacing it with a republic
which groups made up the november criminals according to conservative nationalists?
pacifists, socialists, democrats and Jews
what was the economic impact of the Wall Street Crash in October 1929?
Dawes Plan 1924 → crash made US demand for the repayment of loans
General worldwide demand for exports collapsed
Drop in prices and wages
Sharp rise in number of bankrupcies
give 3 statistics to show the economic impact of the great depression on Germany
In 1931, 5 major baks and 20,000 businesses collapsed
Unemployed rose to above 2 million between 1929-30
By the start of 1932 unemployment had reached 6.1 million
how did may ordinary Germans now view the Weimar Republic?
for many germans it seemed that society itself was breaking down uncontrollably. They lost faith in democracy and turned to the more extreme parties
why did the economic depression help bring about the end of the WR?
there was a lack of confidence that weakened the republic’s position in its hour of need and the democratic basis of its govt was not sufficiently well established
how many chancellors were there from 1930-33 before Hitler (name them), and what was the impacy of these frequent changes?
4 chancellors → Herman Mullen, Heinrich Bruning, Franz von Papen, and Kurt von Schleicher
The frequent changes made govt even more unstable and parties found it increasingly difficult to work together
what was the coalition between 1928-30?
Muller’s Grand Coalition
who was Herman Mullen?
chancellor after election of May 1928.
Social democrat who failed to address the govt’s internal divisions
why did he end up resigning?
by march 1930 he was unable to maintain a majority in the Reichstag due to coalition divisions over how to tackle the large deficit in the new national insurance scheme that had been created by the sudden rise in unemployment → SPD wanted to boost contributions in order to maintain the same level of welfare payments, but the more pro-business DVP wanted to make cuts
who was chancellor and which party between 1930-32
Heinrich Bruning → Centre Party (at the time second largest party in Reichstag)
what did Bruning’s govt represent
a key step towards the end of democratic govt
why did Bruning’s govt contribute to the erosion of parliamentary democracy? (2 reasons)
- a small order of conservative nationalistic advisers to Hindenburg manouevred Bruning into his post and encouraged use of Article 48
- the way Bruning dealt with burgeoning economic crisis brought about a political crisis. He proposed cuts in govt spending to achieve a balanced budget and keep inflation down, but Reichstag voted against budget by 256-193 in July 1930 BUT he went through it anyway and dissolved Reichstag in Sept 1930
which party made a breakthrough in the snap election of September 1930?
Nazi party (NSDAP) → got 107 seats
