Entire Section 1: Early Years of the Weimar Republic Flashcards
What was the impact of Territorial losses for Germany as a result of the TOV? What did Germany lose?
1) The treaty removed over 13% of German territory and all Germany’s overseas colonies.
2) Germany lost colonies such as Alsace-Lorraine, Eupen and Malmedy and more.
3) Germany also lost 75% of its iron ore, 68% of its zinc ore, 26% of its coal and 15% of its arable land.
What was the impact of the Disarmament of Germany as a result of the TOV?
1) Germany had to surrender all heavy weapons and dismantle fortifications in the Rhineland and on the island of Heligoland.
2) Conscription to the German armed forces was forbidden and the German army was restricted to a max of 100,000 men and was forbidden to use tanks or gas.
3) German navy was limited to 15,000 men. It was allowed a maximum of 6 battleships but no submarines and small number of coastal defence vessels.
4) Germany was forbidden from having an air force.
What was the impact of War Guilt as a result of the TOV?
1) Under Article 231 of the treaty, Germany had to accept responsibility for starting the war.
2) The war guilt clause made Germany liable to pay reparations to the Allies to cover the costs of damage suffered in the war.
3) The final amount of reparations was fixed by a commission in 1921 at £6.6 billion.
4) Germany also had to hand over to the Allies most of its merchant shipping fleet, railway locomotives and rolling stock.
What did the TOV mean for the Rhineland and for the Saarland?
1) The left bank of the Rhine and a 50km strip on the right bank was permanently demilitarised. An Allied army occupation was based in the Rhineland to ensure Germany fulfilled its treaty obligations.
2) - The Saarland, which contained rich reserves of coal was separated from Germany and was placed under the control of the League of Nations for 15 years.
- Germany would also supply France, Belgium and Italy with free coal as part of the reparation agreement.
Were there any other terms to the TOV?
1) Austria was forbidden from uniting with Germany.
2) Germany was forbidden from joining the new League of Nations.
3) Kaiser and other Germans were to be put on trial for war crimes.
How did the German public react to the TOV?
1) The TOV was greeted with horror and disbelief by the majority of Germans.
2) Came as a profound shock to Germans, since in early 1918, victory for Germany seemed to be a matter of time. Civilians and ordinary soldiers were not told how desperate the military situation was.
3) There was almost universal resentment at the harsh terms and few Germans would accept moral responsibility for fulfilling the treaty.
What did the German objections to the TOV primarily focus on?
1) War guilt clause was seen as unjust national humiliation since Germans believed that they had been forced into a just war against the Allies, who had attempted to encircle Germany.
2) Reparations were a cause of anger, Germans felt that the level was too high and would cripple the German economy.
3) Allied occupation of Western Germany, and the French control of the Saarland coal mines led to friction.
4) Disarming of Germany and its exclusion from the league of nations were seen as unjust discrimination against a once proud and powerful nation.
Provide 5 arguments as to why the German reaction to the TOV was based on unrealistic expectations.
1) President Wilson’s 14 points & the armistice agreed that Alsace-Lorraine would be returned to France, and that a new state of Poland with access to the sea would be created, and that considerable German disarmament would be expected.
2) Treaty was not as severe as it might have been. The French wanted to make sure that the German’s could never threaten them again, but other Allies resisted this as they wanted Germany to remain strong enough to withstand the spread of communism in Russia.
3) The treaty did not punish the Germans as much as the Germans had punished Russia in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918.
4) Germany’s war aims of 1914 had included annexation of territory from its enemies, the expansion of Germany’s colonial empire and a very severe reparations bill to be paid by the Allies. If the result had been the other way round, reparations for the Allies would be just as bad.
5) Reparations bill was much lower than demanded by the French.
What was the reaction from pro-republican parties to the TOV?
1) The SPD and its allies in government in 1919 were well aware that signing it would rebound upon them.
2) They also took the view that the most sensible course of action in the coming years was to outwardly comply with the terms of the treaty whilst negotiating modifications to it. (Policy of fulfilment).
3) The TOV turned some people against the Weimar Republic. The treaty caused political demoralisation at the very centre of government, associating the Republic with weakness and failure.
What was the reaction from the right to the TOV?
1) Right-wing resentment of the Republic was intensified by the signing of the TOV. Germans could not accept military defeat, nor the establishment of a new republic.
2) The signing of the peace settlement was the final straw and led many to join nationalist groups in attempts to overthrow the Republic.
3) In the eyes of extreme nationalists, the politicians who now governed Germany lacked any legitimacy because they had betrayed the ‘fatherland’ several times.- in the dethroning of the Kaiser, the signing of the armistice and the acceptance of the TOV.
What did the right wing call the government that signed the TOV and what did they come up with as an excuse?
1) The right wing blamed the government in charge of betraying the Fatherland and therefore they called them the ‘November Criminals’.
2) The fact that the politicians had betrayed the fatherland became known as the ‘stab in the back’ myth. This myth was used as justification for continued nationalist attacks on the Republic.
Who did the ‘stab in the back’ myth appeal to?
1) It was particularly appealing to ex-soldiers who had suffered in fighting for what they regarded as a noble cause and had then experienced insults and humiliation when they returned to a Germany in the throes of revolution.
Were all soldiers who returned to Germany hostile to the new republic?
1) No. Many working class soldiers supported the new democratic system. They had been part of trade unions and supported the SPD.
2) Others gravitated to communism and some could not adjust to civilian life since they found difficulty in finding employment and yearned for the purpose that the war years had given them.
How did the British react to the TOV?
1) When Prime Minister Lloyd George returned to London after signing the Treaty, he was given a rapturous reception from a large crowd.
2) The British public were mostly satisfied that Germany had lost its overseas empire, along with its large fleet and would be unable to threaten European peace for a generation.
3) However, Lloyd George privately believed that Germany should not be sp weak so that it couldn’t resist the western expansion of the USSR, and he wanted Germany to become a strong trading partner with Britain again.
1) What did British John Maynard Keynes describe the TOV as?
2) What did French Marshal Foch describe the TOV as?
1) “ Was one of the most serious acts of political unwisdom for which our statesmen have ever been responsible”
2) “This is not peace. It is an armistice for 20 years”
How did France react to the TOV?
1) The French felt that they had suffered the most out of all the combatant nations and they were determined to seek revenge at Versailles.
2) Despite the recovery of Alsace-Lorraine and the demilitarisation of Germany, there were many in France who regarded the treaty as being too lenient on Germany, and PM Clemenceau, who was blamed for making too many concessions, was defeated in the 1920 election.
How did the USA react to the TOV?
1) Reactions to the TOV were generally negative.
2) Widespread opinion that the TOV had been unfair on Germany and that Britain and France had used the TOV to enrich themselves at Germany’s expense.
3) The Republicans in Congress opposed the treaty, leaving the USA to make a separate peace deal with Germany in 1921.
4) As a result, the USA refused to join the League of Nations, and in the 1920’s, retreated from involvement in European affairs.
How was the Weimar Republic established?
1) By the end of September 1918 it was clear that Germany was on the brink of defeat. In order for Germany to be able to a better peace deal with the Allies, General Ludendorff advocated a partial democratisation of the political system in Germany.
Explain what the October Reforms were. What was done?
1) In October 1918, following the recommendations of Ludendorff the Kaiser began a series of reforms that effectively ended his autocratic rule.
2) -Appointed Prince Max of Baden as Chancellor of Germany.
- The Chancellor was to be responsible to the Reichstag and he established a new government based on the majority parties in the Reichstag, including the SPD.
- The armed forces were put under the control of the civil government.
When did Chancellor Max write to President Wilson asking for an armistice?
1) October 3rd 1918.
How did the German public react when they heard about the armistice?
1) The news that Max’s government was asking for an armistice was a shattering blow to the moral of the German people and to their armed forces.
2) The peace note was an admission that Germany had lost the war, and was the first occasion on which the German people had learned the truth about their country’s hopeless military situation.
What effectively catalysed the Revolution of 1918?
1) When the German Navy’s high command ordered ships to attack British ships,
on 30th October, the crews of two cruisers refused to obey orders. This naval mutiny was the beginning of a much broader revolution.
Provide 4 events that took place during the November revolution
1) Unrest in the navy spread to the main German base at Kiel on the 3rd of November 1918, where sailors mutinied against their officers and took control of the base.
2) On the following day the revolt spread to the city and workers and soldiers’ councils were setup. Despite efforts from the government to meet the mutineers’ demands, the revolt spread to more cities.
3) Once the authority of military officers, government officials and police had been successfully challenged, on November 8th a republic was proclaimed in Bavaria which was seen as the ‘decisive moment’ in the Revolution.
4) On November 9th the SPD called on workers in Berlin to join a general strike to force the Kaiser to abdicate. They also threatened to withdraw support from Prince Max’s government unless the Kaiser abdicated within 24 hours.
