german revolution and creation of weimar republic 1918-1919

Question 1

military defeat: naval blockades

Answer 1

severe effects of the british naval blockades led to nation wide shortages of food and materials. supples directed to army which resulted in overall low morale and discontent with war.

Question 2

military defeat: starvation

Answer 2

lack of food from british naval blockades led to 293,000 deaths from starvation and hypothermia. increased disease due to lack of food left people unable to work and provide for their families. increased tensions as gov were supposed to support them.

Question 3

military defeat: exhaustion

Answer 3

german high commands military plans for quick victory failed and germany fought a prolonged war on two fronts. growing futility and discontent with war situation.

Question 4

military defeat: USPD

Answer 4

radicals opposed to the war broke from SPD to form the USPD and reichstag voted 212: 126 for peace. whilst people were clearly upset with conditions, war continued.

Question 5

military defeat: USA

Answer 5

april 1917 saw the arrival of the USA in large numbers into war to fight against germany on western front. further demoralised troops as defeat became closer and closer.

Question 6

military defeat: treaty of brest-litovsk

Answer 6

march 1918 treaty of brest-litovsk- expansion of germany into russian territory. russia lost 1m square miles of land and much of its coal and iron stores. expansion of influence + raised tension

Question 7

military defeat: treaty of bucharest

Answer 7

1918 treaty of bucharest allowed german civil servants to veto decisions made by romanian cabinet ministers + fire romanian civil servants. stripped romania of its independance, expansion of influence.

Question 8

military defeat: keil mutiny

Answer 8

major revolt by sailors of the german high sees fleet. forced navy to call off final attack. sailors councils were set up similar to russian soviets. mutineers demanded political freedom and influence spread across germany.

Question 9

military defeat: ludendorff offensive

Answer 9

march 1918 new offensive to win the war ultimately failed due to vast influx of US troops - germany had lost all morale and motivation to win this war. ‘blackest day in for german army in history of the war’ - ludendorff

Question 10

military defeat: armistice

Answer 10

by september germanys allies requested an armistice and the hindenburg line was breached in sep 1918. germany now faced possibility of invasion + reichstag called for new gov that would have its confidence.

Question 11

revolution from above: parlimentary democracy

Answer 11

pressure from the threat of invasion and defeat in september influenced ludendorff decision into persuading the kaiser to transform the second reich into a parlimentary democracy. significant change in political structure.

Question 12

revolution from above: ludendorff armistice

Answer 12

in addition to new civilian gov he urged an immediate armistice that would renounce brest-litovsk treaty and continue naval blockade. he hoped new civilian gov would gain improved peace terms from allies and revert blame from generals to civilian gov - unaccountable + able to maintain powerful positions

Question 13

revolution from above: ludendorff to military staff quote

Answer 13

‘let them eat the broth they have prepared for us’

Question 14

revolution from above: stab in the back

Answer 14

belief that germanys undefeated army had been ‘stabbed in the back’ by unpatriotic and weak politicians who undermined the war effort. weimar democracy was associated with germanys underserved defeat and humiliation of peace treaty - weakened prospects for weimar democracy and reinforced hostility.

Question 15

revolution from above: was new civilian gov revolutionary

Answer 15

new gov under prince max of baden passed some reforms however its significance was lessened by the growing climate of discontent amoungst civilians after defeat in war.

Question 16

revolution from above: kaisers abdication

Answer 16

actions at keil and wilhelmsaven challenged authority of the state and in prevention of a revolution baden announced kaisers abdication and chancellorship was handed to ebert, declaring a republic.

Question 17

revolution from below: lee historiography

Answer 17

‘defeat in the war, disintegrating army and a radicalised left’

Question 18

revolution from below: eric d weitz historiography

Answer 18

‘revolution of 1918-19 spread from keil’

Question 19

revolution from below: aj nicholls + william carr similar historiography

Answer 19

carr - ‘revolutionary situation existed in germany but only after keil mutiny it can be said rev truly begun’ nicholls - ‘significant changed ony took place after the keil mutinys suggesting a revolution from below’

Question 20

revolution from below: badens ‘october reforms’

Answer 20

contributed to establishing a democracy however popular unrest was spreading rapidly and becoming increasingly violent so max baden handed over power to ebert and majority SPD.

Question 21

revolution from below: nov 7 workers council

Answer 21

on 7th september in munich a soldiers and workers council was set up which forced ludwig lll to abdicate - people were beginning to unionise and rise up against gov.

Question 22

revolution from below: 9 nov berlin

Answer 22

on 9th of november karl liebknecht declared a socialist republic in berlin.

Question 23

spartacist rising: 7 sept strike

Answer 23

7th september general strike called with 500,000 people participating in the strike. such large participation numbers suggest wide discontent across all of germany. leaders of the movment also plotted a coup against eberts gov

Question 24

spartacist rising: freikorps

Answer 24

ebert feared the idea of a bolshevik revolution and ordered freikorps (supported by the army) to crush the rising. leaders such as rosa luxemburg were killed as a result.

Question 25

spartacist rising: freikorps counter argument

Answer 25

whilst ebert feared that the communist rising would take germany by storm, most of the german population just wanted a period of normality and stability post war and wanted to restore order.

Question 26

spartacist rising: reliance on the army

Answer 26

communist uprising highlighted a relience on the army during moments of political instability and highlighted weakness in the government if they werent able to act on situations by themselves.

Question 27

spartacist rising: historiography

Answer 27

aj nicholls- 'ebert supported by most germans in ending the sparticus revolt weitz- 'ebert wanted to aviod a soviet style revolution as he believed it would bring economic chaos and political terror'

Question 28

ebert groener pact: 10 nov 1918

Answer 28

Ebert struck a deal with Groener (the new head of the army) which left the army officer corps intact and the army un-purged in return for army support for the new government. Thus, an opportunity for radical change was missed. The military elite were left in a strong position to undermine the republic.

Question 29

ebert groener pact: limited revolution

Answer 29

army continued to support the government stopping a soviet style revolution and countries elite civil service and judicary was left largely untouched suggesting that there was not a genuine revolution.

Question 30

ZAG revolutionary government: establishing rights

Answer 30

industrialists and trade unionists agreed to create a Central Working Association which established the principle of workers’ rights, trade union negotiating rights with binding arbitration on disputes and an eight-hour day. However, the structure of the economy remained unchanged. Capitalism was left intact.

Question 31

ZAG revolutionary government: was the ZAG truly revolutionary

Answer 31

Although the industry had not been taken over by the state on behalf of the people, ZAG was a revolutionary change not least because it meant that for the first time in Germany there was a radical shift of power away from industrialists to trade unions and the workers.

Question 32

new constitution: most democratic in the world

Answer 32

the weimar constitutionw as viewed as the most democratic constitution in the world and was much more modern compared to constitutions of france and uk (gave all women and men the vote after the ages of 20) gave individual rights to people.

Question 33

new constitution: turnout at elections

Answer 33

constitution empowered the people as it enebled them to participate in elections. turnout at elections never fell below 75% during the republic.

Question 34

new constitution: proportional representation

Answer 34

the voting system followed PR which ensured that a wide range of parties and interests were represented in the reichstag

Question 35

new constitution: article 48

Answer 35

article 48 was used several times by ebert. used when public order and security was disturbed. article 48 skipped many democratic processes to quickly act on situations.

Question 36

new constitution: accepted widely

Answer 36

constitution accepted by the vast majority in the national assembly 262 to 75 votes

Question 37

new constitution: extremist parties due to PR

Answer 37

whilst proportional representation was democratic, it allowed for the elction of small extremist parties and led to a sucsession of weak coalitions and frequent changes of chancellors

Question 38

new constitution: discontent

Answer 38

whilst the vast majority of germany was happy with the constitution, extreme left and right parties attempted to overthrow the democratically elected government multiple times - highlighting it only pleased certain groups of people not everyone was happy

Question 39

new constitution: revolutionary

Answer 39

whilst the constitution was revolutionary in a global landscape, it was systemically untouched and the army and civil service remained in their original positions of power.

Question 40

new constitution: historiography

Answer 40

george gooch- german democracy found permenant expression in the weimar constitution.