Germany Flashcards
what is proportional representation
a system of voting in which political parties gain seats in ratio of number of votes casted to them
what is passive resistance
to resist something by not cooperating or refusing to follow instructions
what’s a dictatorship
a form of government where as small group or one person is in charge and has absolute power
what was the role of the chancellor in weimar Germany
in the German Weimar Republic this position was the head of the government and the same as the British prime minister
who were the November criminals
the nickname hitler gave to people who signed the treaty of versieas
what was the Wall Street crash
the economic downfall of the American Stockmarket in 1929
was the Munich putch a points for fail yes and no
it was considered a longterm success but short term failure
yes-hitter got sent to prison, the nazis were banned and the aims were not achieved.
no- trail gets nazis publicity and therefore gains support, hitler realises he will never get power by force. only 9 months prison time was served.
what was the Dawes plan
an international agreement signed in 1924 that restructured germanys reparations and provided loans from the usa to pay them
causes that led to the Munich putsch
by 1923 the nazi party had 55,000 members and was stronger than ever before.
the Weimar Republic was in crisis due to hyperinflation .
In September 1923 the weimar government called of the general strike and nationalists were furious.
hitler had hopped to copy Mussolini the Italian fascist who had come to power by marching on Rome.
Hitler had a huge army of SA members, but he knew he would lose control of them if he did not give them something to do.
what was the SA
also known as the storm troopers or brown shirts, A military organisation of the nazi party formed in 1921 under hitler.
what was the legacy of the First World War
. the fighting lasted 4 years 1914-18
almost 2 million German troops died over 4 million wounded.
the cost of the war meant that the dept of the German government trebled
it wasn’t just the troops that suffered the people suffered
750,000 people died because of food shortages.
the kaiser abdicated 2 days before the end of the war
the social Democratic Party had to quickly establish a new government
the Weimar Republic was created
what was the treaty of Versailles
the treaty of versailles was signed in 1919 and was a peace treaty at the end of the First World War
what were the strengths of the Weimar Republic at first
it was democratic
it was constructed so no individual or party could hold all the power
voting everyone could vote
no one individual could become powerful
what were the weaknesses of the Weimar Republic
unpopular as many associated it with the loss of ww1
proportional representation meant is was difficult to get a majority and therefore pass laws.
It was possible for the president to rule by decree in emergency allowed hitler to be a dictator
what were the terms of the treaty of Versailles
- Germany had to pay reparations to the allies 6.6 billion
- Germany lost all its colonies
- germanys military was limited to 100,000 men. no airforce and limited navy
- Germany lost land to France Belgium Poland and Denmark
what is dolchstoss
its the theory that the Germans were stabbed in the back by the treaty of Versailles. it was commonly believed that Germany didn’t lost the first world war.
Ebert the chancellor said in 1918 “no enemy defeated you”
what was the left wing uprising against the Weimar Republic
the spartacist revolt in 6th January 1919 in Berlin led by rosa Luxembourg and Karl liebknecht. they were exreme socialists.
Ebert sacked the police chief who was popular with the workers. It wasn’t very popular and so led to an uprising by rosa Luxembourg and Karl liebknecht. lots of soldiers (right wing) broke it all up and rosa was killed and it was broken up by 13th Jan
It began to give the sense the Weimar Republic was losing control
what was the right wing uprising against Weimar Republic
kapp Putsch in 1920 was a right wing uprising.
the freikorps ( the army set up by Ebert) had gone out of control of the government and they were disbanded in 1920. so 5000 of these men marched on Berlin. when Ebert asked the army to help out he refused as the Germany army don’t shoot the German army.
so the rebels put forward a nationalist opposition and declared him the head of the government and invited the kaiser to return. he urged the people to go and strike and to not co-operate so their was no gas water electricity transport etc. so kapp fled and the weimar ministers were restored to government kapp was sent to prison and died.
hyperinflation how did it impact Germany
by 1923 German was bankrupt there was a shortage of raw materials
unemployment meant they got less money from taxes
printing more money meant that inflation got even worse and prices got even higher.
what were the affects of hyperination on the people
the price of bread had gone up form one mark in 1919 to 200 thousand billion marks in 1923
normal living became impossible
workers were paid 2 times a day
shortages affected everyone
German marks became completely wothless
savings = wothless
what is the French occupation of the Ruhr
its a German industrial area that was a coalfield.
the treaty of versiales said they should give the coal to France but they refused. so the German government asked the germans to go on strike so the French got no coal. but the French brought their own workers.
it turned more people against the Weimar republic
germanys factories couldn’t run because of no coal.
who stresemann
he is a finance minister and inrotduced a new currency which aided economic recovery after hyperinflation
what were 3 reasons for germanys economic recovery 1924-29
- rentenmark. november 1923. set up by stresemann bank called Renton bank and new currency it had proper value
- Dawes plan.
- young plan 1929
what was the young plan
1929 stersemann spoke with the allies and reduced the reparations from 6.6 billion to 2 billion they had 59 years to pay it off
Adolf hitler hated it because of the 59 years to pay they said it passed on the penalty to the unborn
what were 3 factors that improved Weimar’s foriens relations on 1925
Locarno pact December 1925 stesemann signed the treaty between the allies treaty between Germany Italy France Belgium and Britain it was agreed unlike the the treaty of Versailles no power imbalance the 3 things they agreed were:
1.Germany accepted the new border with France
2. the 5 powers agreed to open talks about the German membership in the league on nations
- the league of nations
- the Kellogg briand pact-
Germany signed with 61 other country’s included America they agreed they would not use war to achieve foreign policy aims
step forward for Germany as it gave them status the Germany people had increased confidence in the Weimar Republic as a government
what is the Locarno pact
Locarno pact December 1925 stesemann signed the treaty between the allies treaty between Germany Italy France Belgium and Britain it was agreed unlike the the treaty of Versailles no power imbalance the 3 things they agreed were:
1.Germany accepted the new border with France
2. the 5 powers agreed to open talks about the German membership in the league on nations
what is the league of nations
end of the ww1 the allies founded the league of nations but Germany wasn’t in it. in September 1926 the other powers agreed to accept Germany as a member
