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Flashcards in Germany Deck (56)
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0
Q

Who and what were the ‘big three’?

A

Main leaders to decide the terms for the peace Treaty of Versailles:
Georges Clemenceau (France)
Woodrow Wilson (US)
David Lloyd George ( Britain)

Vittorio Orlando (Italy)

1
Q

According to the Treaty of Versailles, how much did Germany have to pay for reparations?

A

Fixed amount of £ 6.6 billion in 1921

3
Q

What areas of land did Germany lose after the treaty?

A
Alsace-Lorraine given to France
The Saar (coalfields)
Posen and West Prussia given to Poland to create the Polish corridor

Total 13% of land lost
Rhineland was demilitarised

4
Q

Who were the SS?

A

Stands for Schutz-Staffel meaning protection squad
Initially Hitler’s private bodyguards
Himmler made them elite force of ‘Aryan’ supermen
Made an oath to follow Hitler
By 1939 had 240,000 members
Power to arrest people without trial

5
Q

What is the Gestapo?

A

State secret police run by Hermann Goering
Network of informers in Germany
Spy on people, tap telephones, intercept mail
Could strike any time, any where
Probably who Germans feared the most

6
Q

What does Untermenschen mean?

A

Sub humans - what the Nazis called other races such as Jews to make them feel inferior

7
Q

What does Aryan mean?

A

Race thought to originate from Scandinavia
Tall, fit, blonde hair, blue eyes
Nazis believe they are the master race and are superior to others.

8
Q

Define Einsatzgruppen.

A

Special SS unit of soldiers who rounded up Jews in foreign towns, made them dig trenches and shot them so they fell in

9
Q

What are Ghettos?

A

Walled off sections in cities in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Lithuania where Jews were held.
Overcrowded, cramped, little food Hundreds of Jews died each day here.

10
Q

How many German soldiers had died since 1914 in the war?

A

2 million

11
Q

Where and when did Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicate?

A

9th November 1918

Fled to Holland

12
Q

What party formed a new temporary government after the Kaiser fled?

A

Social Democratic Party (SPD)
Led by Friedrich Ebert as the new Chancellor

New German state created
Democratic System - Weimar Republic

13
Q

When was the Weimar constitution signed into law and by who?

A

11th August 1919

President Ebert

14
Q

How often were members of the Reichstag elected?

A

Every 4 years

15
Q

Who could vote in Germany?

A

All women and men over 20 years

16
Q

Define the role of a chancellor

A

Head of the government who chose ministers and ran the country
Needed majority of support in Reichstag to pass laws

17
Q

Define the role of the president

A

Head of state
Directly elected every 7 years
No part in day-to-day government
Chose the chancellor
Could dismiss Reichstag, call new election and control the army
Under article 48 could suspend constitution + pass laws by decree

18
Q

What problems did proportional representation cause?

A

Even small number of votes gained seats in the Reichstag, increasing instability of government
To get majority of support often formed coalitions.
Coalitions are unstable as they can’t agree
Growth in extremist parties

19
Q

Who was the first president of the Weimar Republic?

A

Friedrich Ebert

20
Q

What was the ‘War Guilt Clause’?

A

Article 231

Germany had to accept blame for starting the war

21
Q

Who were the ‘November Criminals’?

A

The people who signed the Treaty of Versailles and accepted war blame for Germany
‘Stabbed in the back’

22
Q

When was the Treaty of Versailles signed?

A

28th June 1919

23
Q

Why was the German government bankrupt at the end of the war?

A

All gold reserves had been spent in the war

24
Q

How many French and Belgian troops were sent into the Ruhr?

A

750,000

25
Q

Why did the French invade the Ruhr

A

Germany missed a reparation payment as they were bankrupt.

French retaliated by confiscating raw materials and manufactured goods

26
Q

How much of German coal and iron was based in the Ruhr?

A

80%

27
Q

Who benefitted from hyperinflation?

A

Farmers - rising food prices
Businesses - able to pay off loans and buy smaller businesses cheaply
People with mortgages and debts

28
Q

What was the price of bread in 1919 and 1923?

A

1 mark 1919

100,000 marks 1923

29
Q

When was Gustav Stresemann appointed Chancellor?

A

September 1923

30
Q

What new currency introduced in Germany and when?

A

November 1923

Rentenmark

31
Q

Who were the worst affected by hyperinflation?

A

Those with savings
Those with fixed incomes
Pensioners
Mainly middle class

32
Q

By 1939, how many SS members were there?

A

240,000

33
Q

When was Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg arrested and murdered? Who murdered them?

A

15th January 1919

Murdered by the Freikorps (ex-soldiers)

34
Q

When was Germany a republic?

A

9-10 November 1918

Kaiser abdicated

35
Q

When did the First World War fighting end?

A

11 November 1918

36
Q

When was the Spartacist revolt?

A

January 1919

In Berlin
Communist revolution
Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxembourg

37
Q

When did Hitler join the German Workers’ Party?

A

September 1919

38
Q

What did the German Workers’ Party change its name to and when?

A

24 February 1920

National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazis)

39
Q

When did Hitler become the leader of the Nazi party?

A

1921

Takes over from Anton Drexler

40
Q

When was the Kapp Putch?

A

March 1920

41
Q

Summarise the Spartacist Revolt in 1919

A

Spartacist League (communists)
Inspired by 1917 Russian revolution
Took over Gov’t newspaper and telegraph bureau
Tried to organise general strike in Berlin
Freikorps shot Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg

42
Q

Summarise the Kapp Putsch in 1920

A

Freikorps (ex-soldiers as Germany had to reduce army) led by Dr Wolfgang Kapp
Right wing nationalists
Occupied Berlin
Trade unions organised a general strike causing too much chaos
Kapp forced to flee

43
Q

When were the SA formed?

A

1921

Storm troopers
Violent part of Nazi party that would break up communist meetings and beat up people

44
Q

When did the french troops invade the Ruhr?

A

January 1923

Germany missed first reparation payment

45
Q

What two jobs did Gustav Stressemann do and when?

A
Chancellor (Aug-Nov 1923)
Foreign Secretary (1923-29)
46
Q

When did the French leave the Ruhr?

A

1925

47
Q

What hew currencies did Stresemann introduce and when?

A

Rentenmark (Nov 1923)

Converted to Reichsmark - backed with gold (1924)

48
Q

Dawes Plan

A

Gustav Stresemann
1924
Negotiated US loans

Helped pay reparations
Improved German industry

49
Q

Locarno treaties

A

1925
Stresemann
Improved international relations with UK and France
Guaranteed borders with Belgium, France, Italy

50
Q

League of Nations

A

1926
Stresemann
Germany recognised as a great power and important country again

51
Q

Young Plan

A

1929
Stresemann
Set timescale and reduced reparations
France agreed to leave the Rhineland early

52
Q

Nazi Party no.of seats in Reichstag

A

12 seats 1928
107 seats 1930
230 seats 1932

53
Q

Night of the Long Knives

A

30 June 1934

Ernst Rohm and SA Leaders arrested and shot by SS

54
Q

Death of Hindenburg

A

August 1934

55
Q

Reichstag Fire

A

27 February 1933
Marius Van Der Lubbe Dutch communist found inside
Hitler accused communist party
4000 communists arrested
Hindenburg persuaded to pass emergency decree to arrest people without trial

56
Q

Enabling Act

A

March 1933
Gave Hitler power to make any law without consent of Reichstag
Germany a dictatorship